Chapter 2

~Jack Blake~

He really should have just shut his mental mouth shut. They were wandering the forest for two whole months by now. On the first evening, he had to fight an especially aggressive caterpie. For some reason it really didn't like Jack's face. He found out that he could compete with the little bug rather easily in strength, speed and visual acuity. People in his old world would call out 'Of course!' and 'Obviously!' and the more belligerent ones would go with a variation of 'Everyone could, ya fuckin' wimp.'.

They didn't understand. Even the weakest Pokémon was stronger than a baseline human adult in his past life. A slap from magikarp was enough to send most of those idiots into a hospital. Caterpies were more dangerous than they realised. But he managed.

And since he had the foresight to avoid stringshots, refusing to let them entangle him, he defeated the basic stage Pokémon easily. At least it wasn't a Weedle. Those fuckers were surprisingly fast, could inflict the Poisoned Status-effect and often were vicious little beasts.

From that day on, after Phantump woke up, they got into daily battles whether they wanted to or not. It certainly helped them deepen their bond and trust into each other. Phantump had his back always and vice versa.

They didn't even have to look at each other anymore to coordinate their attacks. It was more trust than he had ever expended on a single creature. He also always felt inordinately proud whenever she managed to pull off a new attack or combination she was practicing. His heart swelled and felt as if it would burst. In a good way of course.

Her move-set was growing more diverse by the day. She already had the staples that would make her a menace to deal with trained up within those months. Leech Seed, Confuse Ray, Will-O-Whisp and Hex were among those, but that wasn't all. Astonish was the first move she perfectly executed. She got some extra cuddles for that. Perfecting the move granted her the ability to slink into the shadows, which she used to stay hidden within his shadow when they were about to engage multiple opponents or an especially strong one.

Ingrain was among the first moves he actually had her actively train up to properly use in battle along with Growth and Horn Leech.

They would be moderately useful for her current form, but for her evolution, they'd be absolutely mandatory. Learning to use them in dangerous situations would only help her later on. She quickly grasped the basics with only some practice and was if the Net was to be believed, she was pretty talented if he considered only the speed at which she learned new moves. That and the constant pressure of surviving in the wild enabled her to deep-dive into her potential or something.

He didn't know why she learned as quickly as she did with only some videos and the combined understanding they got from them as a reference but he was truly happy for her. If she grew stronger, he'd benefit as well, after all.

One of the more surprising things they found out was that he could send her Aura over a distance through the Bond and vice versa. Some of it got lost on the way but it was still very useful and it explained why the stronger Trainers were glowing while commanding the bigger combos and Finishers.

Whenever he praised her for a job well done after some intense training, she'd always float around shyly while shifting her wispy body around embarrassedly. It was so cute that he couldn't stop himself from embracing her, leading to more embarrassment and weak protests accompanied by ineffective punches against his chest with her nubby arms. The 'Phaaaahh!' sounds she made were especially adorable.

She would settle soon after and enjoy the affections while slowly sucking on his aura to sustain herself. She did still eat normal food from time to time, though it was mostly for the taste. His aura seemed to be a delicacy and a panacea of sorts for her, though so her diet shifted after she was reassured that it wouldn't harm him in the long run. If she sustained damage in battle, as long as she had time to recharge from him, she'd be good as rain soon after.

While wandering around the unsuspected obstacles they encountered, which included territorial Pokémon way out of their league, physical obstacles such as hopelessly overgrown paths, and simply sudden dead ends where the path suddenly went into nowhere, they slowly grew a bit frustrated. It seemed as if they were destined to spend their tutorial in the woods, leading to a much longer trek than what they had planned.

On the positive side of things, they found several natural resources such as strange mushrooms, herbs, and even a rather big Leaf Stone among other things. They collected those of course after checking online if they were worth anything. Turned out, most of them were.

They wouldn't suddenly be rich after leaving the forest but they'd definitely have a decent starting budget. After wandering the woods for some time, he finally understood the true terror that came with it. It wasn't necessarily the strength of the Pokémon here, though there were definitely some pretty strong fellas hidden away. It was the lack of sustainable sources of food and water.

One would believe that a forest was a treasure trove for foragers and they would be right. If they had suitable knowledge, that was. Knowing if something was edible or not was important, obviously. Even more so in a world where fruits could have almost magical properties.

If you didn't have self-replicating sources of both, food and drink, it was nearly impossible to traverse the forest without some serious survival training. And even then, you could have a streak of bad luck and just don't find a proper source of fresh water or it could be contaminated by some poison type Pokémon or another.

Surviving in the wilderness was surprisingly challenging. He felt faint terror at the thought that he might have been thrown into this place without any support. He wouldn't have survived a week, much less two months, in this green hell. Which elicited a single thought from him. 'How the fuck did Marley reach the place he died in? There is no way he was strong or skilled enough to make it that far.' Putting it to the back of his mind, he continued his former train of thought.

Luckily, his murderer was a benevolent ROB. He gave him all the tools to survive and thrive here. A wild smile spread across his face as he looked down at Phantump, who sensed his gaze and smiled back cutely. He couldn't say he didn't enjoy his time here. He hadn't even met other people yet and he already had the time of his life. How awesome would it be once he was properly settled in and went on his journey around the world?

Meeting interesting people and Pokémon. Discovering yet to be unearthed places. Making friends with those shining characters he only knew from media back in his world. He really couldn't wait. A jolly chuckle made it past his lips. He answered Phantump's curious look with a lackadaisical shrug.

"Just realised that ending up in this world gave me a serious case of Wanderlust. What do you say, little one? Wanna tour the world with me?"

Without any hesitation at all, she enthusiastically nodded, going as far as waving her cute little arms around in excitement as she performed a little wiggle dance. 'Oh, I can't even... She'll give me diabetes one of these days.' He thought to himself amusedly even as he knelt down and quickly caught her form to give her a little snuggle.

Her token protests became weaker and weaker with every time he showered her with affection. She released a faintly frustrated yet resigned 'Phaaah...' that was answered with light laugh.

"Oh, I know that you are growing strong. But you are also cute. Adorable. Simply precious. No one said you can't be strong and all those adjectives at the same time, did they? Just think of that enchanting Sylveon we saw online a couple of days ago. She trounced that Haxorus so thoroughly, I think it might develop PTSD."

She stilled in his arms for a moment before simply giving up. Instead of ineffectively and adorably hammering his chest, she snuggled closer, soaking up his warmth. She didn't see the fatherly smile on his face as she did so. He wasn't lying when he confirmed her claim. She was growing stronger at a rapid pace. He knew that instinctively since that day where she bound herself to him completely by agreeing to be his first Bond.

~Flashback <Jack Blake>~

"Why did you jump in the way?..."

He grumbled while trying and failing to suppress the underlying worry in his voice. He was slightly careless, overlooking the weaker murkrow in favour of the more formidable one and suffered an ambush after dealing with the latter decisively. He was prepared to take the Pursuit but didn't expect Phantump to suddenly intercept the attack with her body, taking the hit for him.

He quickly finished off the little bastard before hurrying over to look at the damage. She wasn't in a critical condition thankfully but she still suffered quite a bit of damage since she took a highly effective hit without much preparation.

He immediately started pushing his Aura towards her in a move he hadn't tried as of yet. Instinctively, he knew it was possible and sure enough, he managed to increase the amount she consumed by quite a bit. There was a bit of a leakage, causing a drop in efficiency, but he was sure he could eliminate that weakness with some practice.

As he emptied his reserves into her, she consciously accepted the connection. He felt something snap into place and he marvelled at the sudden and overwhelming feeling of Trust emanating from her.

She wasn't unconscious, just incapable of moving and reacting much. She realised what had happened and accepted the result. More than that, she wholeheartedly embraced it. From what he felt from her, she wanted this for a long time but didn't know how to ask. Pokémon had instinctive knowledge of Bonds and how to form them.

The moment the Bond snapped into place, the efficiency of Aura Transfer shot through the roof and she let out a soft and comfortable 'Phaaaahh...' before falling asleep almost instantly. He just shook his head with a wry smile and continued to give her body the reserves to heal.

~Jack Blake~

After reminiscing about that memorable and scary moment, he pulled himself back to the present forcibly. Why dwell on the past when you could confidently walk forward instead? The past was there to learn from, not to obsess over.

They were both still weak. He knew and understood that intrinsically. Simply the vids that they watched in the Pokénet showed some insane feats from both, Pokémon and Trainers. Watching Bruno obliterate an entire cliffside with a casual punch that went awry during a tussle with a Steelix was firmly engraved in his mind, as was the recent Ascension Match of one Cynthia.

He always had a bit of a crush on her ever since he lost his first match against an NPC ever against her. It helped that she was hot. And reality beat out media by a lot. The way she shone brilliantly in rainbow colours while wearing a confident smirk on her face as she battled against the former champion was legendary. Even more so since she obliterated him with a single Pokémon. Clearly, she was bonded to her Garchomp. And wasn't that girl an absolute monster of a Dragon?

Those vids were among their main motivators to rise to the top. He wanted to stand side by side with those Monsters in human skin. He wanted them to acknowledge him. To bow to his superiority. The fire of ambition was lit that day when he watched her battle for the first time. He was... Hungry for it. But before he could even try to make that possible, he'd have to train. Extensively and diligently.

There was no real shortcut. Of course, aptitude had a big role to play, but without hard work, even those who weren't very talented would outshine you. A good example was Master Mustard. He wasn't an exceedingly talented fellow. He just trained. And trained. And trained. And finally, in his thirties, he took on the league and finished everyone in one go. His team full of old monsters played with their opposition.

That guy, along with his team, was this world's 'Genius of Hard Work'. If Jack wanted to use his innate abilities to their fullest capacity, he'd have to do something similar. And he was ready to put in his blood and sweat. An excited smile spread across his lips as he finally released Phantump from his arms. The poor girl was nearly lulled to sleep from the warmth and blinked at him confusedly.

'She's not even doing it intentionally. She is just that adorable...' Keeping himself from pulling her back in, he instead decided to share his excitement with her.

"We are finally about to step out of the woods. We will reach civilisation. We will step into an entirely different kind of jungle. There will be dangers and they'll be better hidden than those we faced up until now. Out of the frying pan into the fire as they like to say. Are you up for it?"

She saw the seriousness beneath the excitement. She understood, he'd extend their stay in the woods if she wasn't comfortable with the next step. He'd regret not having access to hygiene products for an even longer time but he'd deal with it.

Stashing his clothes in the backpack removed any and all contamination as he noticed early on, causing the gratitude to his murderer to soar, and his natural odor wasn't extremely overpowering. Every time he found a natural source of water, he took a bath and cleaned the filth off his body and he managed to do just that the evening before so he was pretty clean all things considered.

Resolutely, she answered his question with a nod, much to his relief. They were partners and he would accommodate her wishes if possible but he really wanted a shower with some actual shampoo. Thusly, he answered her determined gesture with a grin.

"Good! Then... Let's do it. Let's step onto the stage. Let's show them what we are made of. Let's... Rock... This... World!"