Hello my dearies...
Enjoy
________________________________________
Alex stared at himself....
He splashed cold water onto his face, the liquid beaded on his skin, rolling off his cheeks and dripping from his chin as he rubbed a towel harshly against it, the skin reddened slightly from the friction, It moved naturally over the bone structure beneath.
There were no seams, no latches and no visible edges.
To the naked eye, to the camera in the room, even to a touch, this was his face.
The Ares persona wasn't something he put on in the morning anymore; it was a physical reality he lived in and what he is becoming slowly. The technology of the mask was terrifyingly perfect...it bonded to his nerve endings, allowing him to feel the cool air of the air conditioning and the scratch of the towel.
"Alex Hales is weak , so he has to go," he whispered to the reflection, his lips moved perfectly in sync. "At least for the time here."
He turned away from the mirror, Identity was a luxury and Survival was the priority for him.
He walked out into the main logistics hub of the base, It was crowded.
Recruits who had survived the stampede were clustered around the Exchange Window, spending their survival bonuses on food, better boots, and comfort items.
Alex bypassed the line for food, He had 547 points, well he was rich by recruit standards. But he felt broke as he stepped up to the Equipment Terminal.
"ID," the quartermaster grunted.
Alex scanned his watch.
[ Ares: 547 Points ]
"I need pokeballs," Alex said calmly.
He tapped the screen.
* Pokeball (Standard): 200 Points
* Great Ball: Locked(Rank:Grunt Required)
* Escape Rope (50m): 40 Points
* Max Repel: 50 Points
* Field Survival Kit (Water Filter, Flint, tarp): 100 Points
Alex did the math, he wanted to hoard points, but points were useless if he died in the uncharted zone.
"Two Pokeballs," Alex ordered.
Beep, -400 Points
"One Field Survival Kit."
Beep, -100 Points
"And forty seven points worth of dried jerky."
Beep, -47 Points
[ Balance: 0 Points ]
The quartermaster raised an eyebrow as he slid the tray of items through the slot. "Emptying the account? Most kids save for a rainy day."
Alex pocketed the two balls,they felt heavy, cool, and waiting to be used.
"Where I'm going," Alex said, "it's already raining."
The sun was high when Alex reached the northern perimeter of Sector 3, he wasn't walking, he was riding.
Nidorino moved with a predatory grace, its massive paws silent on the mossy ground. Alex sat astride the Pokémon's back, his knees gripping the creature's flanks behind the shoulder blades, avoiding the poisonous spines bristling along the spine.
It was an intoxicating feeling, sitting above ground, moving faster than any human could run.The wind whipped past his face.
"Easy buddy," Alex murmured, patting Nidorino's thick, purple neck.
Nidorino slowed to a trot. Ahead of them, the jungle thinned out, replaced by a scorched wasteland of mud and broken trees.
This was the path of the Rhyhorn stampede and at the end of the path stood the Fence.
It was a massive structure....three meters high, topped with razor wire and humming electric coils. Signs posted every ten meters screamed in bold red letters:
DANGER, SECTOR 4 (UNCHARTED)
ROCKET PERSONNEL ONLY, LETHAL FORCE AUTHORIZED
But the stampede hadn't cared about signs.
A fifty-meter section of the fence had been flattened the steel mesh was twisted like wet cardboard where the herd of rock skinned tanks had smashed through.
Alex dismounted and walked to the edge of the breach as he looked through the gap, the jungle on the other side looked.....different, darker.
The trees were ancient, their roots twisting like serpents and the canopy was so thick it blocked out the sky, creating a beautiful but terrifying vision. The sounds were different too, there were no Pidgey chirps and the cries were deeper, guttural, echoing from miles away.
"This is it," Alex whispered."The real wilderness." He checked his gear:-
* Knife: Sharpened
* Balls: Two empty
* Meds: One Potion, Oran Salve
* Food: One week of jerky and he would have to hunt for the rest.
He looked at Nidorino. "Once we cross this line, we're off the grid, no outpost and no safe zones, it's Just us and everywhere is danger."
Nidorino sniffed the air flowing through the gap, It smelled danger and It smelled the opportunity, It growled low, a sound of challenge.
"Let's go buddy."
Alex climbed back onto his mount.
"Pattern Omega....Speed."
Nidorino launched forward, they sprinted through the gap in the fence, sparks showering down around them.
The Deep Wilds
The moment they crossed, the atmosphere shifted, the air was cooler, cleaner, but heavy with the scent of pine and something else.
Alex didn't stop as he rode for an hour, putting distance between himself and the fence. He wanted to be deep enough that no patrolling Rocket Grunt would bother following him.
He reached a ridge overlooking a vast valley.
It was breathtaking. waterfalls cascaded down distant cliffs. Flocks of Pokemon he couldn't identify from this distance soared on the thermals. It was a pristine ecosystem, untouched by the industrial grime of Team Rocket.
"Okay," Alex said, sliding off the Nidorino. "We set up camp here, High ground."
He unpacked his new survival kit and set up the small tarp between two trees.
He used the flint to start a small, smokeless fire and sat down, opening his map.This area was completely black.
"Two Pokéballs," Alex muttered, holding the spheres in his hand. "Two slots."
He couldn't waste them on common trash, he wouldn't catch Rattata or a weedle , never even bothered with them even in games unless to finish the pokedex.
He analyzed his team weaknesses.
* Nidorino (Poison): Weak to Ground and Psychic....Strong Physical Attacker.
* Feebas (Water): Useless right now but eventually a Special Defense tank / Special Attacker.
"I have a Physical Tank and a future Special Tank," Alex mused. "I need something suprising which no one would expect or maybe something rare, Something that didn't belong in a standard Kanto route.
He remembered the rumors in the games that certain islands had swarming seasons where foreign Pokémon appeared or that ancient caves held fossil Pokémon.
He looked at the dense forest below.
"We hunt tomorrow," Alex told the Nidorino. "We look for traces, footprints ,anything, if it's something we can't handle, we run.
He lay back on the tarp, looking up at the sliver of sky visible through the giant trees.
He was terrified and he was exhilarated.
For the first time since arriving in this world, Alex felt like a Trainer, not a victim, not a recruit....A real fucking Trainer.
"This is my new life, there's no going back," he whispered into the dark, looking at his pokeballs, "Who's out there for me?"
Alex put on his MP3 player to relax.....
You don't always have to fuck her hard
In fact sometimes that's not right to do
Sometimes you got to make some love
And fuckin' give her some smooches too
Sometimes you've got to squeeze
Sometimes you've got to say please
Sometimes you got to say hey
I'm gonna fuck you, softly
I'm gonna screw you gently
:- Tenacious D
Nice one...
Authors Note:-
Well the wilderness adventures starts now.
Support me guys with your power stones and collections.
You guys can have early access through patreon, it's 3 chapter Ahead :-
P a t r e o n . c o m / Aegis007
(Remove the spaces!)
Love you all.
Also go participate in the polling in patreon to choose Alex's pokemons, it's free for all.