I was searching through the bodies on the ground looking for something, anything useful.
In any other situation I would just bury the bodies and leave it at that, but now I needed some hint, some guidance or at least an extra piece of information.
Lives were at stake, and I couldn't just act the way that made me comfortable.
Unfortunately almost everything I found was broken or unusable, and what wasn't was pointless. What am I supposed to do with a pack of sanitary pads?
With a sigh I stood up and looked at my now bloodstained hands.
'I'm going to need to wash.'
'Do Pokémon care about the smell of blood the same way other predators do?'
[Yes and no. Pokémon are animals, only smarter and with 10,000 times more rights (and power). There are species that care about blood and others that don't. The main point is that we don't know how faithful this world is to the Pokémon work I'm referring to; maybe the Pokémon here are more "realistic," like some fans wanted?]
[After all, the HYPNO you faced didn't even use any skill, and it should have powers. So I'm honestly confused.]
I nodded slightly before scanning the surroundings.
'Okay, we'll figure it out with time.'
'Use the Golden Ticket you got, please.'
[Leave it to me.]
[Using Golden Ticket]
[Name: Intermediate Hand-to-Hand Combat]
[Type: Skill]
[Rarity: Uncommon]
[Description: You are a seasoned fighter, you know how to move your body to hurt people and can pick up most martial arts far faster than other people. You would completely thrash the average man in a fight.]
It was an excellent reward.
I looked at my fists before throwing a punch.
And then I felt the magic. It was as if I instinctively corrected some gaps in my stance and timing, making the punch come out with better effectiveness. The air even made a small sound.
'I wasn't bad at hand-to-hand combat, but it was mostly self-taught and born of desperation; this skill alone will perform miracles. Especially...'
I had an interesting idea, but now was not the time to test anything.
Earlier, when I looked around for a direction the HYPNO might have come from, I found a small trail. Of blood.
So I followed the trail. Better to go after something potentially dangerous that I knew was there than walk off in a direction where I didn't even know if something dangerous existed.
Known danger is better than unknown danger.
[...]
Let me feel clever, yeah?
[Ok.]
...
...
...
I didn't have to walk for hours this time; I ran. Not for hours, but for minutes.
I was considerably faster and stronger than a peak human, so I could run at a good speed without getting too tired. My average run was probably a sprint of maximum effort for other people.
The only difficulty was dodging trees, but hey! I consider that training.
'Now, this shoe here...'
I stared at a torn shoe on the ground where the blood trail concentrated and then continued to the right.
'Did the shoe's owner manage to escape? Or was he dragged away by another Pokémon? Maybe another Hypno?' I squinted before surveying the treetops as well. I didn't want to get ambushed unexpectedly.
Finding nothing, I looked where the trail went and decided to follow it.
'I'm so used to throwing myself into danger that I genuinely keep doing stupid things.'Shaking my head to chide myself, I followed the trail.
...
...
...
?° POV
Damn! Damn! Damn!
Everything went wrong, everything went wrong!
We were just walking through the forest to catch some Caterpies maybe, why did that aberration have to be here?!
And what exactly was that thing?!
I put my hands on my belly, now bandaged. It hurt. A lot. A lot, really.
I had no tears left to cry, and my breathing hurt...
''Shit...where is the police? Officer Jenny? They should already know we're in danger...'' I murmured, thinking of a horrendous possibility before shaking my head to push the thought away.
The HYPNO itself wasn't that strong; the Officer Jennys always patrol in groups and are relatively strong trainers, that HYPNO couldn't have killed them all.
''Maybe they don't know? Oh my god...'' I murmured, trembling with fear, leaning against a stone wall at the entrance of a cave.
It was stupid, I know, but I had nowhere to run. I couldn't get up anymore.
My legs gave out as I passed through that cave, and my vision kept getting blurrier. ''Mom...I want to see you.'' I cried, again.
...
...
...
POV Original
I followed the blood trail a bit worried. The amount of blood flowing was a lot, really a lot.
Maybe the owner of the blood was already dead?
'What the hell, man... Right when—'
BOOM
I turned my head toward the sound; it sounded like a small explosion.
'In the direction of the trail.' I clenched my fists and started running toward the noise as fast as I could.
I didn't want to risk arriving late and finding the owner of the trail dead because of my delay. So, whether it was an enemy or not... I was going.
...
...
...
BOOM
I heard another explosion; the noises were getting closer and consequently louder.
After a few more minutes of running I finally reached the source of the noise.
A cave on one of the forest's rises, with some holes around the rocks.
'Recent, doesn't look like something made a long time ago.'
I looked at the cave's dark entrance and took a deep breath.
'Trap or not, here I go.'
And so I ran into the cave. I didn't see a pool of blood, only thin tracks leading inside, so the chances that the trail's owner was still alive(for now) were high.
...
...
...
?° POV
''P-please, stop! Stop! Stop!'' I screamed in horror as I was dragged further into the cave.Oh my god. What bad luck, what bad luck! This was the worst day ever!
I couldn't see the Pokémon carrying me, all I could see were the glowing purple eyes. It didn't look very big, but the hand carrying me didn't match the height of the eyes!
'Another aberration like that Hypno? What is it going to do to me?!' I started shaking in fear; I hadn't peed myself only because I already did with the Hypno.
''Argh!'' My back hit the wall hard due to the sudden movement of the Pokémon. It threw me into the cave wall; apparently we had reached the back of the cavern.
I shook my head to try to stay conscious while looking into the purple eyes, which now stared at me seriously.
'Wait...' My eyes widened as I saw the Pokémon behind those eyes.
'How is this here?!'
'This kind of thing is completely unstable!!' Tears ran down my face again.
I had accepted my death.
POV Original
I ran into the cave and dodged some natural obstacles, following the blood trail.It wasn't as dark as I'd expected; I could see better in the dark than usual.
Apparently, having stats at 1 was REALLY supernatural to some extent.
''...w!!''
'Noises, over there!' I slid my foot on the cold cave floor and sprinted toward the shout; it sounded like a cry of anger.
As I approached the source of the sounds, I finally found what I was looking for.
Against the wall sat a man, bearded and exhausted-looking. And on the opposite side from him, with his back to me, a small creature appearing very irritated while staring at the man.
[Task 4: Rescue the Man and Deal with the Danger]
[Reward: Silver Ticket, Silver Ticket (If Killed)/??? (Calm).]
'Calm... so he's not like the Hypno.' I took a deep breath before making some noise on the floor, announcing my presence.
The creature and the man turned to face me. Both frightened, but the first with a look of anger.
Then, when they saw me...
''Axew! Axew!!'' / ''A NAKED BOY?!''
END
DIARY, DAY 02
I spent most of the day following a trail. And now I'm sure the day hasn't ended yet.
It turns out I'm using one page for each different notable event, not necessarily a day. But hey, the diary is mine!!
I heard several explosion noises as I followed the trail in the forest, and when I finally approached... it was a damn cave! It was my first time entering a cave; I'll admit I was excited!
When I found two supposedly rational living beings at the end of the cave... I was naked. My little warrior was seen by strangers for the first time in a long while.
Man, how embarrassing...
END