Fancy pants adjusted a sleeve cuff while approaching Joe. He put a hand out and Joe shook it, book in his other hand.
"Thanks for the help."
The old man nodded. "We just uncovered this entrance and were about to investigate, but it appears you beat us to it."
Joe looked around. The people in the area all wore hard hats and casual clothes. Archaeologists. Perfect. He had a pretty good idea about who he was talking to. Joe had grabbed the book because he thought it would be informative. If this Sun Eater was a threat, perhaps the book contained answers about how to call together the legends to fight it. Joe held the book out.
"You were probably looking for something like this."
The old man raised an eyebrow and took it. He looked over the blank and lightly damaged black cover, running a hand down it with utmost care. He opened it. Flipped through a couple of pages. His eyes widened. "This is… It's like a diary." He shifted and turned, showing Joe a page while pointing at it. "You see this? It goes over the origin of the tribe."
Joe saw a page of text in a language he didn't understand. So whoever fancy pants was, he was big into history and had ancient languages memorised.
Fancy pants started going over the text and explaining to Joe, not even considering the idea that Joe might not be interested. It was a good thing that Joe was curious. Onix leaned in too, its giant head hovering behind Joe and fancy pants.
"They lived on the eastern side of Mt. Moon. So this is where they went… You see, there's remnants of an old village nearby. We now have confirmation of where they went. Let's see here… They say their leader received a prophecy about the great Sun Eater." Despite his age, the gentleman's eyes glistened with boyish curiosity, his age clearly not being representative of his spry attitude. "So we meet again." He paused and thought about it, looking up. "I'll explain that in a moment. Now, it says here that, with the Sun Eater coming to end this world, the tribe believed in the power of Mt. Moon." He turned a page as gently as he could, not wanting to tear it. "This place has long been rumoured to be supernaturally connected to the moon, so living deep within the mountain should have protected them against the wrath of the Sun Eater. It's easy to see how they came to such a conclusion. The Sun Eater should want nothing to do with Mt. Moon."
Joe enjoyed the history lesson, and was curious about how fancy pants knew Sun Eater. He grabbed Rotom and opened the gallery, the mural his newest photos so they appeared first. He turned it to the old man.
"There was a mural too. Rotom said the text says Sun Eater."
"Oh, yes, yes! Can you send me those images? The Sun Eater. It's a problem I've discovered knowledge of across the world, in both Alola and Hoenn. Rumours of it can be found in other countries. I still need to look into them."
"Do you just like history or are you planning on trying to stop Sun Eater?" Joe said, tapping through some menus and selecting the pictures. He input a number he saw on fancy pants' phone screen and sent the mural photos.
The old man laughed. "I am far too old for such heroics, but if I can at least gather the information required to save people then I'll be happy. I deem Sun Eater to be a credible threat so it's my way of being useful. And I have to admit, the hunt is exciting."
Now that he was reminded of Hoenn, the old man wanted to investigate that thread further. It could be a translation error. Instead of talking about the Sun Eater menace, it could have been mention of Groudon. Both creatures enjoyed the sun, after all.
The reason his search persisted was because, well, there was still a sun. And surely a battle between legends would be so grand that it would be recorded in myths, or maybe the scars of such a battle would still be visible. There was nothing to indicate the prophecy had been fulfilled yet, despite all the cultures and tribes from across the world somehow having the same idea.
"Are you the guy that made the Nomads app?" Joe felt like it wasn't a reach. This old man had a certain air to him, both in the way he held himself and the way he spoke. He had to be rich. That, paired with the do-gooder attitude, gave Joe an idea.
"Me? No, no, but he is a friend. I am Tanaka." He gave a small bow, hand to his heart. "It has been a while since someone didn't recognise me. You may know me as the CEO of Silph Co."
Joe thought about the name. It was familiar. "The makers of the modern Pokeball?" As far as Joe was aware, Silph had nothing to do with history. This had to be a personal venture.
"The one and only." Tanaka smiled, seeming to know what Joe was thinking. "I am simply curious and want to know more about our ancestors, which led me to learning about Sun Eater. Archaeology certainly started as a hobby. I didn't think it would lead to me trying to save the world, or I suppose the sun, but here we are. And what about yourself, boy? Are you here to explore for the fun of it, or…?"
Tanaka looked to Absol, knowing about the species and believing them to be picky about their Trainers. They didn't just team up with anyone. They couldn't turn off their ability to sense disasters, and they felt a need to deal with the problem if only to get rid of the constant feeling of danger. That, paired with Joe's mention of Nomads, gave Tanaka a good idea about the young man standing before him.
Onix interjected, nudging Joe's shoulder as gently as it could. Joe was solid as rock, so he wasn't as badly affected by Onix's strength compared to most people. It wanted to know too. Joe tapped Onix's nose a couple of times and gave the snake a wry smile.
"I'm mainly here to help people, but I would like to explore when I can. It seems fun." He saw Onix perk up, that faint smile appearing again through a rocky body. "If you're coming with me, you really need to know that I'm going to be fighting crime first and foremost. We might go a while without seeing anything interesting, but I'll get to it as often as possible, and obviously I'll bring you along. Is that good enough?"
Onix nodded along. It appreciated Joe's efforts to do the right thing. It was the right thing to do. Hopefully, gaining a Trainer would make it easier to see more of the world. And when necessary, Onix would fight to help others alongside Joe.
"If you're sure." Joe turned back to Tanaka. He had more information but it might not be useful to the old man. "So what now? Are you going in there?"
"Perhaps." Tanaka said, looking at the book in his possession. "What else did you see?"
"Not much. I hit a few crossroads, but Absol led me the right way from the start. I did see something else though, confusing more than anything." Joe watched as Tanaka raised an eyebrow. "The room with the book… The entrances were too small for the Golurk to enter and exit naturally. They had to break out. Why?"
Tanaka started brushing his moustache. "I cannot give you a solid answer. It may just be part of their culture. Out of respect for their ruler, they may have only wanted beings of a certain size to pass through. So it would have been primarily designed for humans."
"Then how did the Golurk get in there in the first place?" Joe was rushing to figure it out before he got an answer, feeling like he should know why.
Tanaka knelt down and grabbed a handful of dirt and sand. He stood and messed with nature's material using his thumb. "The world itself does not hold any energy. So when a Pokemon uses a move, they can easily manipulate the space around them using their own energy."
Joe understood. He observed it with Sandshrew. The little shrew could move dirt out of the way in a split-second using Dig, which was a use of energy. It was totally different to a Pokemon battle where two different energies collided. There was essentially no resistance to the manipulation of nature.
"The design of the area, the reasons for what ancient tribes did, may never be known. We can only speculate. Maybe they thought the Golurk were capable of handling problems before enemies escaped the room. Maybe…" Tanaka let out a little chuckle. "I can see it bothers you."
Joe shrugged. He could now tell his brow had furrowed in slight annoyance. "I guess I just like concrete answers."
He was about to continue talking when he felt his phone buzzing. Rotom flew up to his face and revealed that Sonia was calling him.
"Hey, what's up?"
"Heya! Where are ya? I'm on the move and wondered if ya wanted to hang out or somethin'." Her familiar accent and cheery personality were on full display.
If Joe was questioning whether he liked Sonia before, he didn't need to now. Just hearing her made his heart speed up. He was overjoyed to hear from her. And more than that, being around someone like Sonia might be exactly what he needed. His mood had improved throughout the morning, but he knew Sonia's smile and whatever antics they got up to together would cheer him up further. He was going to invite Sonia out on a date. It was time to have some fun.
"I'm just at Icterine." Joe said, looking at Tanaka. He had no clue what was on the eastern side of Mt. Moon so he gave a name he did know even though he wasn't quite there.
"Oh wow, what a coincidence!" She didn't sound like she meant that. She'd forced the words out in a near monotone voice. "I'll actually be there soon. Like, real soon. Like, in half an hour. That sorta soon."
Joe figured Sonia had checked out his Nomads account. The jobs were public. That's how she knew roughly where he was. He smiled and hoped it could be heard over the line. "I look forward to it. See you in a bit."
"Yep, yep! See ya soon, sweetie!"
Tanaka wasted no time. "Come, I'll take you back to Icterine." He said, handing the book to an assistant. They both handled the ageing material with delicacy, not wanting to even get an oily smudge on the leather cover that held pages together.
Joe and Tanaka climbed out of the man-made pit by walking up slanted dirt paths. Joe finally put Butterfree and Cyndaquil away as he went. He got into the front passenger seat of Tanaka's car, Vulpix on his lap and Absol resting along the back seats. It was a rugged truck, something Joe wouldn't expect from any other wealthy person. It was Tanaka's interest and willingness to get into the mud that made the hefty truck make sense.
Onix slithered along next to the vehicle as they travelled around the south of Mt. Moon. Once the call with Sonia ended, Joe had spotted some notifications. Nothing serious like Nomads. Just a couple of texts. His eye was drawn to one labelled 'Mom' and now that he had some downtime in the car he decided to check it out.
Ariana had sent him a message in the middle of the night. The coordinates for the family home. She'd picked a time where it wouldn't bother Joe because he was asleep, letting him choose to engage with it if he wanted to once he woke up.
Joe decided to go through with his whole bridging the gap idea that he originally intended.
"Apologises for not asking sooner. What is your name, boy?"
"...Joe."
Tanaka ignored the hesitation. Joe was thankful for that. It was only yesterday that he learned his real name. After some thinking, Joe decided to commit to the idea he had yesterday. He'd stay Joe until he actually got his memories back.
"Well, Joe, you mentioned Nomads earlier. I would consider this a job well done, so expect to hear from me again. I think you've earned compensation." Tanaka said, thinking of the multiple reasons he wanted to reward Joe.
It was good to have more friends. Joe had surveyed the area and revealed danger in the form of Golurk. The young man's actions meant Tanaka could no doubt move on faster. There was likely more to learn and find here, but Tanaka could trust others to do that. He was more interested in the initial find and the analysis of artifacts. He wanted to translate the book while others cleared the ruins, then he'd run off to track other rumours.
Joe nodded as Icterine came into view on the right. "Thanks."
Tanaka drove just a little into town, stopping at the first corner store he saw. Joe got out, showing his appreciation again, and watched as the truck spun around and went back the way it'd come.
"Rotom, I need space for my Pokemon, like a park."
"There is a parking lot across the street with few cars occupying the space."
"Perfect." Joe followed Rotom's directions, walking through an alley and reaching rows of white markings on asphalt. Joe looked around to see that this parking lot was in the middle of streets packed with stores. The spaces were empty for many reasons, like the sun being out. People were choosing to enjoy the weather. Joe could relate. He'd put off necessities to enjoy the weather before.
Joe brought all of his Pokemon out. Butterfree, Sandshrew, Nidoran, Cyndaquil, Hoothoot, Ralts, Fomantis, Rookidee, and Sprigatito. And of course he had Vulpix, Onix, and Absol already out.
"I've got to speak to you all about something. But first…" He grabbed a ball and gestured to Onix with a couple of the fingers that held the sphere. "Come here, buddy." Onix did so, using its snout to bump the ball in Joe's hand.
#0095 Onix
Gender: Male
Height: 30' 07" (Above Average)
Weight: 241.3 kg (Above Average)
Moves: Smack Down / Bulldoze / Endure /
Ability: Sturdy
Blocks fatal damage by sending out energy to form a shield.
As Joe let Onix back out, he was amused by a certain detail. "Endure?"
"It's a move similar to Harden, bolstering defences to negate incoming energy."
"Oh, no, I just thought it was funny how he has a move named Endure. The entire reason we're here is because Onix couldn't endure pain, right?"
Onix's head sunk, ashamed that he'd put people in danger. Joe rushed to pet his head.
"Everyone was okay so it's fine, don't worry about it. Just be more careful in the future, okay? You're a big guy. Much bigger than people. Throwing your weight around will easily hurt others and I don't want people to be upset with you because of it."
Rotom was sitting on further clarification and saw its chance. "You working to remove the log forced Onix to endure the pain."
Joe found that informative and useful. Something that had been on his mind was teaching his Pokemon new moves. He'd assumed there were two ways for Pokemon to learn. One was to understand and use other energy types, like Absol learning Flame Charge. The other was to expand on what it already knew and use it a different way, which was how Cyndaquil had taught itself a move, as well as Flame Wheel recently.
The problem, if it could be called that, was how his Pokemon had almost exclusively learned new moves during combat. It had skewed his perception of the topic. Pokemon could learn from simple daily life experiences, like putting up with pain. Joe wanted to be more involved with the moves his Pokemon wanted to learn. Training didn't have to be fighting.
Joe knelt and put Vulpix down, bringing another Pokeball out. He saw how she cowered away and removed the sphere from view.
"No, no, it's okay. I'm not putting you away. You're still too young, I understand that. I want to care for you more." Joe watched as Vulpix calmed and stood up straighter. "It's just for when we get into trouble. It was scary earlier, right? Putting you in the ball will keep you safe, and then you can come out as soon as the coast is clear. Do you want that?"
Vulpix clearly mulled it over, looking at the ground and scratching at the asphalt. Eventually she looked up at Joe and nodded. He held the Pokeball to her and let her interact with it in her own time. Vulpix hesitated, pulling her paw back a few times, but eventually she hit the button. She went inside and immediately came back out. She jumped onto Joe's bent leg and then into his chest. He grabbed her and put her ball away.
#0037 Vulpix
Gender: Female
Height: 1' 06" (Below Average)
Weight: 8.3 kg (Below Average)
Moves: Ember /
Ability: Flash Fire
Eats or absorbs fire to empower itself.
"See, it's all done." He stroked Vulpix and she quickly calmed. With that done, Joe stood and faced the rest of his Pokemon. They sensed his seriousness and stood at attention. His little soldiers. "Okay, you lot. Listen up. It's been fun to have you all around all the time, but it's taking a toll on my pocket. So I'm sending you all to my mom's house. It's a big, open garden. More like a field really. While you're there you can play as much as you want."
Most of his Pokemon displayed their happiness at the situation in their own way. Rookidee chirped and hopped about. Ralts' smile grew, she wasn't one to outright cheer. Butterfree flew around at top speed because this was essentially what she wanted, to relax.
Joe figured one Pokemon in particular wouldn't be too happy. She was the clingy type, like Vulpix. Joe crouched again and gestured at his cat. "Come here, buddy."
Sprigatito's face was dour, her eyes half closed, her frown boring a hole in the ground. She approached slowly. Once she was within range, Joe's big hand rustled the fur between her ears. She pulled an ear out of the way as her Trainer stroked her. Joe then placed Vulpix in front of the cat, introducing the two.
"This is Vulpix, the newest member of the family. And she's really young. You know what that means, Sprigatito? You're a big sister now. You have to set an example and be brave for her. Besides, you've been getting along with the rest of the team, haven't you? You'll be fine. You'll get to play with them all day, and it's not like we'll be apart much. We'll still see each other every day."
Joe had a good idea of what his Pokemon wanted, and in some cases needed. At the end of the day, Sprigatito was still young. She still needed care and attention. Just because an eight-year-old gained a sibling, didn't mean they suddenly started acting like an adult.
Sprigatito slowly accepted what Joe said. She wasn't entirely happy about it, but he was right. She'd be with friends and she'd still see her Trainer regularly. It wouldn't be much different from the current arrangement of being in a Pokeball. She had new responsibilities and she wanted to make Joe proud. In the long run, this would help her grow further.
With that sorted, Joe texted Ariana about sending his Pokemon over. He then thought about something and looked up at Onix. "You have permission to explore away from the house. Just don't get into too much trouble, okay? I don't want to hear that you've been missing for a week so I've got to come find you."
Onix nodded rapidly, excited to see what he could find around his new home. Joe's phone pinged and he looked to see a reply from Ariana.
"Thank you for trusting me with this. I promise they're in good hands."
Right before he sent his Pokemon over, he had a question for Onix. "Wait, why were you so excited to see those ruins? Are you not from around here?" Surely the snake would've come across them before.
Rotom translated Onix's grumbles. "Yes, he travelled here from elsewhere. That's how he ended up with the log in his body."
Well, it was nice to know how and why the situation had occurred. Always curious.
Joe sent his Pokemon over, putting them all back in their Pokeballs and watching as they blinked blue with Rotom's energy before phasing out of existence. Joe could hear something. It took him a moment to realise. It was the sound of air moving as the space the spheres once occupied needed to be filled.
In the neighbouring country of Johto, Ariana smiled as she looked out of her living room window and saw Pokemon entering her view that definitely weren't hers. Their Pokeballs would be stored on a shelf in a shed, where Rotom had setup. The shed itself was small, but that didn't matter. The Pokemon were released from their Pokeballs in a way that put them outside. While Ariana didn't personally have any large Pokemon, she was glad for the foresight as she watched an Onix come into view, towering into the sky and looking around frantically.
Speaking of her own Pokemon, she'd already told them that Joe had begun catching Pokemon too, so they needed to play nice. She had no doubt that Joe's Pokemon were kind like he was, so there shouldn't be any problems between the two sides.
Joe kept Absol, Vulpix, Ralts, Rookidee, Nidoran, and Hoothoot. Ralts was around because Sonia was on her way, and he really wanted to use Rookidee and Nidoran more. Nidoran and Hoothoot probably wouldn't appreciate being separated. It was an unbalanced team. Joe should probably keep a heavy hitter like Sandshrew on hand, but he wanted to try to stick to the six slots on his holster. Finally free up a pocket.
Given how he called for Butterfree and she answered, he had an idea. It was worth exploring so he questioned Rotom as he set out, wanting to walk but not sure where to go.
"Hey Rotom, how fast can you teleport a ball to me?"
"It can take a while, depending on where the Pokemon is."
"Right. Obviously." Joe expected that. His Pokemon were free roaming. The Rotom on the other end needed time to gather them. "Okay, say a fight breaks out. Could the other Rotom round up my Pokemon so you can quickly bring them in and out? And if you do that, can you handle opening the Pokeball? So I tell you to bring in Cyndaquil, and you teleport him here and let him loose."
"That is possible. I can press the button to release the Pokemon. If they are prepared then it would take seconds to bring them over."
"Great. That's more like it. We'll try it sometime."
If this idea worked as Joe imagined it, then it would be incredibly useful. He'd make sure Rotom was active as soon as a fight broke out so if he ever needed a member of his roster that he didn't have on hand, he could bring them in fast.
As he wondered what to do, his phone started ringing. He saw Peonia's name. They'd exchanged numbers a bit before Icterine, after it became apparent that they got on well and had become friends. Joe answered the call and was greeted by a shout.
"Are you okay?!"
"Er, yes?" Joe replied thoughtlessly, then realised. News must've spread about his fall into Mt. Moon. "Oh right, yeah, I'm totally fine. I found an exit."
A sigh came through the speaker. "I heard what happened. I'm glad you're okay."
"What, were you worried? You sound like my mom." Joe joked, turning that back on her from the first day they'd met.
He couldn't see it, but Peonia gave a wry smile at the comment. She'd punch his arm if she could see him. "All right, well if you're fine then that's good. I'm at Mt. Moon right now, I guess for nothing."
"I appreciate the thought. I'll be there soon."
Joe hung up and sent a text to Sonia, telling her his exact location. The Mt. Moon public cave entrance. He then walked fast to his destination.