chapter 3

"Mom?" 

"Hm? Yes? Ken?" 

"What was it like?"

"What was what like?"

"You know? Being a trainer and all?"

"It was... hard it was a different time back then, rangers were still a new thing, and Pokemon was a lot more aggressive. The league also wasn't as generous as they are now, but... despite that, it was very fulfilling."

"Really? What made it so fulfilling if it was as hard as you described?"

"Heh. Many things made it fulfilling it would be hard to name them all. "

"Then, just name me the main ones."

"Alright, alright, if I had to say it would be... pokemon and friends"

"Pokemon and friends?"

"Pokemon and friends, yes."

"... seems kind of cliche, doesn't it?

"Maybe so, but it's a cliche answer for a reason, son,"

"... I guess"

"What? Don't like the answer?"

"No, I like it, I'm just wondering if my journey's going to be fulfilling as well."

"Hah! Don't worry, I'm sure it will!"

"... could you tell me about the Pokemon on your team? And on that topic, where are they now?"

"... that's something I'll tell you once you're a bit older for now, go to sleep and rest, little dawn wants to braid your hair tomorrow so... good luck with that. "

"... she does know that I am a boy, right?"

"Could've fooled me,"

"Mom!"

Alright, right, don't worry. I'm sure once you grow up, your "manly" features will start to kick in"

"Hmm... fine, I'll let you go for now. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, son, love ya,"

"Love you too."

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[Journal: 1 log: 1]

So I've decided to start a journal to try to keep my thoughts and ideas all nice and organized, It's currently being written in English which while has similarities with the language of Galar, still is different enough that no human on earth should be able to read it unless they are reincarnated like me.

2 months have passed since Magikarp came into my life, and let me tell you it's been a bit of a struggle, don't get it twisted it's not Magikarp's fault it's more my own.

Magikarp, as he is right now, is essentially a baby. He needs constant attention and care lest he cries and also needs to be taught about human rules and society in general.

Last week while going through a walk in the town he somehow jumped out of my arms and freaking chomped down on some woman's head, of course he has pretty weak jaws so no damage was done but I did get a pretty long lecture about controlling my pokemon by said victim.

And so I now have a dedicated time every day of the week where I teach Magikarp about human society its rules and how Pokemon functions inside of it.

He's... somewhat slow, but eh, he's learning.

It's, however, the complete opposite on the physical side of things, magikarp took to training like a fish in water... Heh, get it? Cause he's a fish- Wait, who am I even writing this joke for? Nobody's going to be reading this shit, except for my future self, of course.

Anyway, I got off track, he's taken to training with great vigor, it's easily his favorite time of the day and without it, I'm sure he'd get antsy with all that pent-up energy he has.

I've had him simply swim against a river's current, something that Magikarp shouldn't be able to do if the Pokedex description of Magikarp is to be believed.

And we'll yeah it should be believed cause he can't do it. Magikarp bodies are notoriously weak, lacking in both speed and strength, so something as simple as swimming against the current is enough to yield results.

Of course, I've also kept my promise to nurse Joy and have had Magikarp checked up two times per week. He's been steadily growing, the pokeblox that the Leauge sent me alongside him really is top-tier quality,

They should suffice until I learn how to cook them myself, on that topic, my nutrition lessons with nurse Joy and Chansey have been going quite well, they're both quite patient teachers so it's not that stressful either.

I've even gotten them to teach me some first aid for both Pokemon and humans, in case I ever need it.

Mrs. Berlitz has been visiting a lot more for some odd reason. It's not like I mind, I'm just curious. That's all she's been pretty helpful in teaching commands to Magikarp.

I'm not surprised at all that she would be a treasure chest of knowledge. She's a famous Pokemon coordinator for a reason,

Anyway, I think that's it for now. I'll probably start adding more notes about Magikarp in the future once I start moving training.

Kenny out!

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Closing the book with a loud "thump," I put it in my bag taking in my surroundings, route 201 Was the perfect place to practice magikarps moves.

Greenery was everywhere, beautiful green Leaves hit my face as a cool refreshing wind breezed past me, and a pack of bidoofs was currently playing hide and seek with their mother? Father? I couldn't quite tell, but they were using the tall bushes and their small sizes to their advantage.

A pair of pidoves were currently chomping down on some berries on the tree beside me, probably a couple of the lovey-dovey eyes those two keep giving each other any indication.

It was peaceful and devoid of most predator Pokemon, a safe space for newbie trainers and youngsters to train up and safely get experience in nature.

Leaning against the hard bark of a tree while uncomfortable was making me kind of sleepy. Shaking it off, I stood up and took out magikarps Pokeball.

With a flash of red, he appeared in front of me using his signature move splash to flop around a bit.

"Karp! Today's the day, buddy!" I exclaimed loudly, spreading my arms out dramatically, my long dark hair bellowed out behind me."It's time we ramp up your training!" 

Oh yeah, I guess I didn't mention this, but I give him the nickname Karp. Is it stupid? Yeah, but he likes it, and that's all that matters.

"Magi! Magi! Karp!!" He yelled out eyes, doing that weird eye smile thing that reminded me of a certain white-haired scarecrow ninja dude.

"Yes, yes! I know you're excited! " I say, giving him a toothy grin. "But first, let's get a feel for your moves first," I explained.

He didn't yell this time, but his body flopped around with even more vigor, giving the grass around him some of the water he naturally produces.

Magikarps could only learn tackle splash and flail the last move, only being learned later on in a magikarps life if not trained for.

"Karp, I want you to use splash to fly up as high as you can! Can you do that for me?" I asked,

Karp answered by yelling out his name and hitting the ground with a giant splash, sending him slightly above, 4 feet in height.

Hitting the ground with a "thump!" He looked at me, waiting for me to give him another move to use, 

Ignoring his silent pleading, I pulled out my notebook to write down some of the uses of splash, I spent the next 5 minutes ordering Karp to keep using splash in different directions, and heights to get a better idea of its limits.

"Alright, that's enough," I said, much to the relief of karp, "Next we'll be testing out your tackle!"

I didn't even have to tell him before he smashed himself onto the tree next to him. A huge amount of normal aura enveloped him and flew off in random directions, showing me his inexperience with using said move.

"Magi!" Karp looked at me with an expectant shine in his eyes. He was obviously asking me for praise, 

Smiling at him, I say, "That was a good tackle, but you still have a lot we can improve on," 

"Karp! Karp!" He yelled cheerfully,

Once again, I asked him to repeat tackle a couple of more times while I took note of what he needed to improve on and wrote all of it down, 

"Already, that's enough for now!" Yelled out to the tree, tackling Magikarp. He looked at me with surprise in his eyes as if asking."Is that it?"

"Oi, don't worry, we'll start our real training tomorrow, right now I gotta write up our regimen for tomorrow and look up a couple of videos to make sure we're not fucking up" I explained, 

Satisfied with the explanation, he stopped looking so doom and gloom, knowing that he was going to be pent up. Otherwise, I sent him off to swim a bit in the nearby pond.

Writing down the last bits of information about Karp, I sat there. Satisfied 

_________________________________________

Species: Magikarp

Nickname: Karp

Sex: m

Age: 7 months old (basically a tween in Magikarp Age)

Height: 0.6 meters (average adult magikarp height is 0.9)

Weight: 6 kilograms (average adult magikarp weight is 10 kilograms)

Possible abilities: swift swim(yet to be tested) rattled(yet to be tested) 

(is a hidden ability and exceedingly rare I doubt Karp has it)

moves: splash(medium mastery) tackle(low mastery)

Misc notes: I've divided Karp's moves into different categories depending on his mastery of the move.

splash seems to come naturally to him, not surprising considering magikarps learn the move at birth, his tackle on the other hand? Not so much, but that's something that can be overcome with practice,

I've noticed splash potential to actually be a pseudo mobility move like a bounce or something along the lines of that, but it's going to need some testing first, if it works though, it would help with karps immobility.

His tackle... well it's just that a tackle, right now I don't have any ideas on how to effectively use it, but I'm planning on asking Glameow if she could teach him how to better use the move, 

If Karp can get over his fear of her, of course.

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Closing the notebook, I notice the sun already setting, its rays of light cast a beautiful orange hue onto the forest.

It was summer at the moment yet for some odd reason I felt... cold? Meh, I'll remember to bring a jacket next time, standing up, I felt the cold chill get even colder, making me shiver in place.

I felt a prickle of dread start to seep into my stomach, before I knew it I froze, I froze!

I couldn't explain it, but, it felt like some sort of cold invisible hands were holding me in place, I opened my mouth to yell for Karp, yet nothing came out only a soundless gasp emerged.

An invisible hand slowly made its way up my neck, lightly brushing it in a teasing manner, as if whoever was doing this was getting off on it, before it suddenly without warning tightened its grip, almost crushing my windpipe.

I couldn't yell out before, and I definitely couldn't yell out now, I noticed that the forest was unusually Barron, 

Why?! Who!? WHY!!?

I felt everything go blurry, I couldn't see, I couldn't hear, I couldn't smell, i-i couldn't feel.

No, that was wrong, I could feel.

I could feel my face growing warmer and warmer a painful pressure felt like it was bubbling in my brain, and the back of my neck felt prickly.

My lungs felt like they were going to explode from the unreleased oxygen still bubbling in there.

Before Suddenly the invisible hands let go, making me flop face first on the floor, my ears rang from the sudden release of pressure, and my eyes although still extremely blurry. Could still somewhat see.

Suddenly a loud screeching noise was blasted through my ears, making me jump and yelp only to fall back down from a lack of strength in my body. 

Looking in front of me, my eyes met with a pair of yellow eyes with blood-red irises, and a glowing red necklace, 

Misdreavus. Her face was morphed into a gloating grin, obviously finding amusement in almost killing me, 

Why?! What the hell is a misdreavus doing here?!!

"Miss..." She said slowly, making the growing dread in my stomach skyrocket, her necklace started to glow even brighter for some odd reason.

"G-Get the hell away from me!" I said, fearfully, crawling backwards to make some distance between me and this monster.

... her necklace glowed even brighter.

The smile she wore grew even wider, as she slowly floated my way, giggling in what I would have considered a cute manner if she hadn't done what she did.

... her necklace was almost blinding now.

Suddenly we were nose to nose her eyes gleeful taking in my fear, her presence, like most ghost types felt wrong, and repulsive to the living, her invisible hands suddenly started to brush against my neck again.

No! No! No! Nonononononono! Diediediediediedie!! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!!

her necklace illuminated a great portion of the route.

Suddenly as if hearing my calling, a red figure went through Misdreavus's body, doing no harm other than confusion from said ghost.

"Karp?..." I muttered relieved, even if he couldn't do any damage he was at least still trying.

"Karp! Karp! Magi!?" Karp, who just recovered from his failed tackle, yelled out to the misdreavus, I don't know what he said, but it was amusing enough for her to put on a teasing smile.

"Miss Dra..." She muttered, her voice although sounded ethereal, had an aspect of death to it.

"MAGI MA KARP!" He yelled using splash to bounce himself in front of me in a protective manner, almost making me tear up.

Misdreavus said nothing, simply staring at the both of us with her cold dead eyes, the tips of her hair. And what could only be described as a skirt fluttered in the wind.

She gave me a smug smile, before suddenly disappearing as if she were nothing but dust, with her gone, the invisible pressure I felt before vanished alongside her, 

"karp?.." Karp looked at me with his dopey eyes, trying his best to convey reassurance, giving him a shacking smile I picked him up and held him close to my chest for comfort, he didn't resist and simply nuzzled me back.

I may never admit it, but I doubt I'll ever be comfortable around ghost types now, no matter how nice.

If I had looked up a bit, I would have noticed a pair of blood-red eyes racked with remorse and guilt staring down at us.