The small library shelf was better than nothing. Pretty great in fact.

David hadn’t quite realized how many books could fit inside a wardrobe. It was too bad some of them were children’s books. The lower half of the shelves, within easy reach of small hands, were all big books with blocky text.

‘Actually..’ David thought and reached out to grab one of the books. ‘Maybe children’s books are exactly what I need.’

‘Pokemon, Pokeball and You!’ was the title and it seemed as good a place to start as any. David flicked past the first few pages which introduced a cutesy Eevee cartoon, to the pokeball section.

When I feel tired I go into my Pokeball!

Long ago Arceus gave all Pokemon the ability to shrink really small.

Special stones inside Apricorn pokeballs make a noise which makes me get really small and sleepy.

But becoming really small tires me out, so don’t play with pokeball buttons!

If David read between the lines that was actually kind of helpful. He’d been wondering how they still had clunky computers if they had tech that could make Pokemon tiny and weightless. It made more sense if it wasn't technology at all - just more Pokemon magic.

“Wait if there's no crazy space bending tech that means -” David started and felt like crying.

No bag of holding. He would be lugging this backpack around forever.

“SSsssh!”

David turned and it was the buff librarian holding a finger to his mouth. David flinched. He hadn’t heard him coming. Or the door opening. Then he looked down.

The cutesy Eevee on the cover of ‘Pokemon, Pokeball and You!’ stared back at him.

David jerked it behind his back and winced at the librarian. The muscular librarian just walked slowly backwards, finger still on his mouth. The door closed by itself with a squeak.

David shivered. That was a creepy man. He waited a second to make sure the librarian wasn’t coming back before turning and putting the children’s book back.

‘Let’s stick to the standard books for now.’ He thought.

 

-.-

 

The standard books were not very helpful. Half of them were fiction novels. David was particularly embarrassed by an old romance, “Brock and I”. The cover art was of a shirtless man curling geodudes.

‘Was Brock named after a cheesy romance novel?’

It would explain so much about his personality.

David shook himself and put the book back. He needed to focus.

At the top of the bookshelf was a selection of magazines and pamphlets. These seemed more up his alley. Three in particular stood out to him. ‘Indigo League Highlights #9’, ‘Common 11 - A primer’, ‘Oak - The Man, the Myth, the Controversy’.

He started with ‘Indigo League Highlights #9’. It was an old and slightly battered magazine with the League logo on the front. Thankfully the magazine had a forenote which explained a little about the league. The Indigo league was a season end competition run by the Silver League which was the Kanto/Johto government.

Trainers with at least 8 badges earned this season were entitled to enter. And they did to receive trainer classes or, for first place, the opportunity to challenge the Elite four. What a trainer class was wasn’t mentioned anywhere, but Beth had referred to Warren as an ‘Ace’. Trainer classes could be a description for qualifications of some kind in this world.

The pages of the pamphlet had short biographies about trainers who had done well in the competition and a note about their specialities but there was no mention of their Pokemon. And David looked. He read through every profile and flicked through all the pages but not one Pokemon was named. The most they gave was types for each trainer.

Did the League hide what Pokemon the best trainers had? And why?

David reached for ‘Oak. The Man, the Myth, the Controversy’ next. Maybe a book about the man who was at the start of the Pokemon games could start him on the right track for answers.

 

‘Christ.’ David thought and reread that section.

Now we shall finally cover what drove Samuel Oak to prominence. To this day he is widely acknowledged as the man who initiated Johto and Kanto peace talks. The talks that led to peace in our time.

Samuel brought the Kanto contingent to the talks through his relationship with war heroine Agatha and contacts in the Kanto economy (see childhood chapter).

The far more impressive feat was convincing Johto factions to attend as a Kanto native. To this day and including in my interviews with the man, Samuel has not clarified how he was able to convince the leaders of the Blackthorne clan to support his cause. Historians theorize that it is related to Samuel’s famous Dragonite, but this has not been substantiated.

Whatever his methods, leading these talks and his lack of involvement in the war (see personal ethics chapter) led to his election as the first Silver Champion.

This was not in the games. He could remember something about Oak and Agatha, but war heroine? He dived back in.

Samuel’s start as the Silver Champion was rocky. Peace was uncertain and the war created powerful trainers who were upset at how a man who was seen to be a ‘pacifist’ was elected. Samuel faced many challenges and it was here he earned the nickname ‘Professor’ for the clinical manner in which he defeated all opponents. His later career after stepping down undefeated cemented this nickname.

David skipped ahead a bit. It was interesting, but not what he needed to know.

Samuel’s most controversial laws came about as a result of the death of his youngest son, Gary Oak. The events surrounding Gary Oak’s death sparked a large investigation, but his death was ruled as due to wild Pokemon attack.

At the time Samuel had planned to stand down from his position in favor of the upcoming Champion of the new Indigo League. Following the death, Samuel retracted his decision and defeated the league winner in a frighteningly short match.

The Oak laws were passed soon after, limiting trainer licenses to legal adults and restricting trainers during the Pokemon mating season.

The reduced number of Pokemon related deaths created staunch supporters of the law, but it remains controversial to this day.

The later murder of his daughter and son-in-law, granting Samuel guardianship of two young children, began Samuel’s retreat from politics and eventual retirement from the position of Champion. (see family chapter)

So that was why he couldn’t buy a pokeball. And why Fred didn't have a license.

Gary had been Oak’s grandson in the games. Has that changed in this world? Was Gary from the games named after someone?

But if Oak’s son died as a kid.. Could the Gary Oak he knew exist? Did Ash?

David froze.

Even if Ash existed, he couldn’t get a trainer’s license until he was 18. But what about all the events in the games? What about Team Rocket? Mewtwo?

David shakily closed the book and placed it back on the shelf. He didn’t know what this meant, but he felt the need to learn how to train Pidgey all the more. David reached for the last pamphlet, ‘Common 11 - A primer’.

The widely renowned ‘Common 11’ are the backbone of Kanto’s economy and ecosystem. While any child could recite them from memory, this wouldn’t be a primer if it didn’t include a list.

Bellsprout the carnivorous flower, Caterpie the metamorphosis worm, Geodude the living rock, Horsea the ocean prince, Krabby the bastion crab, Magikarp the sleeping fury, Nidoran the venomous love, Pidgey the homing storm, Rattata the multiplication mouse, Tentacool the sea beacon, Zubat the parasite partner.

Elite Agatha has campaigned for the addition of Gastly to the regulations for the Common 11, but while the abundance of this Pokemon is not in question, the feasibility of widespread training is.

This primer will cover the habitats of these Pokemon and the reasons why these Pokemon are the most prolific in the region.

More specific details on these Pokemon can be found in the Silver League trainer tips leaflets.

David pursed his lips. He hadn’t seen any leaflets about specific Pokemon on the shelves. Maybe they had different names? He flicked to the back of the pamphlet.

For more information on the Common 11, checkout ‘Sea for yourself’, ‘Beleaf in them’, ‘How to wing it!’ and -

‘I recognise that name,’ David thought, bringing his bag around and starting to root through it. Sure enough, there it was. ‘How to wing it!’.

“I had it this whole time!” David said with a groan and smacked the ‘Common 11’ pamphlet against his face.

This time he heard the door creep open behind him.

 

“I guess it’s a two strike thing.” David said as he sat outside the library. Hopefully he’d be let back in tomorrow.

But now he needed to finish up in the city so he could go back and process all this information.

 

-.-

 

It was now lunchtime and the Pokemart was busy with last minute shoppers looking to feed hungry Pokemon. This was bad as while David wasn’t trying to do the same, Pidgey had been very quiet since breakfast, he was looking to buy food for her.

With his haul today, he had a grand total of 125P. Not enough for anything on his list but enough for some backup sachets of food for Pidgey.

The sachets cost more than he expected. In fact he went back to the Grass section to make sure he remembered the price right. While the cheapest Grass type food were 10P, Flying type sachets cost upwards of 20P.

David held two different kits up and tried to read the small writing.

“Don’t bother with either.”

“Huh?” David turned to look at the woman beside him. She had a tight hat on but he could see strands of gray hair poking out. She had an expressive face and crow’s eyes stretched back to her hat.

“Neither are good. Better than the cheaper catch-all Normal type foods but not the best,” She said with a smile. “What are you buying for?”

“A Pidgey,” David answered, wondering if he should check out the Normal aisle. Anything he could save would be worth it.

“Hmm.. Try this.” The woman picked out a packet and handed it to David.

He turned it over and winced. 35P.

“It is more expensive but if you want your Pidgey to grow to be a battler, a mix of berries and this will get them there.”

“How did you-”

“New trainers may have gotten older but they still act the same.” The woman interrupted with a laugh.

“I'm David.”

“Lauren,” Lauren replied and reached past David to pick up a much more expensive sachet and turned to leave.

“Have a good day and best of luck with your Pidgey.”

David flipped the sachet over one more time before sighing. He picked up two more.

 

-.-

 

David whispered to Pidgey’s ball as he started to leave the city.

“Heading home now, just a little bit more.”

He didn't imagine the shake this time. The Pidgey had been very well behaved since lunch. After the Pokemart he’d explored the city, searching for job ads and flyers posted in windows. A few seemed suitable, but the interviews had.. not gone well. Questions about dealing with Pokemon were frequent and he knew nothing. The furthest he’d gotten had been a position in a bar, but that crumbled when he was asked about his address. ‘Blow throughs’ were not a desirable hire it seemed.

David would have liked to argue the point, but he wasn’t planning to stay in Saffron for all that long. As he walked he thought through his goals.

1. Shower
2. Pokemon
3. Find the Legendaries

Now that two of them were done he would need to expand the list a bit. Reaching a Legendary was further off than ever. The only one he knew the location of, Mewtwo, was behind a criminal organization.

What he came up with was less of a list of goals and more of a plan for the next month.

1. Train
2. Earn Money
3. Fight Battles
4. Earn a badge.

Beth had said the League season started in less than two weeks. They had two months from then to earn two badges.

Pidgey and he needed to be ready.