Hidden functions
"Charmander, your call. You take the Rattata," Ayan ordered. "Pidgey, stay back."
"Char!" Charmander stepped forward, claws flexing.
"Ember—just a short burst!"
Charmander took a stance, tail flame surging briefly before launching a small stream of fire. The Ember attack struck the Rattata clean on its side. The rodent squealed, scrambled back—but then turned and dashed forward, fangs glowing faintly.
"Tackle!"
But the Rattata barely touched Charmander—he took the hit with a grunt, digging his claws into the dirt to hold steady.
"Scratch, now!"
One clean swipe—and the Rattata crumpled, too dazed to keep fighting. It darted back into the grass, defeated but alive. The Pokémon had fainted. And unlike the last time, he didn't throw a Poke ball on top of the fainted Pokémon. Rattata was common even in their world and most of the people avoided it.
Though it was bad to look down upon them but Rattata was normally avoided. Besides, it's not like Rattata was abandoned. Among the Alliance mandated Pokémon eggs it was quite common to receive a Rattata egg. And once you receive and get your Alliance mandated egg registered, it was almost impossible to get rid of the Pokémon.
And unlike the previous world, the Alliance took the conservation and health of Pokémon owned by humans very seriously as after the second World War, it was mandated that the humans could use Pokémon for their use, but they should never be treated badly or else the Legendary Pokémon themselves might take action.
That fear alone was enough to make sure that no Pokémon owned was treated badly. Ayan thus left the Rattata and proceeded to walk more and reach the next destination. It had to be mentioned that Charmander gained Exp again and so did Pidgey.
He now understood that the game he was following was like the game Pokémon Let's Go Pikachu/Evee, because only in that games was the Exp share was on by default or maybe it was the same in other games too. He didn't remember. It was such a long time ago that he played the older games.
And it didn't matter. He was happy that Pidgey gained experience. Charmander gained 85 Exp and Pidgey gained 42 Exp points, which meant she gained half of the Exp of Charmander. That was a sweet deal.
After some walking they came across an Oddish. Charmander stepped forward even before Ayan could give the command. And this Oddish didn't seem scared at all.
It used it's first attack.
Absorb!
Thin green tendrils of energy zipped from the plant Pokémon to Charmander's chest. Charmander grunted and stepped back slightly.
"She's faster than she looks… Alright. Pidgey, your turn!"
Pidgey darted from Ayan's shoulder and circled the Oddish.
"Use Gust!"
Pidgey flapped her wings with rapid precision. A small vortex slammed into the Oddish, toppling it backward. It was super effective from what Ayan could tell. Oddish tried to wobble back up, leaves bent and body wobbling.
"Okay," Ayan reached into his pocket and pulled out a Heal Ball. "Let's try this…"
He threw it forward.
The ball bounced once—clicked open—and sucked the Oddish inside.
Shake.Shake.Shake...
Click.
Oddish was caught!
A notification blinked on his PokéDex.
"Bellossom isn't that far anyway." Ayan whispered. Unlike the real world, here the Stones required to evolve a Pokémon was much cheaper and easier to get.
Pidgey fluttered back to his shoulder, and Charmander stood proud.
"Good job, both of you," Ayan said, tossing a small Oran Berry toward Charmander, who eagerly caught it. "Now let's keep moving. I want to see what else this route has to offer before my alarm goes off."
"Char!" (Next time allow me to take the lead!)
"Pi-" (Yes, nobody is fighting you to be the war maniac, I am happy being here)
Of course Ayan didn't understand any of their words and thus just carried on.
As they moved forward, Ayan spotted more familiar figures rustling in the tall grass—another Pidgey, a couple of Rattata, and even a Sentret curiously standing upright before scurrying off on stubby legs.
Yes, he fought them all with the help of his Pokémon and even used Oddish to battle against Rattata. Oddish was now in his arms while Ayan held it. Meanwhile due to these battles, Pidgey actually proceeded to level 5, same as Charmander.
By now he realized that unlike the games, proceeding in levels wasn't as easy as it was games. He was pretty sure one didn't take this much time to just cross Route 1 and reach Viridian City, but it seemed reality was really different.
As he walked on he saw a Furret, sleek and fast, with stripes like brushed caramel. It darted out for just a moment before pausing, tilting its head curiously at Ayan. Charmander growled softly and stepped forward, but Ayan gently raised a hand.
"Hold on."
He looked at the Furret. It was beautiful—coated in faint dust, but with an alertness in its eyes that showed it was no push-over. His fingers hovered over a Poké Ball… then slowly pulled away.
"Not yet," he murmured. "Catching for the sake of numbers… that's not me."
Charmander blinked at him. Pidgey tilted her head and so did Oddish on his arms. The Pokémon didn't seem to understand at all and just scurried away. Ayan didn't regret doing that. If he had a huge farm he might have caught the Furret and let it run wild but he lived in an apartment.
Maybe someday.
-----
As they walked again, Ayan decided to rest on a rock shaded by a large tree. He pulled out his PokéDex and started browsing through the menus. There were the usual functions: Trainer ID, party stats, Pokédex entries…
Then he noticed something unfamiliar under the "Communications" tab.
[RADIO CHANNELS - REGION SYNC ENABLED]Now Streaming: Hoenn Wilds FMNext Available: Sinnoh Research Talkline
"What the…"
He tapped into the channel. A burst of static cleared—and then came soft flute music and a woman's voice describing Wingull nesting behavior along Hoenn's Route 103.