42: Their Own Journey

Silver held his forehead, a headache surging within his mind. His father, Giovanni, gave him his new starter Pokemon and released him into the great infinitum of the Sinnoh region. With his Pokeball in hand, Silver knew he had to gather power for himself to be able to free himself from the clutches of his father and to accomplish that, he needed influence, money, and more Pokemon. "Come out, Dasfix." A small dark purple floating manta ray with a spiky tail floated before his eyes - This was a newly discovered species of Pokemon from the far lands of Ogot, the Lurker Pokemon known as Dustix. This Steel/Poison type Pokemon was known for being a predator Pokemon, hiding atop the rocky roofs of caverns.

"Dasfix, from now on, you're my partner and we will work together." The manta ray Pokemon simply floated around him for a moment before it let out this humming sound that resembled a long whistle.

Silver will work and get stronger!

"Let's see what you're capable of..." Taking out this flat tablet with red and white, Silver pointed it at the floating manta ray Pokemon- Immediately, a robotic voice echoed out:

[Dasfix, the Lurker Pokemon. With its habits of living inside dark caves, this Pokemon has developed a good sense of adapted night vision, being able to see in dark caverns. With the ability to flatten and control its body made out of a heavy but soft and malleable metal, allowing it to flatten itself or squeeze into tight places in spite of its size. Dasfix lie in wait in the darkest parts of caves, waiting for small Pokémon or even young children to pass beneath them. They cannot eat adults or large Pokémon but will defend their hiding places by stinging with their tails and spitting liquid metal.

The only known abilities this Pokemon has shown is the Levitate ability.

Common known Moves are: Poison Sting, Defense Curl, Astonish, Mirror Shot, and Poison Tail]

...did it just say it eats children?

-Scene Cut-

Dasfix: *hmm... child*

Child: *Rip*

-Scene Cut-

Darius held the small metallic quadruped little boy with a grin: "You're quite the strong boy huh?" Grinning still at the Aron, Darius softly pulled off a small piece of loose metal from the little guy's body, adding it to the pile beside him. Beside said pile, Wally also worked on another Aron, helping the little one to get free from his now tight meral armor. 'Maybe...' You see, ever since Cerberus became a hybrid between a Houndour and Growlithe, he found fusions fascinating and a new way to reach higher heights on power. After he rescued the Arons, Lairons, and Aggron, he received a little reward:

[DNA Sphere Recipe]

Remember the little ball Cerberus ate? Well, now he knows how to make those! Of course there are ingredients for those things, and even requirements for using these little DNA balls and changing the DNA and even physical form of the Pokemon.

Let's use Cerberus as an example: The good boy was a Houndour, a Fire/Dark Type Pokemon. The DNA he was infused with was a Growlithe's DNA, a Fire Type Pokemon. One of Cerberus' parents was also an Arcanine, as far as Darius knew, and the evidence of such claim was Cerberus' Egg Move [Thunder Fang].

Regardless, let me show you the requirements for these DNA Spheres to work:

[Requirements:

- DNA Compatibility: DNA used needs to be compatible to successfully be fused.

- Mental Compatibility: The Pokemon being injected and fused need to have the necessary mental compatibility with at least one point of the species they're being infused with the DNA of.

- Physical Compatibility: Bodies of both species cannot be extremely different from one another. If one Pokemon has a completely different anatomy from the DNA they're beint infused with, the DNA fusion will fail.]

And what happens if it fails...?

Well, Darius doesn't know, and he isn't willing to find out. "Wally, look over the underside of the little buddy- Right there." Arons, although the Pokedex says that it only happens when they evolve, shed their metallic armor to make way for more room for them to grow into. Shedding is a very common occurrence in the world, be it shedding skin, scales, or other body parts that needs to be either regrown or discarded due to natural or unnatural reasons. "We can use these plates of pure iron to make utensils." Wally commented as he held a piece of the little armor he was helping his little one shed and turned to look at the many pieces Darius collected from the small Arons.

"Yeah, we can..." Darius turned to look at Wally and the boy blushed heavily when he noticed the grin Darius gave him- It was the same grin he always did whenever he would call him a "good boy", which made Wally instinctively blush: "C'mon, help me with helping the big guy." Darius pretended he didn't see Wally's enticing blushing, but even though he was slightly tempted to fuck the boy, they had more pressing matters at hand. He picksd up the boy in his arms and jumped down from Big Boy's back effortlessly. Wally, who had gotten used to both being manhandled and jumping down from high places, didn't even bat an eye was the wind blew his face and disheveled his hair a little bit.

Landing, Darius' heavy body made dust scatter around him for a few moments before it settled easily. "Let's see..." Under careful analysis (Darius, looking at the Aggron's armor as it ever so slowly regenerated under Big Boy's [Grassy Terrain]: "Huh, cool.") Darius determined that the only surviving Aggron would be able to fully recover under rigorous healing. The reason for such rigorous thing was that the armor had melted, the armor - contrary to the belief of many - is actually both part of Aggron's skin and an armor made out of thick plates of metal. The way it worked was that Aggrons - like the entire Aron line, some Rock types (Jasper too), and some Steel Types - make this "biological" metal by eating metal.

The same way the majority of Grass type Pokemon can do photosynthesis or a similar process and the same way Water type Pokemon can either outright breathe underwater or hold their breath for an incredible long time - Example: Wailords can hold their breath for 7 weeks straight, while Gyarados can breathe underwater - Rock Types, Steel Types, some Ground Types, and even a Sableye can and will eat rocks.

The only universal food all Pokemon can and will eat is berries.

They're honestly really good.

"Yeah, you're better now than before... Help me getting these chippings off of his big armored body." Standing at approximately 8'5 to 9 feet tall, the enormous Aggron stood still as his half melted half solid form that had been put through intense healing mixed with eating rocks and iron to recreate his armor. Darius also mixed in a few berries that stimulate the production of vitamins to see if it could somehow help, but it didn't do much. Physically, they started helping the Aggron by removing the plates of metal that had been melted by the Melmetal and so the big metal guy's armor could properly heal without being hindered or growing wrong due to the molten bits.

"Here-" A soft pink purple aura surrounded a piece of the armor that was a few feet away from Wally's hand, and with a strong pull of both his willpower and energy, the piece came off easily and flew right to his open hand: "Oof, this one's heavy!"

"Of course, cutie." Darius chuckled as he easily picked the rather denser and heavier piece of metal: "It's from an Aggron, it's denser and heavier because of the higher concentration of... iron." Darius' eyes glowed softly with a sudden idea- He turned to look at the gathered pieces of iron from the large Aggron and asked: "Hey, it's okay if your kids eat this?"

"...Aggron?" The Pokemon said at the same time as his energy changed to a soft 'confusion' emotion: "Aggron, Gron- Agg, Gron Aggron." This sequence of sounds continued with the emotions and intents 'objective', 'question', 'doable', 'strange' and a sensation of a bad taste on his mouth.

"Ah, it's doable but tastes bad huh?" At Darius question, the big metal boy simply nodded, making Darius think for a moment... Arons, Lairons, and Aggrons eat RAW Iron ores and process them within themselves, thus making their steel armors with the ingredients they get from eating the iron. "Maybe if I somehow mix this up with some natural ores they'll eat it?"

Well, there's only one way to find out, right?

-Scene Cut-

Darius: Cookin' meth? Nah, Imma cook iron!

-Scene Cut-

[Sinnoh - Unknown Date]

"So I gotta choose only one!?"

It was an impossible decision. Looking at the three royal starters, Barry felt a flush grow up his whole body at the exciting thought of starting his journey.

"Well, I known which one I want." Walking towards the blue small penguin bird, Dawn grinned as she offered it her hand: "I choose you, Piplup." Dawn's soft and gentle smile seemed to win over the blue bird because it let out this soft "Piplup!" Before it held out her flappers in a hugging motion - Professor Rowan had told them that the Piplup and Turtwig were female, after all - which Dawn happily complied. She looked like a small princess being served by her servant, which was on par considering the inheriting sense of pride all Pokemon of the Piplup line of evolution has.

"Well, I chose mine." Next was Lucas, that alongside Dawn and Barry, was also Professor Rowan's lab assistant. He was taller than Barry, standing at approximately 6'2 while Barry was 5'8 flat. "Chimchar, you're my partner from now on." Grinning at the small orange monkey, Lucas held out his hand, which the small monkey gladly accepted with a grin. "Chimchar!" Using Lucas' arm as a platform and running up until he landed softly and safely on the boy's shoulder with a grin, the mischievous Chimchar pulled Lucas' cap off of his head and wore it with a happy expression.

Looking down, Barry smiled softly at the little quadruped green turtle with a shelled back: "It seems we'll be partners from now on, Turtwig." Patting the little twig on top of her little head, Barry kept the same gentle and carefree smile as he said: "I'll be counting on you." The little green turtle nodded seriously, which made her look evem cuter somehow and Barry couldn't stop himself from pinching her cheeks as a doopey smile grew on his face.

"Ahem." To get all their attention, Professor Rowan fake coughed on his fist, which made all three teenagers look at the man. With a simple smile, Professor Rowan sighed as he said: "The three little ones you have on your hands now, that will help you on your journey, have been selected by their parents for their talent." It wasn't a secret that the Royal Starters of a region were only given to those who had reached special places- Such as a professor lab assistant! "They will guide you, help you, and be your partner through the entirety of your journey and be by your side through all hardship." He stopped for a moment before pulling out these three flat tablets of red and white, which he presented to the trio of lab assistants: "These little things are called Pokedex, and they're yours now... They contain information from all Pokemon that can be found in the region of Sinnoh... Of course it also has information on all Pokemon from all regions we have access to... So, if you come across a Pokemon the Pokedex has no entry on, please register them and gather as much information as possible."

Well, that was a given. It was literally their job for the last 2 years! Well, not finding new Pokemon species, but helping the Professor organize things around in the lab.

And now... They'll go on their own journey.