Step 1: Kindling (Patreon)

Step 1: Kindling

When one is isekai’d, there are certain expectations we often hope for. An overpowered cheat, maybe a system, or failing everything else, at least a cool name. Ebony Darkness Blade, Hydrus Emrhys Black of Vengerberg, Gokunaruto - anything remotely protagonist would do! 

What kind of non-MC name was Uki’uki? 

My isekai parents were originally from Alola if you couldn’t already guess. Who in the world would take Pokemon Champion Uki seriously?

Well, not like I really had an option, so I’d just have to press ‘B’ and run with it. 

I trudged up the final bit of Johto route 30 towards my destination. 

I’d have preferred to be back in Alola, but my mother’s job offer a little over a year ago stole me away from those pristine beaches. Not to mention my friends. We were supposed to take the island trials together.

North of Cherrygrove lived Mr Pokemon - who just so happened to be the previous professor of the region before Elm took over. 

Yet, despite his retirement, Mr Pokemon - previously known as Prof Pokemon, still undertook certain responsibilities that should have been Elm’s. Primarily, this was the education of young trainers that Elm had sidelined in order to focus on his own breeding experiments.

Thus, as a young trainer-to-be, my acquaintance with the veteran professor. 

The door swung open before I even finished knocking. “Punctual as always, little Kiki!” Mr Pokemon laughed as he ushered me in - rub more salt in the wound why don’t you?

“Well, I haven’t got a lot of time to make good on our deal.”

The old man rubbed his jaw and nodded sagely, “just so, just so. Although it may behoove you to come early instead of right on time.”

I put my hands on my hips and began scolding him. “If you’ll recall, that’s exactly what I did last time. You locked me out until it was the precise hour to meet. I stood outside for forty minutes!”

The old man laughed boisterously while slapping his knee, as if my suffering was the funniest joke he’d ever heard. “Never gets old!”

“That’s only because you’re aging faster than the joke.” I snarked back.

Hrk! He choked on his laughter and glared at me. “That’s elder abuse. I have half a mind to report you.”

“You go ahead and do that,” I nonchalantly waved off his mock indignation. “In the meantime, hand her over. We’ve got a lot of training to do.” 

I caught the shrunk Pokeball he pulled from his pocket. “Very well. Here you are. You do know that you don’t need to jump through so many hoops to have your journey sponsored, right? If you go to Elm, he’ll hand you a starter without question and happily send you on your way. Who knows? You may even receive one of the Johto three if you’re lucky.”

“Sure. But that starter and the corral facilities are all I’d be provided. And as much as like the big three, a Pokedex is far more valuable. Being the close friend of Oak that you are, you just so happen to be the only source of that magical little device in the entire region.” I answered. “Why the question? Suddenly getting Sheer Cold feet about our deal?”

“Not at all. If you’re able to do what you’ve set out to do, I’ll get you that Pokedex and more!” Then he shooed me away. “Now get out there and be somebody!”

After the quick hike north of his house, I stood in front of the entrance to Dark Cave. Pulling out my borrowed Pokeball, I clicked the release button and Mr Pokemon’s Hoothoot appeared next to me from a red beam of light.  

The Pokemon did a quick 360 degree survey before tilting her head up at me, blinking owlishly. “Ready girl?” I presented my forearm and the owl Pokemon flew up and perched herself there. “I promise, as long as we can find it, we’ll get to the move training today. Just keep those Zubat off me.”

During one of my lessons with Mr Pokemon on Pokemon learn sets and the usage of TMs, the question of why certain Pokemon could gain certain moves came up. The answer? No-one knew! 

Nobody knew why the TMs worked. Or why breeding gave Pokemon different moves than they would naturally have. Hell, even the process of how move tutors worked remained a massive secret - that’s why they charged the extortionate price of a heart scale.

“If a Pokemon can learn a move of a type through TMs or a tutor, shouldn’t they also be able to channel that specific aura type naturally through training?” Was my ultimate question.

The response was simply, “The person who figures that out and reveals it to the word would probably be worshiped.” 

I liked the sound of that. Why be a champion when you could be a god? No capital G there, don’t want Arceus mad at me.

Actually… the more I thought about it, the worse it sounded. 

I’d rather just be a rich layabout.

Anyway, therein lay my deal with old Mr Pokemon. If I could teach one of his Pokemon a move from a type that it couldn’t naturally use, or only learnt through artificial means, he would sponsor my journey - with all the soothe-bells and whistles attached. 

A rare starter, a stipend, full ranch facilities, potential event invites, professional introductions, and most importantly, the all knowing Pokedex.

That’s when he handed over his youngest Hoothoot and told me to ‘Have at it!’

“Just one gem, girl. All I need is one.” I addressed Hoothoot as we entered Dark Cave. I’d teach this Hoothoot Ember, come distortion zone or high water.

I scrambled around the cave, feeling over the rocky walls and keeping a sharp ear out for the sound of dust clouds forming. Hoothoot had her head on a swivel, keeping a sharp lookout for any overly interested cave dwellers. 

Just like in Unova, little deposits and dust clouds often formed in caves, hiding type gems. 

I was specifically on the prowl for a fire gem. Normally, these gems were used exclusively to amplify a lone move of its corresponding type. A single use disposable item. 

My fingertips glided over a smooth section of rock. “Found one!” I whispered to the owl Pokemon. I dislodged it from the wall and held the surprisingly smooth gem in my hand. Brown. “Tch. Ground type.” I pocketed it and continued my search.

To my mind, these gems were much more than the plastic straws that people mistook them for.

They were either proto or quasi evolution stones, a crystalized form of dense type energy - just smaller and less concentrated, and they were going to be my lynchpin for this challenge. I’m almost certain they were linked to the terastalization phenomenon as well. Potentially, type gems were small clusters of tera shards or something along those lines. 

I snuck through the length and breadth of the cave - at least the areas that didn’t require I hop down a deep ledge or displace large boulders. Nothing.

Then I heard that unmistakable swirling. A dust cloud was forming! I rushed to it and dug my hand in. I felt the smooth gem in my hand. As the dust cloud dissipated, I saw the soft orange glow held in my grasp. “We got it, Hoothoot! Let’s get out of here.”

About time, too. Sixteen in a Pokemon world or not, my mother would have my hide for staying out so late by myself in the wilderness. She’d continue to have that reaction until I had a Pokemon of my own. 

Then no problem for some reason. 

—

I picked up Hoothoot from her trainer a little earlier than normal today. I wanted as much sunlight as possible to catalyze my experiment with the owl Pokemon.

I circled the Pokemon. She’d locked on her gaze and rotated her head to constantly follow my figure. “Ask yourself this, Hoothoot. What is a move?”

Hoothoot considered me for a moment by tilting her head and then suddenly pecked the ground at her feet. A small blast of dirt flew up, leaving a decent sized divot in the shape of her beak.

“Exactly!” I clapped my hands and shouted. “All a move is, is an action compounded by type energy to produce an effect.” I knelt down and poked at her beak. “You have a beak, therefore you can peck. You’re also a flying type, therefore you can naturally use flying energy. Combine those two together, and you have the Peck move.”

I picked up a leaf from the forest floor, stood up, and moved a few places away from Hoothoot. I held the leaf in my palm, showing it to the Pokemon.

“The Hoothoot line are also exceptional users of psychic type energy. To the point where I’m uncertain as to why your entire species isn’t classified as psychic/flying, if I’m honest.”

I pointed at the leaf in my hand. “Let’s test out another one of your moves, shall we? Confusion.”

Hoothoot widened her eyes, and a short, concussive blast of energy smacked painfully into my hand. Given the pinkish hue, it was bathed in psychic type energy. I shook my hand to relieve the pain as the shredded leaf fell to the floor. I picked up another one and repeated my pose.

“Now, what I want you to do is repeat that without using psychic energy. Just try to use your raw aura to hit this leaf.” Hoothoot tilted her head again, trying to process the instruction. She narrowed her eyes and attempted to perform. I felt my hand budge a little before being followed by a slight breeze. “See the difference? Your action was to manipulate the raw aura, but without the amplifying effect of the psychic type energy, very little happened.” 

I dropped the leaf and dusted my hands. “Time for the opposite. Build up your psychic energy like you would, but don’t use your aura to create an action.” Hoothoot concentrated once more, a barely visible pinkish hue built up around the Pokemon. “With no action to guide it, the energy has nothing to do but sit. Get it?” Hoothoot acknowledged but seemed to be visibly struggling to hold the energy back. “Ok, fire off another Confusion - at the leaf, not at me.” Her eyes broadened and a large plume of dirt kicked up in the air where her attack hit. 

The owl Pokemon hooted in shock at the strength of the attack. “Don’t be so surprised, that’s how conventional training works. You hold in more energy for longer and then use your move. Then just do that over and over till you can repeat a move at a consistent level of power while maintaining speed.”

I revealed the fire type gem we’d both spent so long spelunking for. “But that’s not what we’re here to do today.”

I walked over to her and tucked the orange gem under one wing. She ruffled her feathers at the unfamiliar warmth emanating from the gem. With another leaf on my outstretched palm, I made Hoothoot focus.

“Noctowls can learn two fire moves: Sunny Day and Heatwave, both through TMs. There is no reason you can’t learn Ember. That heat you’re feeling? That’s pure fire type energy. You’re going to do the same thing you did earlier - use the action for Confusion but without psychic energy. I want you to feel the fire energy in that gem and use it instead.” 

The first attempt, she was able to use raw aura, but no fire energy. 

Tucking the gem in tighter, she tried again. As the aura impacted my hand, I felt a slightly warm air, likening it to feeling warm breath on skin.

Hoothoot ruffled her feathers in irritation, narrowing her eyes as she fired her attack. Less force this time, but a few small sparks ignited over the leaf. “Good! Just like that!”

Again and again the little Pokemon tried. Sometimes sparks formed, sometimes just a push, but as the morning dragged on, nothing after nothing. The tiny owl Pokemon was testing the limits of her patience. Her normally hidden second leg was out and aggressively scratching the ground beneath her. 

I looked up at the sky, the sun was at its peak. “Hoothoot, stop.” I commanded the frustrated Pokemon. “Feel the heat on your feathers from the sun, draw in the power from the gem, feel the fire and meld it with your aura. Close your eyes. Let it build in you.”

Hoothoot did as I said. Her second foot retreated into her deceptively deep down. Her one free wing she flapped gently. 

Maybe it was the sun, or just a trick of the light, but for a moment I was sure I saw the warm orange glow of aura suffuse her form. Her eyes suddenly snapped open, she flourished her wing in a sharp upward motion and screeched out her determination.

My hand strained against an invisible force. Sparks crackled loudly and danced above the leaf and suddenly exploded in a strong, steady flame. 

“Ember!” I laughed aloud with a hand full of fire. “You did it!” Then I fully registered that my hand was on fire. With a panicked yell, I frantically pat my hands on the dirt to put it out. Next time, the leaf goes on the floor. 

“C’mon! Do it again!” Hoothoot was on her back, huffing and puffing from the effort; she gave me a baleful hoot before opening her wing to let the gem fall out. Picking it up, I noticed it was devoid of all energy and had a small crack running through it. In order to prove her point, she swiped her wing up in her prone position to recreate Ember. It sparked but no conflagration. 

“Hmm. Well, I guess we’re heading back into Dark Cave. A couple more and I think we’ll get there!”

—

For a young man such as myself, there are two great measures for success. Dropped jaws and dropped panties.

Thankfully, in the case of the elderly gentleman watching, stupefied as his little Hoothoot fired off Ember after Ember, it was very much the former.

“H-how?”

“A magician must never reveal his secrets, I’m afraid. At least not without adequate compensation.” I could smell the money filling my bank account as I rubbed my fingers together.

In the end it had taken a little less than a week, with two more dives into Dark Cave for more fire gems before Hoothoot could reliably manifest and draw on her own fire type energy. Now all it took was a flare of her little wing for the Ember attack to form.

“Kiki, this… in all my years. I’ve seen plenty of Pokemon use moves they usually shouldn’t be able to, but more often than not, that took years of training, research, and funds. You had none.” Mr Pokemon began as he pet the smug owl Pokemon in his embrace. “What you’ve achieved is unprecedented.”

“So does this mean I get my Pokedex?”

“Uki… I was going to provide you everything you desired, purely because you made the effort. If it took children overturning years of established Pokemon research in order to do so, no one would be eligible for a Pokedex.” He lightly scolded.

“Oh. Cool.” Have you ever felt dumb and smart at the same time?

“Go home Kiki. I’ll meet you down at Cherrygrove tomorrow. I’ll let you choose your starter and get you set up at home while you say your goodbyes to your mother.”

Today couldn’t come fast enough. Mr Pokemon and my mother were chatting about the details of my sponsorship while I flicked through the catalogue of starters Mr Pokemon was willing to give me.

I had access to the ranch via the box link function on the Pokedex. My brand spanking new Pokedex.

Flicking through, it became apparent that Mr Pokemon specialized heavily with normal type Pokemon. Aside from legends and mythics, he had everything from Aipom to Zigzagoon. Every region was represented, even Galar and Paldea.

A couple immediately jumped out at me. 

The Buneary line had decent stats, diverse utility, and not to mention the potential for mega evolution. 

Eevee was an all-time favourite with unbeatable versatility. 

But one stood out to me above all others. Especially given the type of training regiments I was developing, there was one Pokemon line currently that could properly benefit me and them equally.

The Teddiursa line.

The Ursaluna evolution had long since been forgotten, or merely relegated to history. My meta knowledge, coupled with my budding type energy theory, might just be able to return the Pokemon to modern awareness.

“I’ve made my choice.” I announced to the room.

My journey was ready to begin.