Viva01
patreon
Hard Enough - Chapter 319 -The Tree of Beginning roots and all
🕑 Added 2025-04-21 19:00:08 +0000 UTCThe upbeat attitude that had carried over from the previous night lasted for all of an hour before we reached a small slope that led out of the valley we’d been walking through.
Lucario speeding up was the first sign that something was off.
He got within twenty metres of the slope and gave the rocky formation standing adjacent to it a long look. Then his whole posture shifted, going from tense to outright twitching with anger.
Ah, I recognised this area from the movie. I’d half considered suggesting we avoid this area but considering that Lucario knew where we were going I felt it might have been too obvious to attempt to evade it.
So instead I’d stayed the course.
That didn’t mean I had to be heartless however. “Lucario? Are you alright?” I asked while stepping up to look from him to the rock formation. It was rather iconic with how it had a wave that curled back onto itself with a small ledge for someone to do a dramatic run out of sight fairly easily.
Right at the base of the rock formation, there also happened to be a Time Flower.
“This… this is where Sir Aaron left me,” Lucario announced with a gravelly voice as raw emotion escaped him. His hands trembled and his body twitched, while his eyes locked onto the site where he’d last seen Sir Aaron.
I grimaced. I’d known this was coming, but still… This was rough to experience.
“Hey, remember that he was successful in the end, so… we don’t know the full story,” I offered carefully. I gestured to the Time Flower. “Maybe that can help us out though?”
Lucario nodded. He took a moment to take a breath and regather himself. Then he strode forward with a glint of determination in his eyes as he knelt and cupped the Time Flower.
“Why, show me why you did it Sir Aaron!” whispered Lucario to the flower.
Like in the past, it twisted as the seed of aura within it rose and expanded to engulf the entire area around us. I quickly brought out my pokedex to record the scene that would play out.
The colours were just slightly off with a grayish tone overlapping the real world.
I glanced towards the best comparison we had. The rock formation itself was actually much larger in the past which made sense with time wearing it down.
I watched as Sir Aaron suddenly appeared, landing with a crouch on the edge of the ledge only for movement behind me to have me looking over to see a blinded Lucario, looking precisely as we’d seen him a few days ago, darting into the picture.
He barely got more than a few metres before Sir Aaron whipped around and hurled the scepter, spiking it into the ground.
“Sir Aaron!” barked the memory of Lucario as he began to be drawn into the sceptre.
I frowned, noticing that it actually took much longer to draw Lucario in than a normal pokeball would. I suppose modern pokeballs had that over ancient methods as well, I mused to myself.
I glanced up, watching as Sir Aaron didn’t give the scepter so much as a glance, continuing to sprint off the ledge only for a big Pidgeot to fly in. Sir Aaron jumped atop it and then flew away, trilling as it did so.
I frowned. Wow that… was a bit of a dick move there by Sir Aaron. I’d forgotten that he didn’t even say anything to Lucario before trapping him in the sceptre.
The sceptre finished absorbing Lucario and fell inert. I thought the memory was about to end, only for a clacking from the scepter’s jewels to announce that something else was about to happen.
A rumble swept through the area, and I felt a vague sense of vertigo. My eyes and ears told me I should be feeling an earthquake, while my sense of touch felt nothing had changed.
We turned to the side of the crossroads and found ourselves facing down what could only be described as an army racing towards us.
Despite knowing it had to be a memory, I still took a step back and braced myself as an Aggron ran through me followed by Houndoom, Steelix, and Rhydon. I even spotted a few Chraizard mixed into the army. Interspersed through the army humans raised.
“Move! Move! Move! We’ve got to catch those Crusher bastards in the flank! Surprise is key, so move faster!” roared a particularly brutish man wearing a helmet that looked of much better quality than the other soldiers.
A laugh that was particularly gravely caused the army to stop dead in its tracks with the pokemon staring straight ahead as from another direction a woman marched into view of the memory.
“Hahahaha! I knew you Redbark fools would try this trick! You’ve got to wake up earlier than dawn to catch us napping!” said the woman.
I blinked. She was wearing leather-like armour with various bone pieces of armor littered over her body. But what really caught my attention was that she looked like a much older Yolanda.
The officer in the Redbark army grimaced and raised a sword at her. “Ha! Redbark bravery will win the day even without our tactics! Men! Pokemon! Prepare to fight!” he ordered.
I noted he wasn’t sending his Charizard into the air which seemed like a massive tactical error only for the aged up Yolanda expy to snap her fingers and a Graveler, Onix, and even a Tyranitar appeared at her side.
“Crushers! Attack!” she roared and suddenly we found ourselves in the midst of a brawl. Or rather, just off to the side of the fight.
I glanced over, surprised that none of the pokemon or people engaged in the fight had noticed the scepter sticking into the ground. They were too consumed with fighting each other.
I watched as a Charizard was dragged into the ground by an Onix only for a few moments later blood to start seeping up from the ground.
The Redbark warriors countered with Aggron and Rhydon stepping forward only for the Tyrna—
“Argh! Enough! You shall not fight and destroy Rota!” roared Lucario as he channeled a powerful blast of aura and began unleashing it into the memories. The ball shot through the fighting groups doing nothing but tearing up the land around it.
Lucario continued to fire Aura Sphere after Aura Sphere, and he quickly became more erratic. When one got close to our group, Mewtwo snapped his hand and clenched it, causing Lucario to stiffen and rise into the air.
The Time Flower that had been near Lucario stopped showing us the memory locked within and the world returned to colour causing me to sway slightly as the vertigo-like feeling returned.
I switched the pokedex off and shook my head.
“Unhand me!” snarled Lucario.
“Control yourself,” responded Mewtwo with narrowed eyes, his hand firmly raised. “You are lashing out at phantoms.”
I stepped between them with my hands raised placatingly. “Easy there Mewtwo, he’s just getting triggered from old wounds.”
“He is weak,” sneered Mewtwo as he lifted his chin. I held back a snort of amusement. Was he trying to look down his nonexistent nose at Lucario?
I pushed that aside for later consideration and instead set my gaze so Mewtwo had to look me in the eyes.
I raised a pointed eyebrow at him. “So when you come face to face with Mew you’re not going to demand a fight from it, are you?”
Mewtwo narrowed his eyes at me, but I noted that he lowered Lucario back to the ground. Lucario sank to his knees, a slightly wild look still in his eyes.
I approached slowly with my hands outstretched. I stopped well clear of him. “Hey, just focus on breathing for now yeah, stay in this moment if you can.”
“How can I do that? I saw Aaron! He abandoned me and then there was the battle!” Lucario roared as he looked at me. Then his head roamed around. “There was a battle here! It… took place here!”
I nodded then, as kindly as I could said, “yes it did… three hundred years ago.”
Lucario blinked at me and it took him a long moment before he slumped. “It’s like a nightmare,” he said. “I keep expecting myself to wake up and to find it is the day before the battle… this…”
“The truth can sometimes be stranger than even our wildest imaginations, no?” I offered back.
Lucario snorted. “Indeed.” He took a shuddering breath and stood. “I wish to continue. I must see what became of my master.”
“Yeah? Sounds like a plan for now,” I replied, standing and dusting off my pants. I gave the time flower a look. “Man this plant really would be amazing for use in picking up crimes. I already think there’s going to be a lot of historians crawling over this site,” I commented.
Lucario snorted. “It only works for those that were present at the time of the event. Apparently my being trapped within the scepter was enough to register my presence at the time.”
I nodded. “Yeah I saw that. Honestly I’m amazed none of the pokemon or people even looked at your scepter.”
“Fortunate,” said Lucario. “In that manner, but at the same time unfortunate with being trapped in the first place.”
“Yeah, that’s a doozy,” I offered him casually.
We remained like that for a few moments, allowing things to continue calming down. I glanced over to find Mewtwo and Sabrina in conversation themselves. Mewtwo seemed… Contrite? His tail was rather limp and his gaze didn’t seem to be focused on anything. Hmmm whatever him and Sabrina were talking about it seemed to be working at least.
I gave Lucario a small smile as a thought occurred to me. “Oh, by the way? I absolutely see what you meant earlier when you said I looked like someone from the Crusher Tribe. That woman we saw was a dead ringer for someone I know.”
I shook my head sadly as Lucario smirked. “I can only hope she doesn’t go feral like that lady.”
“That was no lady,” replied Lucario and the only thing that alerted me to him joking was the way his tail twitched back and forth in a quick wag.
I chuckled and gave Lucario a nod to show I appreciated the joke.
“Right then, shall we continue?” I offered the group at large.
Sabrina and Mewtwo both nodded. I gave the ledge that Sir Aaron had departed on a thoughtful look. “So he used a Pidgeot to get out of here fast. How many pokemon would that have stirred up back then?” I asked Lucario.
Lucario frowned. “The forest has expanded greatly since my time,” he replied. “The number of pokemon along with their numbers will be greater. It used to be part of Sir Aaron and I’s duties to keep the northern forest tame so that if the Royal part desired to go on a Pidgeot hunt they could.”
I frowned. Somehow I didn’t get the impression it was like medieval earth’s falconry. There was every chance that Lucario literally meant hunting Pidgeots just now. I decided to not ask and instead hummed. “So potentially he would have gotten there without too many issues,” I said.
“We’ll have to keep walking just in case there are any other spots like this where we can pick up a trail,” I declared.
Lucario rubbed his chin. “There might be other ways. With the forest growing the Tree of Beginning has also grown.” he shifted nervously and gave Sabrina and I thoughtful looks. “I feel I was… incorrect in my earlier assessments of you. You are not spies and I believe I can entrust a secret of the tree to you.”
He waved a hand and led us further into the valley. The appendages on the back of his head rose slightly and began to tremble, alerting us that he was using aura to lead us.
We stayed quiet as he directed us further and further into the snaking crevasse until we reached a cave entrance that had several crystals poking out of it.
“Oh?” I asked, glancing at Lucario for an answer.
Lucario nodded. “These caves are not well known.” He paused and considered what he’d just said. “Well, they weren’t well known in my time. Judging by how deep into the forest we had to go, I doubt that knowledge of them is widespread.”
He gestured towards the cave entrance. “We can enter through here as the Tree’s root system extends out a vast distance.” Lucario shifted again. “The roots themselves… Hold a different world down there. Sir Aaron and I explored it a few times before… The battle,” he finished quietly.
“We’ll have an easier time moving forward if we go through the roots.” Lucario nodded. “I also think that it is the true route that Aaron would have used… three hundred years ago.”
I tilted my head and gave the three a thoughtful look. We’d reached the point that we were just underneath its canopy now and small glints of light flashed across the bark almost like someone had spread glitter across the tree.
It looked rather magical.
“Good adjustment,” I commented but Lucario just grunted and walked into the cave.
We followed passing numerous crystals that lit the cave up with ambient blue light. Each crystal we passed caused the hairs on the back of my neck to stand on end.
“There’s something… off about these crystals,” I declared.
Sabrina nodded. “There is some… awareness to them, or ambient presence that is shared between all of them.”
Sabrina and I shared a look. We’d discussed the Tree in detail before actually coming here so both of us knew better than to touch the crystals. I distinctly remember what I think was the bad guy… or girl in this case causing a defensive response from the tree by having her various flying probes landing on various crystals.
That had resulted in a red goo like substance chasing after everyone and eventually absorbing any human it came in contact with. I also remember that the red blobs were able to be destroyed by Lucario with his Aura Sphere.
So perhaps other pokemon could also stop them if we did trigger a defensive response.
Still, a pinch of prevention was worth a pound of cure as the saying goes, so Sabrina and I both steered well clear of the crystals.
I still drew out the pokedex to record what I was seeing though. We walked for a few minutes through the twisting caverns with a quiet anticipation building the further we went.
When we reached an open cavern my anticipation paid off in truckloads as we stepped out into a giant new world.
Gentle hills covered in green and blue grasses swayed as what looked like a herd of Stantler moved through them. I saw rivers of water flowing along, carrying Goldeen, and Magikarp. In the air Swablu and Altaria flew, singing languidly.
Everywhere I looked there was a vibrancy on display with the caverns teeming with life.
On the rooftop huge crystals shone down, casting light over the entire cavern. I gave one of the closer ones a thoughtful look. That cluster must have been at least as big as the Gym in size.
Reaching up to the cavern roof, looking more like pillars were the Tree of Beginning’s roots that upon touching the ground caused large slopes and hills to form around them. In a few of the points the roots came down, I could spot numerous caverns where pokemon drifted in and out.
“It really is like a whole new world down here,” I murmured, panning my pokedex around slowly.
Lucario nodded. “It’s grown far bigger than it used to be,” he said solemnly. “I’m not sure where the other side is of this cavern…” he raised his snout into the air and sniffed. “It used only to take a few hours to traverse from one side to the other.”
I blinked. “Is that at your walking pace or running pace?” I asked. Once again, the difference in terms and language was a bit of a sticking point.
Lucario mused for a second. “There were times when I needed to run due to the slopes and ridges that had formed…” He shifted back and forth for a while still in thought. “It took around the same amount of time to reach the other side as it did for us to reach this site from breaking camp,” he said after a moment.
I frowned and puzzled that out for a bit trying to do the math in my head of the twists and turns along with how far we would have travelled.
Sabrina glanced at her watch. The cavern used to be at least ten kilometres across by my estimate. Was it uniform in size? And was it taller or shorter?”
Lucario frowned, directing his attention to the distant ceiling. Mewtwo watched on with a vague air of disinterest. Eventually we worked out that the cavern, at least in Lucario’s time, was roughly thirteen cubic kilometres in volume which… was frankly crazy to consider.
But that was nothing considering that the cavern was vastly bigger now.
“So three hundred years of growth huh?” I mused as I rubbed my chin. I put a finger and hummed in thought. From floor to ceiling it would almost be closer to a kilometre now by my reckoning but the spaces weren’t uniform. In places, it dipped and rose naturally, which would have caused the estimates to be wildly off.
Even just doubling the volume of space thanks to the higher ceiling, then we reached something like twenty-six cubic kilometres. So this cavern, where we couldn’t even see the end, must be much much bigger than even that.
“I wonder…” I started to say as a thought occurred to me. I already knew that prehistoric pokemon were possible to find here, according to the knowledge I had from the movie, but… What were the odds that other ancient pokemon might be here?
I eyed some of the crystals hanging from the ceiling as I pondered. “Seems like the cavern gets natural lightning from the crystals. I wonder if they go inert during the night?”
“It would get very, very dark here if that were the case,” Sabrina prompted.
I nodded and cast my eyes over the various pokemon. “I’m not seeing many… actually, I’m not seeing any predator pokemon at all, are you?” I asked.
Sabrina took a moment to survey the area and then her eyes began to glow. “Hmmm interestingly, I’m not.”
“So that could mean they either don’t exist here, or… they might be dark typed,” I suggested.
“Or I might not know that pokemon,” offered Sabrina with a shrug.
“I had wondered if there were other region’s pokemon here,” I replied.
Mewtwo shifted. “Why does it matter?”
I gestured at the cavern. “Ecosystems don’t typically operate in isolation. We’re seeing a lot of different pokemon here, but no predators right now.
“Now that could mean a lot of things but with how lush the landscape is, there should be some form of deterrent to control the population of herbivore pokemon otherwise, they would have exploded in population and devoured everything,” I lectured.
“It’s one of the reasons swarms are so annoying to deal with as they sweep through a region, devour everything they can and then leave local populations to starve.”
I waved a hand at the lush grass and small flowers that were spread widely throughout the cavern. “That hasn’t happened, therefore there must be something controlling the population.”
I shifted and pointed at some small caves leading off to the side. In one of the closer ones I could make out red eyes. “I’m thinking that a darkened cavern might be the perfect place for a dark type, which psychics typically can’t detect,” I teased.
“There are seven within fifty metres of us,” added on Lucario with his arms crossed while the appendages on the back of his head trembled, indicating he was using aura to inspect the world around us. “There are also a pod of Carvanha within the closest pond that are lurking in the depths waiting for something to drink from this pond or for rains to fill the waters and allow them to move along.”
I nodded. “Yup that sounds about right.”
Inwardly I sighed however. With this not being a paradise for pokemon the chances of their being a herd of pokemon that might have been from another region drastically decreased due to the their inability to replenish from outside.
Not unless they were perfectly suited for living within a cavernous environment like this anyway.
I sighed. “Well, let’s keep moving,” I said with a slight slump.
Lucario glanced at me and then Sabrina. “What happened just now? His energy levels dipped.”
Sabrina giggled. “Brock was hyping things up.” She floated up next to me and linked arms. “For someone who just caught a Legendary pokemon I don’t think you have much room to complain,” she said pointedly.
I sighed again. “I know I just… well when you find a secret cavern like this… well I might have let my dreams cloud my mind.” I shook my head and made a what can you do gesture.
“Hmph, let’s continue forwards. I wish to meet the Guardian of this Tree,” Mewtwo declared as he floated forward, leaving the rest of us to take a slightly more circuitous route. I glanced at the route I’d need to take before huffing and giving Sabrina a nod.
She smirked and we began to float after Mewtwo. Lucario hopped down the slope, ignoring vast distances with his well trained abilities.
We continued moving forward, only pausing when we reached a new valley where I would pause and take a slow recording of the area for later examination.
I spotted a cluster of Omanyte and Kabuto a few times but sadly each time we did so they were in deep water where they dove down to avoid us.
I could perhaps send Shrek in to fish them out, but with the small caverns I could see they’d likely just escape, so I let them be and continued to search for a suitable group.
I huffed and slumped where I was in the air. “It seems having Mewtwo with us is a bit of a double edged sword,” I said as another cluster of Kabuto dove to avoid us as soon as we got close.
Sabrina nodded and patted my head in commiseration.
The only pokemon that attempted to confront us was a Carvanhathat was far too greedy for its own good. It surged out of the water with Aqua Jet at Lucario only for Lucario to swat it out of the air like an errant bug.
“Huh that was a pretty gutsy little fish,” I commented as we floated by overhead.
Lucario shot us all an annoyed look, but I just waved letting it wash over me as we drifted.
When we passed by a particularly large root I stiffened. “Oh! Oh! Stop there!” I whispered, catching sight of a cluster of Omanyte and a single Omastar that were up on land!
We descended and I drew out two pokeballs before flicking out Shrek to land in the shallows and block them. “Knock them back Shrek!” I ordered as the group tried to tuck and roll into the water.
The Omastar in the group cried out and locked onto Shrek as it shot in front of the others to face him. Shrek met the Omastar with a snort and a powerful Hydro Pump that nailed the Omastar back up the slope and into the dirt.
The smaller Omanyte all thrilled with fear seeing their large protector getting laid out like that, halting their escape. Rather than scatter and flee they scuttled over to the downed pokemon and nudged it while crying out plaintively.
I tilted my head. “Huh? What’s this? You’re all more worried about your friend than yourselves?” I asked as Sabrina dropped me off near Shrek.
A tiny Omantye spun and bristled at me waving its tentacles defensively.
I considered them for a few moments, then dropped to my knees. “Sorry, I’ve gone about this the wrong way. I’m Brock and I’d like to take one or two of you back to my home where others of your kind are. I won’t take you if you don’t want to come, but I promise to look after you.” I offered my hand. “I can also help make you stronger.”
That got the little Omanyte to perk up and I smiled as the group conferred with each other before the little Omantye stepped forward. “Oh? You want to come?” I asked. “Well I should also mention that you’ll be part of a breeding pro—” three other Omantye stepped forward leaving the rest to stand around the downed Omastar.
I chuckled and pulled out some pokeballs to tap them on the shells. I left the smallest one for last and it made a show of grabbing my hand when I reached down to it. It squeezed my hand once as it stared into my eyes. I met its gaze firmly and it nodded so that it tapped itself into the pokeball.
I hummed and put a little marker on that Omanytes pokeball. I might have a new contender for my fourth tier Gym matches if that little one has the right kind of spunk.
I dusted my hands off and returned Shrek. The cluster of Omanyte and downed Omastar got a pile of Oran berries I had on hand for their troubles which seemed to make them all rather pleased.
Groups of Kabuto sadly proved to be more cautious, staying in the watery depths, so I couldn’t catch any of them but I did find some Lileep to send home for the Breeding program.
This time I led with the Breeding program perk however. It got faster results.
As we were passing by a rather dense patch of shrubs and bushes Sabrina stopped our progress to the centre. “Brock there is a pokemon down there that you might be interested in, but it’s not doing very well.”
I frowned as we descended only to find a rather beaten Armaldo. It struggled towards a berry bush only to slump and go still. I dropped to the ground near it and drew out a potion. “Hey there Armaldo, didn’t think I’d see one of you around,” I said.
Only one of Armaldos eyes opened as it peered at me. “Mal…do,” it said sadly.
I hummed. “Looks like something did a number on you…”
Armadillo nodded glumly. “Ar… mal…” It replied.
Sabrina landed next to me. “He says that his group were recently devoured by the Carvanha in another pond while he and the others were making their way across the waters to this feeding ground. He only survived by evolving.”
“Oh, that’s rough buddy,” I offered, reaching out and giving him a gentle pet.
Armaldo sniffled and leaned into the touch. Sabrina sighed. “He’s surprisingly young but fought off several of the Carvanha to reach this island.”
I hummed and glanced up at the berries. “Your family just wanted to taste those berries huh?” I didn’t hesitate to march over to the bush, only to pause at what I found.
“Tamato berries…” I said, slowly. I quickly recalled something about this and a few other berries that were part of the ‘poisoned fruit’ branch which trainers learned to avoid in primary school.
Sabrina turned. “Brock?” she asked with a frown only to spot the berry bushes. “Oh…”
I shook my head and glanced at Armaldo. “You ever had any of these buddy?” I asked.
Armaldo shook his head sadly. “Maldo…” he replied.
Sabrina gave him a pitying look. I made a show of plucking some of the berries only to swap them out with some Razz berries that I had on hand. I deposited the berries on the ground. “You should eat these, you and your family worked hard to get them, no?”
Armaldo shot me a heartfelt look as he scooped some up and devoured them. After a few mouthfuls, Armaldo broke into huge sobs as he enjoyed the meal his family never got to have.
I pat him on the shoulder. “It’s alright, let it out buddy,” I offered and after a while he finished eating and sat with a lost look. I gave the leftover razz berries a look. It was a touch unfair, with the effects of razz berries and all… but then again I was saving him from a bad situation. “Hey Armaldo, would you like to come to my home? I have a small Anorith that I think would love to meet you. From what I can tell you’ve got a lot of heart and I think you’d be a great addition, so how about it?”
Armaldo broke into huge tears as he nodded rapidly. I gave him a soft smile as I tapped a pokeball to his chest. “See you back home soon then buddy.”
When the pokeball teleported away, I sighed and gave the Tamato berry bushes a look. Lucario, who’d been watching on stepped forward. “Why are you giving the berry bushes such looks?”
I blinked. “Ah, right, this isn’t something they worked out in your time I imagine, but certain berries, if devoured in enough quantities can actually be detrimental to the pokemon.”
I huffed. “They are known as the Cursed branch of berries and you shouldn’t allow your pokemon to eat them as they will become weaker from doing so.”
Sabrina nodded. “There is even a nursery rhyme taught to all children to make the lesson stick.”
Lucario blinked. “A rhyme?”
Sabrina shot me a look and I rolled my eyes at her, of course she didn’t want to sing the song.
“I only remember it because of how many times the kids had to sing it back home.” I stood and shifted my pose to be more childish as I broke into song.
“Pomeg and Kelpsey, they’ll tickle your nose,
Then spin you around from your head to your toes!
Qualot is tricky, sickly yellow it’s true,
It whispers, “I’m sweet!” but it’s lying to you.
Hondew may shimmer with sugary gleam,
But eat it, and you'll fall into a dream…
Grepa’s grin and Tamato’s spike,
Mean danger you’ll find on a hike!
So remember this rhyme if you’re out to explore,
And berries you’ve never seen growing galore—
If their names sound strange or you're not really sure,
Best leave them alone and stay safe and pure!
No, no, no! Don't take a bite,
Even in the pale moonlight!
Some fruits heal, but some betray—
So toss those berries far away!”
Lucario and Mewtwo both stared at me. I coughed. “It’s a simple method to make sure lessons like this spread and are retained,” I explained.
Lucario nodded slowly. “No, it… actually makes a good deal of sense.” Lucario glanced around. “This is yet another reason I suppose people are able to develop pokemon to greater heights than those raised in the wild. The wilds can be treacherous,” he stated.
I nodded and gave the Tamato berries a final look before leaving. While Armaldo had a great heart, he had some rotten luck. His family had been on the way to eat a fruit that would have made them slower, and therefore easier pickings for the Carvanha.
It wasn’t how they were presented in the games. I was just glad I’d never used them in my ignorance as a trainer starting out.
I shook my head, knowing that stories like this were common outside the cultivated wilds that the Rangers maintained. “Come on, let’s keep heading north, I want to be as close to the trunk as possible before we ascend.”
I suspected that would let us find some caverns leading upwards and from there, we’d be able to do a home visit where we would find ourselves a Mew.
_______________________
A.N. Thanks go to my patreons for your continued support! I hope I got the berries right! Most of the listed Berries are known to lower an EV stat in game and raise friendship. Now in the game there are pretty good reasons to do this but in a pokemon world… I don’t think using EV’s would slot in, at least with the way I’ve written HE anyhow!
Thanks also go to Twmmy for proofreading this chapter!
Comments
KarmaA
TFTC Chraizard > Charizard Royal part desired > party Carvanhathat > add space
Jeremy Humphrey
Spell check moment on the Carvanha huh?
HonorBound Fate
Click the left one
HonorBound Fate
Hey viva I found a couple of interesting pictures. https://x.com/pokeferlax/status/1593558682415108096 I suggest you click the left one.
Alexander Gofric
I wonder if Lucero will end up joining Brock. There is an argument to be had for him to stay in Rita and protect the queens as descendants of Aaron but there is also an argument for him to leave Rota and gain a degree of separation from his past and learn to live in this new age. There are a lot of loaded memories in Rota and it might be better mentally for him to get some distance. Also he could help the guardians with their world saving missions thereby assisting with his guardian of aura duties and ostensibly still protecting Rota from world wide threats. I hope he joins Brock Brock could do with another fighting pokemon who could help Brock and all his family and trainers reach their peak aura capabilities as someone trained by sir Aaaron a full fledged aura guardian.
uavgas
Brock finding some carbink would be epic. Imagine how excited his sisters would be if he brought them bback. Now that would be just about worth an interlude.
HoldTightAndPretendItsAPlan
I wonder if all the predator pokemon being dark type has anything to do with Mew being psychic type...
HoldTightAndPretendItsAPlan
Hey, will Armaldo suffer some short term or long term effects from the rushed evolution? From Brock's observation the Armaldo is very young which makes me think the evolution was an act of desperation. Will he be unable to learn some moves? Or have stunted growth?
HoldTightAndPretendItsAPlan
I'm going to headcannon that razzle berries can come in different colors (like apples). Hence why, when Brock did the swap, it wasn't noticed by the poor Armaldo
HoldTightAndPretendItsAPlan
Probably won't get overshadowed on the grounds that the researchers don't have access to Regirock right now but they *do* have access to these fossil pokemon.
Rex2000m
Hope Brock finds a galarian zigzagoon since it’s Pokédex entry it’s the oldest form of zigzagoon
9Tales
I kinda wanna see an interlude chapter for the reactions of everything brock is sending back.
9Tales
I was thinking the same thing I would love for him to find them maybe a gigaleth or 2
Nitrous_Hail
Cavanagh -> carvanha Armadillo -> armaldo
Vexdt
A good (violent) one just to be sure ;)
Alexander Gofric
I’m still hoping Brock catches the other Regis. Regirock will be lonely without his fellow golems. Also given all the prehistoric pokemon I hope a Tyrunt is a possibility or given all the crystal and the fact they are underground in a cave system Brock finds some Carbink who live underground in cave systems like this according to their Pokédex entry.
Ch W
Thanks for the chapter. Does Redbark still exist in modern-day Pokeworld? Blackthorn clan are they closer or farther from Rota compared to Pewter City? How seriously should take Game freak's map of Johto/Kanto? Noticing the naming sense of Redbark and Blackthorn has led me down a diglett hole
Alexander Gofric
Poor Armaldo!!! He needs a face hug from Anorith pronto.
angie bell
I love interaction Brock doing with the wild Pokémon can’t wait for more ancient Pokémon and Sabrina finding some friends also that time flower I’m loving the crusher they seem fun!
Docnox
…. Where on earth do people get the monday off?!
Seanfrks
I'm kinda split on wanting him to find a tyrunt or several while he is here.
TypistTyphon
Love this chapter! Great arc so far!
Matt H
It won't happen, but imagine if Sabrina came out of this trip with both Mew and Mewtwo. The amount of alarm and panic within the League would be amusing to see.
Cory
Kinda weird that this is the first time in the whole fic that Brocks just walked up to a pokemon and beat it senseless in order to catch it. He's usually more diplomatic. Must still be coming down from the battle high with Regirock.
Jericho Rising
I'm loving this spelunking segment. All the pokemon and the ecosystem makes up for missing out on the grandpa canyon trip. I like the way you've changed up the berries, makes sense that evs don't exactly fit in with HE but the fact you use them as a "poisoned" debuff berry instead really fits in with their original uses.
Marco Monteiro
Oh that Armaldo broke my heart... What a brave little one.
Qweku_v
Thanks for the chapter
Oblivious Bookwyrm
Whelp, that’s why you’re the Gogoat when it comes to Pokemon fanfictions. Was that rhyme canon?? Or did you literally pull that out of your ass wholesale?!
Swampfox
TFTC also I think your autocorrect changed all Carvanha to Cavanagh.
Christopher Ozouf
This trip to rota is going well for Brock's pokemon collection. I hope Sabrina manages to get one or two for herself before this is all over.
ShinLupin
more fossil-pokemon, that might cause a bit of a stir at home. Or be completely overshadowed by Regirock.
Jericho Rising
Oh my you've posted on Easter Monday. Much appreciated Viva but do try to enjoy the last day of the long weekend if you can. I honestly didn't expect a chapter this week and very much appreciate it.
readerdreamer5625
I also remember Tamato berries being unbearably spicy, not just in the games, but also in the anime. Basically anyone who ate them would breathe fire and suffer from cartoonishly swollen lips, including of course Ash. Even May would only use a single spine from a Tamato in her recipes with how spicy it was. If that was the kind of berry your family died trying to get, that's just straight up Shoot the Dog levels of bad luck. At least if it was just cursed you could still eat it and not know that there was an issue until long after. But given they're the equivalent of Pokemon Ghost Peppers, it's not even something edible in the end...
4eyedmonster
shame we havent seen any aerodactyle yet, as I imagine don would love to recreate his wingull harem (mentioned before) with actual aerodactyles. Or alternatively, get beaten down by an Alpha Aerodactyle protecting the flock. Either option would be funny, with the rest reacting to it
Donald Bagwell
Thanks for the chapter
Homeless One
Great stuff, also, Pokemon for the Gym! Hoping to see more of that. Hilarious that the breeding program is what got most of them to join.
