I released my other pokemon before redeeming the rewards from the last part of my first Chain Quest. The ceiling of my room was about ten feet above the floor, so there was just barely enough room for Storm to fit. They arranged themselves in a semicircle before me as I selected Collect Reward and received my four tickets. This time, I decided to use them at the same time instead of one by one. The Category wheels quickly came to a stop at two pokemon items, one common item, and one ability.
Deciding to draw these more interesting rolls out, I rolled the two Pokemon Item Types wheels and waited to see the results. They came to a stop in near synchrony on the Poke Ball option. With only the chance of getting a Master Ball keeping me interested, I spun the Poke Balls wheel to finalize half of my rewards. The words “Dive Ball” and “Safari Ball” had barely appeared in my vision before I felt the two balls appear in my hands. I lamented my currently poor luck as I moved to the wheels of the last two tickets.
When the Common Items wheel stopped on a necklace my mind blanked. What was I supposed to do with a necklace? Sell it? He decided to use Identify on it in the, admittedly minor, hope that there was something special about it.
Silver And Emerald Necklace
Level 5 Trainer Equipment
Increases [SPATK] of Wearer’s Pokemon by [5%]
Effect Halved and Focused on One Pokemon if Euipped to Them
My brain just froze, unable to process the shock I had just received. As I came back to my senses, the information on trainer and pokemon equipment lept to the forefront of my mind. It had seemed so irrelevant when I first learned about it.
Although pokemon equipment, more commonly referred to as held items, was the more common of the two most trainers would either need to come from wealth or have defeated the first gym before they could rationalize buying level one pokemon equipment. And most serious trainers would frst outfit their whole team with one level four gear and one or two level three gear each before considering buying a singular piece of level one trainer equipment, despite the fact that a pokemon could only have one item active at a time. Level five gear for a trainer required the deep pockets of multibillionares and famous champion level trainers.
The pricing issue was mainly due to the difference between pokemon’s bodies and the human body. Pokemon were ridiculously sturdy creatures, able to go from completely exhausted to full of energy after a mere 30-minute break or five-minute nap. This meant that the gear meant for pokemon didn’t need nearly as much work to be safe when compared to the ones for their trainers. The difference was so great that crafters able to make trainer equipment above level two were considered national treasures and were given appropriate protections and luxuries.
“Danger. Keep hidden. Get strong.” My musings came to an abrupt end when I heard Storm speak and immediately worked to understand her meaning. I responded once I determined what she said.
“So you want me to pass this off as just a normal necklace until we are strong enough that no one would kill us to try and take it?” It seemed her thought process was pragmatic yet jaded. “As much as I wish your presence would be a deterrent, I have to agree with you. A piece of level five trainer equipment is valuable enough to warrant pissing you off by killing me and stealing it. So I will leave it with you. If you equip it, we can say it was a gift to you from the legendary that allowed me to train you. Then no one would dare look at it with greed for fear of all legendaries seeing its theft as an affront to them.”
She gave a nod of affirmation as the rest of my pokemon heaved a sigh of releaf. Storm took the item from my outstretched hand and equipped it. A quick Identify showed that it increased her special attack stat by five points after being equipped.
“Now that that crisis is averted, let’s get this last wheel spinning.” I spoke to bring our previous conversation to a close and assure my companions of the successfulness of our ploy. As soon as their eyes landed on the Abilities wheel, I gave it a spin. It seemed luck was favoring me because the indicator showed that I just won an “Improved Body Level One,” whatever that was. Before I could comment on the result, I was hit with a pain so overwhelming that I nearly blacked out then and there.
My jaw was locked shut and my throat refused to let me scream as I felt the worst physical pain of my life. My vision went white and a piercing ringing echoed through my ears as my body stiffened. It was as if magma was being pumped through my veins and a rusty, jagged knife was used to shred every tendon, ligament, and muscle in my body. All of that while my bones were shattered into mere fragments before being glued together with liquid steel.
It was horrific, and I was left panting and covered in more than just sweat. The first thing I noticed was that a disgusting, black substance with a consistency like tar was covering me from head to toe. The next thing I noticed was the cold, hard tile I was lying on, curled up in a ball.
Yasashi was standing just outside an opened glass door along with Ali and Mamoru while Storm poked her head through the bathroom doorway, the trace amounts of black goop on their faces and bodies an indication that they had moved me to the shower as soon as the substance began to cover me.
“Thanks, guys. I’m fine now.” My voice came out coarse and scratchy as if I hadn’t spoken in weeks. Despite my assurances, my pokemon refused to accept that I was ok until I washed the gunk off my body and clothes and walked out of the shower on relatively steady legs.
It took a while, but I managed to clean the unknown substance from Mamoru’s face, his feathers managing to hold the gunk in annoyingly well. With my rewards accepted and my pokemon cleaned, it was finally time to check out.
