Chapter 230: Mew is Calling
After leaving Pallet Town, Lorelei didn't immediately run off to Rota City. She first took Will to the coast near the road to Viridian City.
Will didn't even have to think to know what she was doing.
Catching a Pokémon, of course.
Will could see right through Lorelei's intentions. One, her hands were itching to catch something. Two, she was thinking that the sooner she caught it, the sooner she could train it to be useful for the Indigo League tournament.
"Heehee, I wonder what kind of Pokémon we'll find?"
"It's the Kanto coast. It's either jellyfish or crabs."
Will shrugged his shoulders. The "jellyfish" were Tentacool, and the "crabs" were Krabby. In the areas near the beach, those two species were the most numerous, with maybe a few Staryu or Octillery mixed in. Even Magikarp and Feebas didn't hang around the shallows.
Lorelei was full of energy. She ran for over ten minutes while carrying Will, who weighed a good 13 pounds. This was all thanks to the spankings she'd gotten from her mom. Every punishment started with a 5km run.
Sprinting to the beach, Lorelei's eyes immediately locked onto a Pokémon.
"Piplup! You see that Pokémon? Use Bubble Beam!"
Will glanced at her chosen target and raised an eyebrow.
A Shellder.
One of Lorelei's future aces, the "Dragon Slayer" Cloyster, was about to join the team.
Among Lorelei's Pokémon, her absolute ace was Lapras. But when facing Lance, her ace had to be Cloyster. Everyone knew that Dragonite's strongest attacks were physical. Even its signature move, Extreme Speed, was a physical move. And wouldn't you know it, Cloyster's greatest strength was its physical defense.
"I forgot about this one," Will muttered, then opened his beak and sprayed a stream of small bubbles.
For a low-stress battle like this, Will didn't mind play-acting for Lorelei.
It wasn't much of a fight. One Bubble Beam, and the Shellder was instantly knocked out.
"Its level is low. I don't know when the tournament starts... if there will be enough time."
Will looked at the Shellder that Lorelei had just caught.
Sure, his Water-type moves had a power boost from the Mystic Water, but Shellder, as a Water-type, should have a 2x resistance. And it still got one-shot by Bubble Beam. Its level couldn't be any higher than 15.
Even if there was a full year before the tournament, the most it could probably reach was Lv. 45. That level wasn't low, but it was far from enough to compete for the championship.
Moreover, Lorelei was a trainer who specialized in Water and Ice types, which made winning even more difficult. The pressure would likely fall on him and Lapras.
"Winning in the first year is going to be tough..."
Will shook his head. Ever since he'd learned about the current League tournament format, he'd given up hope of winning the championship in their first year.
This format... was much harder than the 6v6, 8-badge system he remembered from the future.
This was because there were no restrictions on entry.
Over a hundred years later, you'd need eight badges to even qualify for the Conference. That looked like a high barrier, but it actually lowered the difficulty. Most adults didn't have the time to travel around challenging Gyms; they were busy working and raising families. They were lucky if they could even take time off to watch.
So, in the future, the participants were almost all kids in their teens or early twenties. And how strong could trainers who had just started their journey be?
In contrast, Lorelei's generation had no barriers at all.
Office workers, retired old men... anyone could sign up. All they had to do was take a few days off to compete.
Who knew? You could suddenly run into a retired League department head. If they got that unlucky, Lorelei would need at least three Elite Four-level Pokémon just to have a chance at the title.
"Yay! I caught it! Piplup, you're the best~"
Lorelei ran back, Poké Ball in hand, and squatted down to plant a kiss on Will's forehead.
"Alright, let's go." Will waved his flipper.
They set off again.
Their pace was slower this time. In addition to training Lapras, Lorelei now had to train Shellder. She didn't split Lapras's training time in half; instead, she cut into her own travel and playtime to train Shellder. This girl was very serious and was working hard to prepare for the tournament.
As for Will, he stuck to his own training. And his training time wasn't the same as Lapras's or Shellder's. It was the same as Lorelei's. This meant he was training twice as much as her other Pokémon.
And, of course, his self-training was far more efficient than being commanded by Lorelei.
About two months passed.
Will and Lorelei arrived in Rota City, in the northernmost part of Kanto. There were three months left until the Kanto Conference began.
The progress of Lorelei's three Pokémon was not optimistic.
Take Lapras, her first partner. In two months, she had only gained 4 levels, reaching Lv. 46.
Shellder, which was Lv. 7 when caught, was now Lv. 28. Its talent was clearly very good. But it was impossible for it to reach a high-enough level to be a major player in the tournament in just three months.
Then there was Will himself.
Even though his talent this life was terrible, this was his fourth time starting over. He knew the ropes. Plus, he trained much harder. As a result, his level hadn't fallen far behind Lapras's.
He was currently Lv. 42.
The original 10+ level gap had shrunk to just four. And during this time, Will had been constantly researching and developing his Aura Power and learning new moves.
For example, he had learned Weather Ball in these two months, which was an very interesting move. Its type changes with the weather. And in special weather, its power is 100! If he ran into Sunny Day, he, a Piplup, would effectively have a 100-power Fire-type special attack.
Walking the streets of Rota City.
"Waah~ Piplup, look! Look at that giant tree!!"
Lorelei, holding Will, pointed him toward the distance.
"That's a rock."
Will replied dismissively. He was currently wondering if he should go find Mew. Perhaps Mew had a way to fix his genes and restore his potential to normal.
"Let's go check it out!"
"Yamero!!" (Stop it!!)
The moment Lorelei's voice rang out, Will shrieked at the top of his lungs.
His soul nearly left his body. For a split second, he had a vision: Lorelei walks up to the Tree of Beginning, and the Regi trio suddenly jumps out and pancakes her.
"What's wrong with you! If you don't want to go, we won't go! Why are you yelling so loud?!"
Lorelei, startled by Will's shout, got angry.
Will shook his head, not explaining.
"Piplup, look, it's so nice and sunny. Let's go sleep on that bench over there."
"Hm? Oh, yeah. A quick nap sounds good."
Will looked up and nodded. He let Lorelei carry him to a long bench, where he lay flat.
Basking in the warm sunlight, he fell asleep in no time.
When Will opened his eyes again, he was in a car.
He glanced at Lorelei, who was pretending to be asleep, then stood up on his short legs to look out the window.
This was the road to the Tree of Beginning.
"Yamero!!"
Will didn't hesitate, immediately shrieking again. He was terrified. He was afraid that in the next second, three pillars would fall from the sky and crush their taxi.
"Shut up! Piplup! You're too loud!"
Lorelei couldn't keep up the act. She quickly leaned over to cover Will's beak.
"You have no idea what you're doing!!"
Will thought, kicking the girl away. He quickly used his Aura Power to project his voice to the clueless driver:
"Sir, stop the car! Don't go any further!"
"? Who's talking?"
The driver was startled. He thought he'd heard a little boy's voice. But there was only a little girl in the car.
He looked back, confused, at Lorelei wrestling with the penguin. He frowned, thinking he'd imagined it.
"Stop the car! You can't go near the Tree of Beginning!"
The driver looked back again, then replied with a suspicious look, "Of course I know we can't get close to the Tree. We're still far from the boundary line."
Hearing the driver speak, Will and Lorelei both froze.
Boundary line? Humans had figured out they couldn't get within a certain range?
Will stopped struggling. Since the driver said they wouldn't get close, just looking from a distance was fine.
Come to think of it... so many years had passed. The locals who lived here must know full well that the Tree of Beginning was not to be approached. He, the "outsider," was the one overreacting.
"Why can't we get close to the Tree?" Lorelei asked curiously. She didn't know why the driver had suddenly said that, but she was focused on his words.
"Because the Pokémon Rangers are guarding it. Forget us normal people, even unauthorized League staff aren't allowed within a certain range of the Tree."
"Aw?! Why!"
Lorelei was immediately disappointed. She had wanted to climb it.
"Heh! That area around the Tree of Beginning is where the Leaf God and Lugia fought! There's still a giant crater there. They're not just gonna let us walk up to it."
The driver seemed to understand. He thought it was for the best. If too many people went, the area around the Tree would be a mess.
"So, the Indigo League has started to consciously protect the Tree of Beginning..."
Will mused to himself. Looking out the window at the "giant tree" getting closer, he felt a strange sensation.
"...The Tree of Beginning is calling me?! No, it's Mew!"
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