It Had to Be Done

Now inside of the town Jin quickly made his way into the alleyway which he had occupied the last few years.

Once there Jin promptly kicked out the occupants who sought to take his shelter.

The alley way was in between two apartment buildings, the building on the right had a design where a groove on the side curve provided a small shelter against rain.

As for the cold weather Jin could only brace it with rags that he scavenged.

As Jin gazed at the sleeping Pidgey beside him, he couldn't help reminiscing about the past two years.

—-------

When I first came into this world I found myself lying on the ground of some alleyway, nothing but the clothes I was wearing.

I got the memories of this body in particular that this boy's birthday was April 17th and he had been wandering the alleys since he was seven.

 When I had initially explored the town using my map I acquired all the lost items that could be sold.

That was how I sustained myself the last two years while also scavenging the dump.

But as I explored the town looking for lost items to be sold, it surprised me at how the town went from clustered buildings to not as clustered. 

Some of the buildings were built shabbily, primarily those who are closer to the wall and the ones more inner of the wall were built better with what seemed to be concrete. 

Not pretty but it should be able to hold.

It made some sense as the first to bear the brunt of the attack if a Pokémon Stampede breaks through the wall would be the less fortunate.

Most of those people had a plot of land for farming to not only sustain themselves but the town.

Among the farmers there were those who hunted Pokémon but they tend to hunt to the south of the town.

The group would sometimes travel cementing the presence of hunters there without any disruption.

As the north is ever changing, the territory of the Pokémon is never the same.

The inner area was clustered with buildings and filled with alleyways.

The buildings were built more sturdily to serve as a hold point, and the alleys were probably for guerilla tactics.

'Though if Pokémon make it that far then it would be safe to assume that the town fell.'

The guardsmen quarter and training camp is the west of the town and north is the vast wilderness.

In town there weren't any Pokécenter or Police, so there weren't any Joys or Jenny's, at least not here in Cape Town.

Since we're a frontier town it's unsafe there was no way those major families would station their people here.

Pokémon Stampedes happen every so often, Cape town had also withstood one, though that was seven years ago.

'It's probably the reason why I'm an orphan, Luckily I managed to get a Pidgey on my birthday.'

As the sunlight started to darken the surroundings I decided it was time to sleep.

—-------

The next morning a boy in an alleyway was talking to a Pidgey.

"Okay Pidgey this is for your own good, we have to rearrange your wing and hold it in place"

"P-pidgey" the pokemon resisted,

"If we don't do it now you won't be able to fly anymore"

"Pidgey!" shouted in shock to not be able to fly? Then he wouldn't be a bird.

So Pidgey reluctantly agreed as Jin stuffed a berry into Pidgey's mouth, distracting her as he quickly bent Pidgey's wing back into place.

Pidgey screamed in pain as Jin tried his best to pacify it causing people to take notice.

"It had to be done."

 It wasn't long that patrolling guards approached but by then Pidgey's pain had subsided somewhat.

The guards only gave a stern warning to Jin before heading away.

Jin made a splint for Pidgeys wing using scrap wood and rags to hold its wing in place.

Jin thought, 'Since Pidgey can't be left alone I won't be able to head out to the forest until his wing is somewhat healed.

Should I train him, but he's not even a month old,'

Not able to decide, Jin thought of consulting the guards after all. They all had at least one Pokémon. 

So with Pidgey in his arms quickly made his way to the gate towards the wilderness as they shouldn't mind after very few trainers would be heading out towards there.

With the exception of the expedition team that usually sets out every few years and taking a couple more to return.

As far as Jin could remember from hearsay the last exploration had returned a year before he was brought into this world. 

So an expedition is due in the next two years or so.

He recalled how people commented that only half of the team had returned, a devastating loss.

When in distance of his target he focused out of his thoughts as he approached the guardsman to which he recognized the captain, as for the other not so much.

They too took notice as their Pokémon alerted them of his arrival.

Bren the captain grinned, "Well looks it's the brat from yesterday, say aren't you satisfied with the haul you got yourself yesterday, being greedy will get you killed ya know."

"Well the thing is…. You told me yesterday that Pidgey was recently born. So I was wondering when will she be out of her baby stage?"

Bren simply looked at me in confusion, "Baby stage? As far as I'm aware, as soon as a Pokémon is born they are capable of battle," Bren replied as he scratched his head.

"Take my Raticate for example. It was bred in captivity and as soon as it was born it went under training to listen to their trainers' words. 

Once it was done with its training it was transferred into my possession from the league though at that time it was just a Ratatta.

Pokémon are tougher than you think, kid, more stubborn when you're trying to kill them.

You have to know the weak point of where to hit them if you're gonna strike with a blade."

'Make sense Pokémon are born in the wild and need to fight to survive when the time comes.'

Jin looked at Bren, "If I want to learn more about Pokémon, where can I go? Is there a league sponsorship?"

"You don't get sponsorship from the league if you don't have connections, kid.

 I for one wanted to be a trainer but my family couldn't afford to get a newly born or already trained Pokémon, and I was too wimpy to go out into the forest to try my luck.

So the next best option was to be guardsmen as they trained me in physical fitness, taught me to face my fear, and how to command my Pokémon.

I've been here for twenty years, kid. Can't get much higher without connection or an absurd amount of achievement but you'll probably die before that kid.

After all, I only have this position because the last Pokémon Stampede killed the people who were skilled for the position.

So are you thinking of joining us? You are at the right age to join though I didn't join till I was thirteen years old."