PokeWild

David kneeled on the rolled up tent while he fastened the rope around it.

Packing up had not taken long this morning. He was starting to get the hang of all this gear. Each piece from the tent to the canteen was basic, clearly designed to be as cheap as possible to manufacture, but while they skimped on complexity they kept the quality high. Everything took effort to put together or take apart, but nothing bent under the force.

His clothes were still a bit damp so the work warmed him up nicely.

After getting back from the training session with Fred yesterday, both his clothes and he had needed a wash. He was starting to feel the pain of only having one set to wear. You could live with a single set, but it wasn’t comfortable.

That said, the sky was clear this morning and he expected to dry up quickly on the walk to the market.

The knot tightened into place and David attached the rolled tent to the bottom of the backpack. He stood and swung the backpack onto his shoulders in a now practiced motion. After a quick glance around the clearing to ensure he hadn’t forgotten anything, he untangled the backpack’s straps and crouched to pick up the berry crate.

The crate wasn’t anywhere near full, but it was easier to carry it with both hands rather than try to squeeze the berries into his bag. The woods to the south of the Route 7 path were as berry barren as the north side. They would have arrived back empty handed if it wasn’t for Pidgey’s sharp eyes. After an hour with no signs of any bush - bare or not, David had given up. He’d started to walk north and back to the path when Pidgey burst into chirps.

Pidgey had led David around a few trees until they reached what looked like a small brown Christmas tree. A quick search through his foraging manual identified the berries as Wepear. Without any wild Pokemon around he was able to pick 5 of the ripe berries. They had returned to the clearing triumphantly for dinner.

Which wasn't so glorious.

David had a cold salad and Pidgey polished off the last Leppa berry. She hadn’t been impressed by her selection, going as far as to bury her beak under a wing when presented with a Wepear berry.

David double checked that Pidgey’s pokeball was in the backpack before setting off.

The walk into the town was as relaxing as expected. His clothes dried as the sun rose and he was greeted by a few enthusiastic joggers. He was starting to recognise faces.

David weaved through the streets on the familiar path to the market pausing only outside the library. It was currently closed but he spent a minute looking for an information board or list of rules. There was nothing.

It’d been two days since he had been kicked out. The librarian hadn’t said how long the ban would last, but he hoped it was over by now. There was so much he still needed to find out. With a disgruntled sigh, David left. The library wouldn’t be open for another hour and he had business to attend to.

-.-

“Good morning Benny.”

“Morning David,” Benny replied with a small wave. He gestured at David’s crate and then at an empty spot at the back of his table.

The old merchant’s stall was already set up and he was relaxing behind the table on a folded chair with his hands in his pockets. For the first time since David had met the man, his overalls were berry stain free.

He didn’t think he was any later than usual so Benny must have arrived early.

“I have a few berries for you today.” David set the crate down and plucked a Wepear out to pass over.

Benny took the berry with a grunt. He inspected it briefly before standing up and examining the other four berries.

“Perfect condition and the right amount to sell as a group. I will give you 40P each. 200 total.”

“Deal,” David agreed with a smile.

Benny shook his head as he counted out the money. “I hope you aren’t this agreeable when you’re buying from the market.”

“I trust you,” David replied. 200P was also the most money he’d seen so far in this world. It would more than double his savings.

Benny raised an eyebrow.

“And I checked the prices at the other stalls,” David finished with a grin. He took the Poke and added it to the pile in his pocket. He had 320P. He could afford to buy a Potion and still have change.

“You’re not devoid of sense then. Now go on. You’re blocking my customers’ view.” Benny waved him away.

David’s grin widened and he turned only to pause. The grin slipped a little. “I don’t suppose you’ve heard of anyone looking for labor? Some temporary work?”

Berries were keeping his head above water, but he wouldn’t have earned anything today if it wasn’t for a last minute bit of luck and Pidgey’s eyes. They spent hours searching the woods and five berries was all they found.

Benny’s shoulders drooped and he shook his head. “I’m afraid not. I don’t have the contacts in the city that I used to. Try some of the other stalls.”

David thanked him and left. Unfortunately he’d already tried the other stalls.

He headed for the library at first, but diverted off route when he felt a shake in his bag. It wasn’t long before he came across a park. He jogged in and over to a quiet spot.

Pidgey appeared with a low shrill and the customary burst of light.

David remembered to close his eyes this time. When he opened them again, Pidgey was hopping in a circle around him. With her inspection complete, she hopped over to David and peered up at him expectantly.

David cut the flying food sachet open and laid it on the ground. Pidgey gave it a look before giving David a low squawk.

“You need nutrition if you’re going to evolve. Especially after the battle with Machop yesterday,” David explained and used the same knife he had cut the pack open with to separate the food into smaller chunks.

Pidgey hopped about a bit in protest before hunger won over. She gave one last squawk before digging in.

As she ate David examined the last sachet. He would need to go shopping soon. For Pidgey food and more. If he got a pen and paper he could use the diet section in ‘How to wing it!’ to make a meal plan for Pidgey. His mental shopping list grew longer. The 320P in his pocket felt very light.

When she was done Pidgey settled into her roosting position and gave David the ‘I’m tired’ chirp.

“Would you like to see the city?” David asked, not reaching for her ball.

Pidgey tilted her head at him. A second later she stood up and hopped to the side to look at the edge of the park.

David waited patiently for a minute as Pidgey’s head twitched minutely as she stared out at the city.

Pidgey finally turned to him and pecked forward. They were a go.

David stepped around Pidgey and picked her up from behind. Pidgey was a small bird and it wasn’t much trouble to carry her. She was just small enough to fit on his shoulder, but he wasn’t quite comfortable getting that close to sharp talons yet.

He acted as a tour guide as they walked to the library. Not to describe the purpose of any of the buildings they passed, David didn’t know that himself. Instead he explained what things were. From the glass side of a building that caused Pidgey to flinch away from her reflection, to the traffic lights.

In between each explanation he added snippets comparing things to his world. How the air didn’t smell this fresh back home. How the city streets were always clogged and full. How the doorways were bigger here and the footpaths wider. He told her about the towering skyscrapers his homeworld had built without Pokemon. The buildings here didn’t come close. He hadn’t seen a single one more than 10 stories tall.

As he talked Pidgey’s heart settled from a frantic throb to a steady beat. She began using her beak as a pointer and letting out low squawks to get his attention.

Both of them jumped as a high pitch whistle rang out.

David shook his head, and looked around for the source.

Striding down the sidewalk was a man in a dark blue uniform with silver highlights. Striding towards him.

Darting forward by the man’s knees was a Growlithe. The doglike Pokemon was large. When it came to a stop and sat in front of him, a plume of creamy-orange hair came up shy of David’s waist. Irregular black stripes marked its orange fur. Large narrow eyes focused on him. An exhale sent a cloud of steam into the air. The heat around them rose and David began sweating.

“Are you listening?”

David froze. He’d missed the officer speaking. And that’s what the man was. A police officer.

Was he busted? Had his application to the League recovery program tripped some kind of alarm?

Pidgey let out a high pitch shrill. His grip had tightened.

“Ye-ees,” David coughed out, relaxing his hold on her.

The officer sighed. “Look, return your Pidgey to her ball and I’ll let you off with a warning.”

David scrambled to do just that. He was missing some context but felt it was better not to ask.

Pidgey let out a light shrill as she was set down, but she quieted as David gave her head a pat. She vanished in a burst of light.

“Okay. Now don’t let your Pokemon out on the sidewalk again until you have the badge requirement. I’ll be keeping an eye out.”

And with that the officer turned and left. His Growlithe followed with a bark.

All heat went with them. David shivered as he began walking again. He plodded on past the library and continued out of the city.

The shivering only stopped when he was past the Route 7 sign.

Pidgey gave several questioning squawks when he let her out in the clearing, but David just shook his head. He diverted her questions into training. They didn’t have all that long before he was due to meet Fred for the tournament.

Pidgey took off four times again today before stopping. As with yesterday, they moved onto Tackle next. Pidgey was much faster today. She started at 15 seconds and was creating the haze in 14 when she stopped and got into a roosting position.

Only after all this did David consider the police officer earlier. He had likely overreacted but he couldn’t shake the fear. The officer had been friendly but he had been accompanied by a large moving flamethrower.

David had been lucky so far. People didn’t pick up on his oddities or assumed they were related to his homelessness.

His hand halted in place. He looked down to see that Pidgey had caught the Tackle popping stick in her beak. He had been poking the ground with it absently.

“Hmm?”

Pidgey spread her wings which only shook a little.

“Gliding practice?”

David shivered as he walked past the Abra sign on his way back into the city.

What had seemed so innocent the day before now worried him. The police officers in the Psychic city were bound to have access to Psychic Pokemon. What were interrogations like? Could a Psychic read his mind while passing by and figure out that David wasn’t from this world?

He was a little sweaty under the sun’s heat. To keep Pidgey motivated he’d run alongside as she glided and he hadn’t cooled down much during her Peck practice. Out of all the training today, Pidgey had treated the Peck exercises the most seriously. He’d needed to find a new thicker log after she drilled through the one from yesterday.

She had been shaking from the effort when David called a stop to the training. He didn’t know how he felt watching her drive herself to exhaustion and based on his rough guess on the time of day, he needed to meet Fred for the tournament match soon.

-.-

“David!”

David turned to see Fred waving. He’d been keeping an eye out but he hadn’t been able to spot the ginger haired teen in the crowd around the Pokecenter. In his defense, Fred wasn’t wearing his usual workout gear and there was no sign of Machop.

“Hey,” David greeted the teen. “Do you know the way to the match from here?”

“Yup. It’s in one of the smaller city stands by the Fighting dojo.”

“And did you remember your ticket?” David asked and waved his.

Fred froze and started patting his pockets. His shoulders dropped as he fished a ticket and a note out from his breast pocket. His face reddened as he took in the note and he scrunched it back up.

“This way,” Fred said slightly sullenly.

David waved at the security guard as they walked past the entrance. It wasn’t the guard that helped him on his first day, but honor by association and all.

“So how come you had a spare ticket? My joke yesterday about the ladies seemed to hit a little too close to home?”

“You have no idea,” Fred said with a groan and rubbed his face. “My mom.”

“Huh?”

“My mom got the tickets. We were going to go together but she got called up to cover a sick leave.” Fred fished the scrunched up note out of his pockets. “Thankfully she saw I had left my ticket in the wash.”

“Moms are good for that,” David said roughly and focused on his feet. It was something his mom used to do when he was younger. A note in his bag, attached to whatever he’d nearly forgotten.

“Yeah,” Fred replied with a groan.

“Left here,” Fred instructed.

Any conversation between them had died as they walked but thankfully the match wasn’t taking place all that far from the Pokecenter.

David looked up to see a large oval building. It was huge, about twice the size of the superstore that was the Pokemart. At two stories tall it didn’t dwarf the surrounding buildings, but it more than made up for that with its footprint. The stands continued on and on past intersection after intersection. Few and he were before one of many entrances and queues to get in.

‘This is one of the small stands?’