Into the Dark - A Pokemon Isekai

A nap, as it turns out, was not quite what I needed, since I ended up sleeping through the entire afternoon and the night, waking up in with the morning as the sun beat through the small window of my room. Eevee stretched on the bed next to me, where she had crawled up sometime during the night. I scratched her head while she yawned, and I figured that this was probably the best morning I had ever had.

“We still need to figure out a name for you.” I said sleepily, and Eevee purred into my hand as I pet her.

“Eevee. Ee-vee. Vee. Something starting with “v”? What do you think of Victoria?”

She thought for a moment, then shook her head.

“Vivian? Vera? Valorie?”

More shakes of her head.

“Eve?”

Now she just glared at me, and I laughed. “Okay, not Eve.”

For the next thirty minutes we laid there and I spouted off every name I could, each meeting with Eevee’s dissatisfaction.

“Well you’re just a picky one aren’t you?”

She purred happily, earning a sigh from me.

“V…v… Verity? That’s a lake you know. Verizon? Ok I’m glad it’s not Verizon. Venus?”

Eevee’s ears perked up for the first time in the conversation, and she stared at me with shining eyes.

“What, you liked Venus?”

She bounced on the bed, nodding eagerly and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Alright then, Venus it is.”

Venus mewled happily, and jumped onto my chest, nuzzling into me and I couldn’t help but laugh.

It was a good morning.

After another half-hour or so of lazing around in bed we eventually got up, and I finally got dressed in my new, clean clothes before making our way to the small kitchen that was in the back of Professor Rowan’s lab. Interestingly enough I wasn’t the only person to be staying at the lab, and when I entered the room I felt a jolt of anxiety as six pairs of eyes turned to stare at me.

Professor Rowan was at the head of the table, looking as inscrutable as ever. Besides him was an older man who looked remarkably like Lucas from the games and anime, and then three more men and a woman. All were wearing lab coats, except for Professor Rowan who just had his brown jacket on.

“Ah, good morning Alina.” Professor Rowan said. “Excellent timing, come eat and we’ll do introductions."

I awkwardly collected a bowl of rice, some miso soup, and an omelet before sitting at the open space at the table. Venus curled around my feet, and I separated half of both the rice and the omelet onto another plate and put it for her to eat.

The tension at the table seemed to lessen at that, and a small smile even moved Professor Rowan’s mustache a little.

“Alina, I’d like to introduce you to a few people, my assistants. First of all we have George.” The man who looked an awful lot like Lucas nodded, and I gave a tentative smile. “Then we have Yuzo, Hikaru, Alto, and Sheryl.”

The rest of the group all smiled and murmured their greetings.

“Alina will be staying with us for a little while until some paperwork and things are sorted out. She’s a new Trainer, so please be gentle with her.”

I blinked at the actual humor in his voice. In fact, he seemed positively friendly and relaxed, which was a stark difference to how he had been at the old campsite.

“Uh, nice to meet you all.” I said, already forgetting most of their names in the anxiety of meeting so many people at once. “Oh, and this here is Venus.”

The Pokémon in question raised her head at hearing her name spoken, and chirped cheerfully.

With the introductions done, the assistants turned back to their food or conversations, and I breathed a silent sigh of relief and started digging into the food. Despite not being my normal breakfast fare, it was a lot better than Pecha Berries, and I eagerly gobbled it down as quickly as was polite. Mostly I just kept my head down while the others were talking, and soon enough they started drifting away from the table to go do… whatever it was Pokémon researchers did.

Soon it was just me and Professor Rowan left, as well as George the assistant.

“So, uh, what should I be doing professor?” I asked a bit awkwardly.

“Like I said the other day, Jenny has some questions for you and I’ve arranged a phone call for today to get the details sorted out. Besides that? Try not to stress yourself or Venus out too much, relax if you can.”

At my frown he continued.

“You’ve been through a very difficult experience, you need time to just rest and process. Get to know Venus better. I have a book on Eevee that you might be interested in. Well, several books and academic papers, the Eevee line is of particular interest to me.”

“That would be great.” I said honestly. “While I know a bit about Venus here, I have a lot of background knowledge that wasn’t exactly covered. I mean, grooming, feeding, biology, I’m pretty much a stranger to all of this.”

“Alina here was born on a small island off of Unova.” Professor Rowan said to the quite perplexed looking George. “They had very few Pokémon, and she’s still getting used to being a trainer.”

“Ah.” George said, his confusion fading. “Well, I’m not particularly familiar with the Eevee line myself, but if you have any questions I’ll be happy to help you. Should I show her to the library?”

The last bit was directed at the professor, and he nodded. “That would be a good idea. Oh, and Alina I would also recommend talking with Nurse Joy at the Pokémon Center, she should be able to help you figure out an optimal diet plan for Venus there as well as give her a more thorough check up than what we gave her at the campsite.”

“Is… is that going to be a problem?” I asked carefully. “I mean, I don’t have my documents yet…”

“It shouldn’t be. Pokémon Centers are famously neutral after all, and the Joy Clan is dedicated to staying out of politics and focusing on healing. If it is a problem have her call here, she’ll know the number, and I’ll explain the situation.”

I looked down at Venus happily gobbling up the rice and omelet on the plate, and couldn’t help but think of another Pokémon who was so happy to eat just rice.

“I’ll go to the Pokémon Center first.” I said softly. “I want to make sure she’ll be okay from now on.”

Professor Rowan smiled, and it felt like I had passed a test of some kind.

/^\

“Hello, and welcome to the Pokémon Center!”

I tried not to stare at the pink haired woman in front of me, I really did. Commissioner Jenny had enough of an age difference that she was obviously related to the Officer Jenny’s from the shows, but not the same. Even Professor Rowan seemed different somehow. But Nurse Joy…

It seemed like she had just stepped out of the anime, and that was really messing with my head for some reason. It might have been the bright pink hair that obviously couldn’t exist in real life, but just as obviously wasn’t dyed.

“Oh, you’re hurt!” She said, thankfully oblivious to my momentary disassociation from reality.

“What? Oh, no, this has already been looked at.” I pointed at my face, and she relaxed a little bit. “No, I’m actually here about my Pokémon.”

“Of course! We offer all kinds of aid and support to Pokémon, what can we do for you today?”

“Well, this one here needs just a general check-up, and I’d like some advice on care.”

Venus on my shoulder growled unhappily, she hadn’t been as thrilled about the idea of going to the Pokémon Center as I had - even though she had never actually been to one. I had tried to explain what it would be like, and in hindsight I could definitely have worded it better. “Poking and prodding to make sure you’re healthy” wasn’t the best way to convince her to go.

“Oh why you’re just the most precious thing!” Nurse Joy gushed at Venus. “Look at how fluffy you are! Of course we can make sure you’re doing okay, please come with me.”

Venus preened at the compliment, and I could tell that Nurse Joy was a natural when it came to Pokémon. Which made a lot of sense, honestly.

“We don’t have to make an appointment?”

The nurse laughed. “Oh no, of course not. I’m sure in some of the larger cities like Jubilife you would, but with how small Sandgem is we can easily take walk-ins. Of course if there’s an emergency I’ll have to step out, but I think we should be fine.”

Sharing a look with Venus, I shrugged and followed Nurse Joy around the counter and through a door, walking down a short corridor before we came to an exam room. The nurse had a clipboard, and was asking me questions and writing as we walked.

“And what’s this one’s name?”

“Venus.” I said.

“Venus, how interesting. I can’t say I’ve ever heard it before. Like Venusaur?”

“Er, not quite.”

“And what Venus’ gender?”

“Female.”

“How old is she?”

“Uh, I don’t actually know.”

Nurse Joy gave me an inquisitive look.

“She’s a recent rescue.” I explained. “Some poachers had caught her, and I helped save her.”

“Oh no, how terrible.” She said. “Well, that’s alright then. I can try and help you with that as much as I can. Miss Venus, would you mind stepping on this scale for me?”

Venus gave her a skeptical look, and Nurse Joy returned an incredibly polite smile. “I’ll tell you what, if you be polite and work with me, I’ll give you some Poffins, how does that sound?”

The little Eevee’s head quirked to the side.

“Oh, that’s right I’m so sorry. If you were just wild until just recently, you wouldn’t know what a Poffin is! Here, have one now, see if you like it.”

Nurse Joy reached into a jar on the counter and pulled out a small pink pastry, and Venus’ ears immediately perked up. Cautiously she hopped down off of my shoulder, coming forwards and sniffing at the food. She reached to bite it, then stopped and looked back to me, a worried expression on her face.

“It’s okay.” I nodded for her to go ahead. “I’ve heard that Nurse Joy would never do anything to hurt a Pokémon.”

“That’s right!” The woman in question chirped, and Venus eagerly snatched the food, devouring the pastry in a couple quick bites. “So, do we have a deal?”

Venus thought about it for a few seconds, then eagerly nodded.

“Alright then, let’s start the examination!”

/^\

It took a little longer than I thought it would to go through everything, but eventually Nurse Joy was satisfied with how Venus was doing. The Pokémon in question was also quite satisfied, and was currently dozing in my arms after stuffing herself with Poffins.

“I’ll be honest Ms. Knighton, I’m glad you came to see me.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, while Venus here is relatively healthy, there are several things I’m worried about. First of all, she’s thinner than I would like.”

“She is?”

“Yes. Do you know how long those evil poachers had her imprisoned?”

I shook my head.

“That’s could have made things a bit easier, but no matter. They obviously weren’t feeding her enough, and based on the condition of her coat and her gums I would also say they weren’t giving her the right foods either. She’s definitely malnourished.”

Frowning, I kept petting Venus, making sure she was happy and asleep instead of listening to the uncomfortable news.

"Is it that bad?"

"Yes and no. It’s a little hard to tell because of the malnourishment, but I would say she’s on the small size of the scale for Eevee of her age. Which is probably around eight months old, if I had to guess.”

“That young?”

Nurse Joy smiled. “Like I said, that’s just an estimate. But she’s definitely not a year old yet as far as I can tell.”

I frowned, thinking of my old dog. “Just… how long does an Eevee live anyways? If she only has a few years left…”

“Oh, don’t worry yourself about that, Pokémon can have quite the long lifespan after all. In the wild things are different, but Trainer-bonded Pokémon tend to live as long as their Trainers do. There are several exceptions, such as Ninetales, but Venus here will be your companion for a long time yet.”

Some part of me that I didn’t realize was tensed relaxed, and I smiled down at the little Pokémon in my arms.

“And I must say, the care you show to her is very reassuring.”

“She saved me.” I said simply. “In more ways than one.”

“That’s how you know the bond you have is real. Pokémon save you, and you save them.”

“So she’s malnourished, is there anything else wrong with her?”

“No, not that I can tell. No parasites or diseases thankfully, and she seems fit enough. Some exercise and training will do her well I think, but mostly the food issue is what I’m worried about.”

“What should I be feeding her?”

At this Nurse Joy pursed her lips. “There are two main routes that Trainers go about this, and I’m going to have to ask what you plan to do with her.”

“Oh?”

“Are you planning on being a Coordinator, or a battle Trainer? Or are you simply planning on keeping her as a companion?”

The question caught me off guard, since it so closely mirrored my own worries about the future. Just what was I going to do from now on? Did I want to try all of the gyms, and shoot for being the Champion? That was a possibility, however slim it really seemed. I didn’t even know if the Championship worked the same way here as it did in the games, and even if it did I didn’t want to go up against Cynthia’s Garchomp. That thing was a monster.

“I think… I would like to at least try some gyms.” I said eventually. “I don’t know what I really want to do and I’d have to check with Venus first, but while I don’t think I want to make my career out of battling I’ve been at the mercy of people with Pokémon before. I don’t want that to happen to me or Venus ever again.”

Nurse Joy nodded seriously. “In that case I’d recommend doing cooking for her. The two options I mentioned are pre-made Poké Chow and handmade food. The Poké Chow is fine for companions who don’t do much battling or competitions, but when it comes to general health and especially for battling Pokémon? Handmade is the preferred option. It does tend to cost more, and take longer of course, but it’s what I would recommend.”

Mulling the words over, I nodded. “I want what’s best for her.”

“Excellent. I can appreciate a Trainer who listens.” Nurse Joy flashed a dazzling smile. “It makes my life so much easier!”

“So what would you recommend?”

At this she hummed in thought. “There’s a lot of different options for Pokémon, since none are what you can consider standard. Eevee is a Normal type Pokémon, and is in the Field egg group, but there’s quite the diversity in both groups.”

“If it helps, I am working with Professor Rowan.”

“As a matter of fact, it does! While the Pokémon Center does it’s best to maintain a good library, since we can see so many different kinds of Pokémon we can’t have a lot of specialist texts. I can write down the names of some books to get you started, the professor should have them.”

“Oh, that’d be great, thank you.”

“Of course, recommendations are but one of the many services we offer here at the Pokémon Center. I can also write up an exercise plan to help you get started. But what I’ve heard however, I would recommend that you take it easy for some time to recover.”

“That’s what Professor Rowan suggested.”

“He’s not a Pokémon Professor for nothing! He knows what he’s talking about, even if he never did get a degree in Pokémon Health Sciences like all of us in the Joy Clan. But eventually if you are going to travel, exercise is important. Especially if you are serious about battling, although if you want to battle competitively you’ll probably have to come up with your own personalized training regime, although there certainly are plenty of resources out there to help you in that.”

“Thank you, I’ll look into that. Is there anything else for now?”

She thought for a moment, then shook her head. “Let me write down those books, the exercise plan, and some recipes, just to get you started.

Nurse Joy got out some paper and started writing while I continued to pet Venus.

“By the way,” she said, a strange edge to her voice. “Just an idle curiosity, but have you thought about what evolutionary path you’re going to have Venus take?”

“I don’t know.” I said honestly. “She seems to like the water, but she might have just been really dirty when I washed her. I figure I’ll just let her decide what she wants.”

“Oh good, that’s what I was hoping you’d say." The edge faded into a genuine smile, tinged with sadness. "A lot of Eevee owners tend to force evolutions onto their Pokémon. One of the most heartbreaking examples I remember was when a Trainer released their Sylveon because they wanted a Flareon, and just hadn’t saved up enough to buy a Fire Stone yet.”

“That’s terrible! Don’t Sylveon only evolve when they love their trainers?”

Nurse Joy nodded seriously. “Legally we couldn’t do anything, considering he was technically within his legal rights to do so, but unofficially he found a lot of Trainers who refused to battle with him and he was effectively blacklisted within the region. Of course, his Pokémon were all given the best of care, The Joy Clan has to remain neutral, after all.”

I shuddered at the sheer venom in her tone. I was sure that those Pokémon were well looked after, but I equally as sure that the Trainer had come across a lot of red tape. Mentally I made a note to never anger a Nurse Joy.

“But I’m sure you would never do something like that, considering how well you treat Venus now. Here’s your lists, and thank you for visiting the Pokémon Center! Please be sure to think of us for all of your Pokémon related needs!”

I put the note into my back pocket, and Venus grumbled as I had to move her to do so.

“And for you little one, since you were so good!” Nurse Joy pulled out another Poffin, and Venus immediately perked up, scarfing down the pastry. “I wrote down the recipe on there.”

She said with a wink, and I smiled back thankfully at her. Looking at how much Venus seemed to love the treat, I felt like there was a lot of baking in my future.