“I'll have to see if these are affected by my ‘system’...” Joshua mumbles to himself as he finishes inspecting and questioning chat about what he just found.
Berries.
Specifically, Pokemon berries, from the gardening club, he thinks. Again there's no fucking signs anywhere so he's just guessing.
There were a few seed packets, as well as the nutritional values, effects, and even diet recommendations for the few that actually survived being neglected in the cold.
Okay, now listen. Joshua didn't really have any expectations going into this. The only reason he bothered checking this out was because he needed to heal Blitzle, and the potions in the medical center expired.
Jophiel has been an angel (ironic) and has been stabilizing them with a low power Heal Pulse this entire time. But obviously it wasn't enough. He was seriously considering running back to the medical center and jerryrigging the healing pad with a pis battery, or keeping Blitzle in their pokeball to keep them in ‘stasis’.
But then he remembered the berries.
After consulting with chat, who kindly confirmed that “berry club” is in fact real and a common extracurricur in most schools, and NOT some made up name to fuck with him- Joshua found himself in a sideroom with a bunch of dead pnts, looking at the nutritional info of the berries (someone in chat copy-pasted the info for him).
And he finds himself stunned.
Joshua wanted to be a veterinarian.
He's studied animals since he was in middle school, and had a habit of doing research on things like proper diets and nutrition for different animals at the zoo his mom used to take him to, the same zoo he eventually interned at for a while.
So, he can say this with full confidence, even when surrounded by a magical psychic pony, a walking anthrax bomb wrapped in a hazard suit, and even a zebra-themed duracell battery…
Berries are fucking broken.
Oran berries and Leppa berries specifically, but Oran itself is just… come ON!
Berries themselves are just… perfect! They fulfill every single nutritional need an animal/Pokemon might have, sure it's not perfect, but the fact that a single berry every day can repce a basic diet pn is INSANE.
Of course you can get away with just berries, but looking at the numbers, and doing some calcutions in his head, Joshua figures that you still need to add specific vitamins and other supplements on top of the ft base increase across the board for optimized nutrition.
Leppa berries replenish a Pokemon's “reserve” of type-energy, while Oran berries heal the body and replenish a Pokemon's reserve of stamina (neutral energy, not to be confused with normal type-energy).
But here's the thing, there's seemingly no hard limit to its restoration properties, the effect doesn't get less potent the more you ingest.
Joshua remembers that with Jophiel’s training, there's a small but tangible increase in not only the control but the quantity of type-energy she can store and use.
For Pokemon, their energy reserves are like muscles.
He doesn't know how Arceus did it, but she(?) managed to create the perfect workout drugs.
“Do they even know…?” He mumbles to himself.
He looks at chat.
They… don't? Everybody is just commenting on the berries, but nobody is mentioning what he's thinking.
They have this… and they don't even know?!
Is Big Berry keeping this under wraps?
He chuckles at that.
“Definitely adjusting Jophiel’s diet”
Joshua heads back to the mares, a short walk to the medical center.
Oh yeah, Blitzle is a girl.
He wasn't sure at first, and it's not like she could tell him while being unconscious, and he doesn't want to refer to her as ‘it’ or ‘they’ the entire time, so as he does a physical on her, checking her health, he takes a quick look and confirms it.
Joshua had to ignore the INTENSE daggers being shot into him by Jophiel after that, sering into the back of his head like it was trying to burn a hole through it.
Times like this makes him wish they still had a Link, because instead of Jophiel just being protective of her new “sister” like he thought, the sulking after that entire exchange and the refusal to meet his eye tells him something else.
She's jealous.
Of a pyshical.
Truly, White Horse continues to be an enigma.
Oh, and Gabriel managed to blow up a fire extinguisher.
He didn't even know that was possible.
Fucking Nightmare World man.
…
[POV: STEVEN STONE]
“I want at least one Ranger in every single school in Hoenn, at the very least those with three badges”
Steven rubs his temples, leaning against his desk as Metagross hovers beside him, a screen is dispyed in front of him.
His council is called together again, along with the chief of the police force, and a representative of the Pokemon Rangers.
One of his finance people adjusts his tablet, tapping on it and furrows his eyes.
“Mr. Stone, that is not cheap…”
“Set up a program for the Rangers. We already have something simir with young trainers learning from them, Rangers who agree to look over a school get a heavy discount on educational needs and get moved up the schorship list”
You're only legible if you have a certain amount of badges, he didn't say, but the implication is there.
“That… could work”
Someone else on the council speaks up as the financial rep taps away on his tablet. He's an older man with graying hair.
“Steven, what is this all about anyways? Are we…”
Going to war, the idea fshes uncomfortably through everyone's heads, but Steven shakes his head.
He doesn't say anything, he just taps on his keyboard and a clip of the “Nightmare” stream. The scene where Joshua enters the gym.
Those who've seen this before only grimace and turn away. But for the few that haven't been in the stream, they stare wide eyed at the screen.
Steven says nothing as one of the representatives vomits into a trashcan he's pced there prior.
Even as Champion, such sights of gore is…
Deep breath.
He then turns to the chief of police.
“Any updates on what school this is, Mr. Smith?”
The chief nods, adjusting his gsses before pulling up his tablet. He looks a bit pale, but he's been aware of the “school incident” prior to the meeting.
“Yes. We've had calls come in from citizens who recognize the pce, and even an employee who used to work there. According to them, the school was identified as… there it is, ‘Tauros Trail Junior-High’, located in the outskirts of Saffron City”
“Kanto?” Steven raises an eyebrow.
He nods.
Steven can feel a headache starting.
“You're telling me… that a school in one of the biggest cities in Kanto… full of Pokemon and, let me remind you, CHILDREN, just… vanished? And not only was it not reported, but nobody even noticed it?”
“That's the thing, Champion. The, uh… the school is still there”
Steven pauses.
“...what?”
“We checked, turns out the force in Kanto figured it out before we did. The pce is still there, still running. And uh… just… look”
The chief shares a few pictures, pulling them up to the big screen.
It's the school, but it's… different.
Normal.
Not in just the sense that it's not sandwiched between two mountains, but the pce looks used, which makes sense.
The paint has a fresh coat, there's signs hanging up on the walls, apparently some parents and students raised compints that it was impossible to navigate whenever the school first opened, as there were no signs at all.
The school added signs years ago.
There's decorations, posters and drawings along the walls. Someone even brought in another Kirlia cardboard cutout for the one in the library so it could have a friend.
He almost chuckles at that, but then something clicks as he looks over the personnel.
The teachers, the students, even the combination of Pokemon that schools would keep as teaching assistants, all of them are… familiar.
Steven’s eyes flicker back to the stream, to the corpses in the gym. The people are unrecognizable, but a champion can pick out a Pokemon with his eyes closed.
Pichu, Bidoof, Growlithe, Chansey, Riolu.
His eyes go to the schools yearbook photo.
Pichu, b assistant. Bidoof, gardening assistant. Growlithe, PE teachers Pokemon. Chancey, assistant nurse. Riolu, drama assistant.
Steven's hands clench tightly around his seat.
How?
HOW?
His mind races.
Some kind of time anomaly?
Is the school fake? Are those corpses even real? That doesn’t make sense! Jophiel confirmed they were real! So what is going on?!
Metagross hums beside him.
“The… internet, how are people reacting to this?”
Steven sighs, reigning his focus back to the meeting.
“Poorly”
To say it lightly.
“PokeTwitch is getting swarmed with calls from angry parents. Luckily, after the first fiasco, they were very understanding that it's outside of their control. The company is looking to add an age restriction feature to stop children from watching the stream, which is a clever idea I must admit”
“The chat seems lighthearted…”
“That's for Joshua's sake”
Raised eyebrows across the table makes Steven smile mirthly.
“Joshua needs all the support he can get. I would like to believe Jophiel and Dr. Ambers will be enough, but that would be foolish. Chat understands that while our favorite Horse Trainer-”
He hears a snort somewhere in the room.
“-is tough as an Onix, he's in dire need of mental support. He doesn't need to see a bunch of negativity as soon as a traumatic event happens- Arceus above he's got enough of those- so they are trying to keep him… distracted”
“And that… works?”
His eyes gnce over at the stream. Currently, it's Joshua tending to that Blitzle, not noticing or ignoring the sulking Ponyta beside him.
Steven can see the countless messages from Pokemon in chat, they're all smugly ughing like they're all in on some kind of inside joke. Some others can see it, but others are clueless.
Steven chuckles, but he silently wishes Joshua good luck.
Speaking of…
He wonders what kind of weird name Joshua will give her, he'll have to ask what they mean ter.
“It's working enough. I just wish there were more we could do about his privacy…”
Several nods come from around the table.
“Now… excuse me, I have to make a statement… Thank Arceus nobody has called for a press conference”
He shivers at that.
The talk with Palkia couldn't arrive any slower.
…
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?Topic: School Confirmed!
In: Boards ? Online Entertainment ? Streamers ? Joshua Abrams
PikaPikaPokaPee (Original Poster) (League Consultant)
Posted On Apr 23rd, 20××:
Hey all! I know we're all still shaken up about what happened, but we actually confirmed which school that was!
Tauros Trail Junior-High.
[THIS] is their website, and [THIS] is the interview the Pokemon League had with some of the staff.
Edit: (Links, thanks @IonoZone)
[IMG]
[IMG]
[IMG]
?DarkAsKnight (Verified Umbreon)
Replied On Apr 23rd, 20××:
Wait, they're alive? My trainer has been all gloomy so this'll be good.
[Gabriel_smile.png]
?30MillionRattata (Kanto Resident)
Replied On Apr 23rd, 20××:
I'm going to be honest, I may take a break from watching the stream. That was just… yeah.
?AbraStabacra
Replied On Apr 23rd, 20××:
Okay I checked the pics and links, and I gotta say this is just weird.
If you look on the website, the school was opened in 20xx, that's… what? 3-4 years? How the school looks during the opening ceremony looks like how it does in stream.
And if you look at the Pokemon (I know, I didn't want to either) you can see that they're younger than what they are now in their current pic.
Look, [IMG] [IMG] [IMG], Rotom brightened the image for me, but the Bidoof in the monster world looks more like how it did when the school first opened. OUR Bidoof looks older.
It's a stretch, but did the “world” just take a copy (or recreate) of the school and randomly pce it in the mountains?
(Edit: The Pokemon in question have been told about this, they're shaken up quite a bit. Poor Riolu went home for the day)
?WeedleWaddle (Bug-Type Specialist)
Replied On Apr 23rd, 20××:
The Nightmare World proves the existence of different “dimensions” or “pnes”. Maybe it just took one from an alternate world? Makes more sense that an entire school just disappearing with nobody noticing a thing.
?Aether#294291 (Aether Foundation)
Replied On Apr 23rd, 20××:
Not true, there's no proof of that at all.
(User has received an infraction! Mod: Stop spamming this, you've done this on other threads too, cut it out)
…
In the worldwide servers, a dedicated team of experts and Pokemon work to manage the internet. Keeping it stable, making sure no malicious software is shown to the public. Moving the parts around to keep the great machine that is the worldwide web afloat.
Somewhere, a duck-shaped Pokemon with yellow ringed eyes finds a line of code that seems…
…flexible.
