Chapter 3

It's been a week since we started battling Rattatas daily, which has been somewhat annoying because it's boring not to have some variety. Something I discovered about this world thanks to the Rattata is that Pokémon have a semi-protective barrier that mitigates a significant portion of the damage they receive, making the inflicted damage much less than it should be. However, that semi-barrier has a limit, and when it denies a certain amount of damage, it breaks. The repercussion of the barrier breaking is that the Pokémon falls unconscious, and its body becomes completely vulnerable to any damage, or at least that's what I understood by analyzing the fights I've had with Rattata.

In terms of the game, the barrier would be the HP, but I still haven't figured out what would happen if a Pokémon receives a single attack that far exceeds that barrier. Would it be an insta-kill?

I've also confirmed that not all Pokémon have sapience because I've seen a large number of Pokémon that just pass by, and despite my attempts to communicate with them, I don't understand them, and vice versa. I thought it was because we had different languages, but that wasn't the case because I saw several flying Pokémon that I could understand. Although there were very few that I could understand compared to those that only emitted their sounds. They weren't different from wild animals, and that got me curious about this topic because, aside from my mother and sister, I've only spoken with the Raticates couple, Rattatas are like other common Pokémon.

Leaving that aside, I've noticed that I've grown several centimeters since I was born. If it were in my previous world, I wouldn't even notice, but being so small, every centimeter of height is quite noticeable. I just hope to evolve to be able to leave offspring. Could Zorua not leave offspring before becoming Zoroark? Maybe I should check that later.

"Bune-Buneary (Brother, mom is calling us to follow her)," I looked at my sister, who just interrupted my routine monologue.

"Okay, let's go." We left the burrow and saw our mother carrying a bunch of berries with her ears.

"Where are we going?" I was curious since we went in the opposite direction of the Raticate, and my mother was carrying a bunch of berries.

"Lupo-Luponny (We're going to where a friend lives)."

"Mom, I've been wondering about this for a while, but why can't we communicate with other Pokémon?" I asked my question as we continued walking through the forest.

"Bune-Buneary (I also want to know why we can't communicate with Rattatas)," said my sister, who was jumping ahead with her little legs, observing our new surroundings.

"Lopu-Lopunny (It's because not all Pokémon develop the ability to communicate and be self-aware, and they just follow their instincts)," our mother explained.

"Bune-Buneary (But why can we communicate, and Rattatas can't, even though Raticates can do it)," my sister asked before I could.

"Lopu-Lopunny (Because you two are special, you turned out as intelligent as me, and your brother is a Zorua. If I hadn't had contact with you, he would probably gain self-awareness on his own after a while)." Was that an insult or a compliment?

"What do you mean by having much contact with you? Do you need contact with someone who is self-aware to communicate?" I wanted to get more information.

"Lopu-Lopunny (There are four ways to do it: living with a Pokémon that already has self-awareness for a long time, living for a long time until developing it, belonging to certain species of Pokémon that do it on their own after a certain time, or the last one would be being captured by humans and spending some time with them or just staying close to them regularly)." Wow, that was a lot of information to digest.

"Where do humans live?" I asked because I was curious about whether I should approach one of them and let them catch me. There are many benefits to having a trainer: I would never have to worry about finding food, I would face many Pokémon to become stronger, and I could avoid having an uncivilized life. But I would have to choose a trainer that suits my tastes, or else I just blend in with them using illusion.

"Lopu-Lopunny (They live in a settlement that is far away, on the outskirts of this forest. They stand out a lot no matter where they are, so it's very easy to recognize them. They carry different types of strange objects all over their bodies. It's possible that one might appear nearby by chance, so when either of you sees them, stay away from them, or they'll imprison you in a small ball and only take you out to make you face other Pokémon and feed you so you don't die of hunger.)" I think becoming a Pokémon is not as good as I thought, comparing it to what I remember from the anime.

"Bune-Buneary! (Humans are scary!)" exclaimed my sister after hearing what our mother said.

But before we could continue talking, we saw a huge dog, although it wasn't as tall as mom, the rest of its body was very considerable, and it was under a wooden roof held by four wooden poles.

"Stou-Stoutland (What are you doing here, little Buneary?)" He asked when we approached enough, his voice sounded like a person who was already in their third age.

"Lopu-Lopunny (I'm no longer a Buneary)," our mother told him reproachfully for what the giant mustached dog said. I noticed something, the giant dog Pokémon in front of us was missing the left front paw.

"Stou-Stoutland (You will always be the Buneary who cried every time she got hurt or wouldn't stop bothering me when I tried to sleep during my naps. But leaving that aside, why did you come to this place?) Cough, cough." He started coughing a bit when he finished speaking.

"Lopu-Lopunny (Your health must be getting worse…)," my mother said with a sad expression, but it was interrupted by the dog.

"Stou-Stoutland (Enough of sentimentality, you know I hate those things). Cough, cough."

"Lopu-Lopunny (Alright, I want you to teach my son Zorua <Fire Fang> and, if possible, also <Bite >, <Ice Fang>, and <Thunder Fang>)," when the giant dog heard her, he became grumpy.

"Stou-Stoutland! (Why don't you just ask me to teach him everything I know for the little time I have left?!) Cough, cough." He shouted upon hearing mother's request.

"Lopu-Lopunny (You don't have to be so considerate, teaching him other moves is more than enough)." When the dog heard her, he seemed to be trembling with anger, but he began to calm down and said.

"Stou-Stoutland (Don't you understand sarcasm? Uff… I'll only teach <fire fang> and <Bite >. I want to spend the little time I have left in peace)." He sighed, and he seemed quite tired from just shouting.

"Lopu-Lopunny (Zorua, you will learn the moves he teaches you, so listen to everything he says. I'll teach your sister some different moves, but I think you wouldn't be able to learn them, so I want you to learn the moves he will teach you)." That's what she told me before putting the berries she brought and giving them to the dog. She started going towards a distant tree where she began to talk to my sister, but I couldn't hear their conversation, and all I could notice is that my sister's face went from confusion to a determined look the more she listened to what our mother was saying.

"Stou-Stoutland (Hey, kid, you better get ready and listen to me carefully. I won't repeat my explanations. So I hope you learn it on the first try)."

"Alright, but what if I can't learn those moves?" I asked because I don't remember if Zorua could learn <fire Fang>. But why am I clinging to what little I know about Pokémon video games?

"Stou-Stoutland (You have sharp teeth and fangs. Of course, you can learn them)." He replied before I could start an internal debate.