Tektōn (Pokemon Reborn SI)

[jahaad peterson]

You might wanna stop nickname your pokemon. It becomes confusing to remember what is what. Especially when you don't update as frequently.

 

[BravelyFlying]

You don't have to stop nicknaming your Pokémon - A short list on the top of the chapter with Pokémon and species would be good enough

 

[TheoVelvet]

And I was just looking for a pokemon fan game to play and I find this? How lucky am I,
Yes, yes, a fanfic to read and a game to play very lucky

 

[ArtMagnus]

You don't have to stop nicknaming your Pokémon - A short list on the top of the chapter with Pokémon and species would be good enough

Click to shrink...

Yes, that is the plan. Once I get the next few chapters out, I'll probably put out a threadmarked post with the full roster.

 

[ShadesTheMan]

Is swablu a boy or a girl? I feel like you changed its pronouns like 4 times in that chapter.

 

[ArtMagnus]

She was born special.

She knew it, and she knew everyone else knew it as well.

She was a child of the King of the Forest. The one who held dominion of the woods and the valleys. The King was the greatest and strongest of their kind and respected by all. The unyielding Master of the Sky. The other Pokemon left their flock alone because of his strength.

She had siblings, too. But they weren't special. They were not like her. They did not inherit their father's ability.
They were not loved by the wind.

She loved the way the wind brushed against her cloudy wings, its kiss against her blue face.

She loved her father, too. Everyone did. She loved his stories about when he was a chick and had a Trainer. She loved hearing their stories of traveling and fighting and becoming closer and closer to the best.

Sometimes, she wished she had a Trainer as well. But at that time, she was satisfied. She was to be King after her Father after all.

But now she stood before a Trainer with his rather unimpressive raccoon standing in front of him, glaring furiously. She knew what he wanted. She had seen others be caught by Trainers after all, and the look in his eyes was the same.

Well then, if he wanted to catch her, she had to make him work for it.

---

A daunting silence had fallen over the Garden as Pace and Swablu were locked in a standoff.

The Cotton Bird Pokemon floated a few inches off the ground, staring at Pace. I was aware that Swablu were some of the lightest Pokemon, weighing only a little over a single kilogram. The lack of density allowed it to float easily, although it was reliant on the speed and consistency of the winds in order to fly at decent, steady speeds. The clouded wings were excellent in allowing Swablu to float and drift without any loss of stamina, but its ability to accelerate was rather minimal giving it low speeds.

Pace should be able to react to it. The Zigzagoon had only really started battling the previous day but had shown an admirable knack for it despite his lack of a strong move pool. Pace's Headbutt was probably the strongest attack of either of my Pokemon, and Sand Attack was useful to provide a quick way to escape a dangerous situation. So I was somewhat confident in our ability to win.

Nonetheless, I wanted to stay on guard. Swablu should be somewhat strong in order to subjugate the other inhabitants of the Garden.

And then the battle began.

The Cotton bird drifted slightly before it moved, backing away with a flap of her wings. It then swooped down, its beak glowing softly as it rushed towards Pace.

"Back off and kick up some sand, Pace!" I swiftly ordered, and my Pokemon complied. He jumped back, kicking up a cloud of dust using his sharp claws. Swablu seemed a bit taken aback at the sand shrouding her senses as she missed Pace narrowly. She quickly shook her head as she repositioned herself and turned around, diving in for another attack.

It was likely that the same trick wouldn't work again. "Smash her, Pace! Headbutt!"

Pace steadied his frame, his tail swishing slightly as he readied himself. As Swablu descended, Pace moved, jumping ahead. His head shined slightly as he burst forward, leaping to catch Swablu in mid-air. The bird surged forward anyway, and the Pokemon clashed.

The force of Pace's Headbutt exceeded that of Swablu's Peck, and the Cotton Bird Pokemon was knocked away. The damage was minimal, however, as the bird's hardened beak had taken much of the brunt of the attack.

Swablu seemed furious for a moment, shaking her head and steadying herself. She drifted in the air, watching Pace for a moment and fluttering her wings occasionally to keep her form steady. It technically didn't need to do that, the natural orientation of her species allowing her to balance easily.

But it pulled its wings back. And flapped them down once, hard. Vaguely, through the flying dust and the evening light, I could see a light glow color its wings before they faded completely.

I felt a drifting gust brush past my face. Strands of my hair were pushed by the sudden wind, as my eyes squinted instinctively, trying to block out dust.

And then Swablu moved.

Its flight was no longer clumsy and slow like it was before, but quick, astonishingly so. Swablu swooped down, blindingly fast as she struck Pace once before turning around and striking him again.

What the hell was that? Quick Attack? No, Swablu didn't learn that move. How did she get so fast so quickly?

… Ah. I raised my hand, feeling the pressure of the passing wind push against my palm. So that's what it was.

Tailwind.

A really good support move tailored to raise the speed of all Pokemon but especially flying types. And it was even more effective on the lightweight Swablu, who can easily maximize the potential of the rushing wind by using its wings as a sail to control her speed.

But a Swablu with Tailwind? She seemed rather young and was probably wild her entire life so it was unlikely to be a learned skill. It was likely an Egg Move inherited from one of her parents.

A grin crawled onto my face as I took a deep breath. I wanted her now, and I wanted her badly. She was a Pokemon with some serious potential.

I swiftly raised my hand. "Try to avoid her, Pace! Use Sand Attack to blind her!"

Pace complied as he tried to intercept Swablu, kicking up dust in an attempt to intercept the rushing Swablu and blind its vision. However, Swablu was swift and tricky, maneuvering in and out of my Pokemon's grasp. She had adopted a hit-and-run strategy, which wasn't bad considering the presence of Tailwind but did give me a solid idea of her skill set.

Did it not know Round? Or even Disarming Voice? Sound-based moves formed a decent portion of the Altaria line's moveset, and both attacks were learned at a relatively early stage.

Perhaps it just preferred Tailwind so much that she was unable to develop her other attacks. That did make sense, and it probably led to her choosing this Hit-and-Run strategy despite her species not exactly being built for that sort of combat.

So what to do? Swablu has a narrow speed advantage, and we didn't really have the means to bridge that gap right now. A few clean hits by Pace's Headbutt or Tackle should be enough to knock her out, but even landing them is a bit difficult due to the height advantage.

She won't be able to keep this up forever. Tailwind was something that needed a lot of energy to use, and it was one of those attacks that required substantial training in order to reach a level of mastery. It shouldn't be able to keep up this assault any longer.

But Swablu would continue its assault till then. How can I keep Pace from taking too much damage?

The answer was right in front of me actually.

"The Trees, Pace!" I quickly ordered, causing the Tiny Raccoon Pokemon to snap into action. He bounded away, narrowly dodging another Peck. "Go towards and use them to evade Swablu!"

The grove which Swablu had claimed dominion over was a bunch of four fruit trees, each with narrow trunks that formed a canopy that cast a dense shade on the grass beneath. Three of the trees formed a triangular shape, but all of them were bundled up rather close together, allowing Pace to dart between them.

Under normal circumstances, I would have probably had to provide detailed instructions to Pace on how to evade. However, early on, especially during fights, he had shown a remarkable ability to detect and avoid attacks, likely picked up when he was on the streets of the city. He was surprisingly intelligent in the way he moved as he paused and accelerated at specific instances. He kept an eye on the Swablu above him, darting back and forth between the trees.

Swablu swerved and shifted, the linear nature of Tailwind's speed boost making it tricky to do so. Its wing whacked against the tree trunk, causing it to Growl in frustration even with the minimal damage it had caused. The Cotton Bird Pokemon steadied itself, and the winds around it died down as it adjusted to the lack of an air current.

Its back was turned to me. I froze for a moment.

There was no need for this fight to continue right? This was almost certainly a stalemate, and both Pokemon would get fatigued before a victor could be established. I could end this, right here.

An empty Pokeball expanded in my hand. The light hum accompanying it seemed to attract the attention of both Pace and Swablu and as the latter turned around, I threw the Pokeball, sending it flying towards my target.

The Pokeball is a deceptively light object, and I had a decent throwing arm. It traveled through the air quickly before the Flying Type Pokemon realized what happened as it whacked against Swablu's face with a loud thud. The Cotton Bird seemed taken aback by being struck so suddenly, but she was covered in red light as her form was absorbed into the Pokeball's interior.

"Pace!" I called out to my Pokemon, who dashed back to stand in front of me, facing the shaking Pokeball. "Stay on guard. She is still strong enough to break out!"

The Pokeball's Capture Technology was not foolproof. When a wild Pokemon is hit by one, it is absorbed into the Pokeball's expanded space and stored in a digitized form. Following that, a seal or lock is set, securing the newly captured Pokemon. However, a Pokemon is still conscious during this process and has the opportunity to break out of this lock if they are unwilling or strong enough.

Swablu was tired from all that flying about, and she was a bit stunned when the Pokeball struck her. As it swung back and forth with an ominous beeping sound, I hoped that this would be enough to end this. I did not want to risk injury to either Pokemon by stretching this bout out for too long.

The Pokeball shook once. Then twice. Each sway caused my anticipation and excitement to build as it finally stopped shuddering. The central button emitted a flutter of sparks, indicating the finalization of the capture.

I punched the air in excitement as the tension of the battle suddenly broke. I didn't know whether it was the fatigue that caused Swablu to be captured or whether she just gave up. And frankly, I did not care.

"Hell yeah!" I cheered. Suddenly, I heard the bugs in the grass and the birds in the trees move away, and I felt a bit embarrassed. A cough behind me reminded me of Seacrest, who was observing the whole thing.

I walked over and picked up Swablu's Pokeball. A proper introduction could wait for later. I knelt down and moved my hand to take Pace's Pokeball to withdraw him. He was a bit tired, but the damage from the skirmish was minimal. I placed my hand close to his forehead and patted him slowly.

Pace leaned in, pressing his forehead into my palm and growling serenely. The first Pokemon I caught was many things, and touch-starved was one of them. I put his Pokeball back in my belt as I picked him up, cradling him in my arms.

"Ah, and there's no need for any payment or anything, Mr. Seacrest," I patted my belt. "I already got my reward," I said with a smile.

---

The Pokedex in my hand chimed as it finished scanning Swablu's Pokeball.

"Swablu, the Cotton Bird Pokemon.

Swablu have light and fluffy wings which resemble cottony clouds. They are gentle and friendly Pokemon, usually not afraid of humans. It occasionally sits on the heads of people, like a cotton-fluff hat. It constantly grooms its wings, and if its wings become dirty, it finds a water source to take a shower.

This Swablu knows the following moves: Peck, Tailwind, Disarming Voice."

Huh. So it did know Disarming Voice. It's a fairly weak move, but it was an important part of the Altaria line's development, allowing them to hone their ability to use both Sound-Based moves and Fairy Type attacks.

The latter is really part of the reason why Altaria is a good Dragon/Flying Type, even with other Pokemon like the more common and offensively oriented Noivern and the pseudo-legendaries Dragonite and Salamence. Altaria lacked in both speed and raw power, but it was heavily defensive and difficult to bring down with moves such as Roost and Cotton Guard. It was a dangerous all-rounder who could use both physical and special techniques, and its access to several powerful Fairy Moves only made it more versatile.

I was in an empty alleyway, flanked by two gray walls. It was surprisingly clean and empty of trash or anything of that sort, though its proximity to the Pokemon Center was probably a reason why. The only objects in the alleyway were a set of large wooden boxes which seemed to be empty.

One of the amenities a Center is supposed to provide to traveling Trainers is an open field where they can practice and train their Pokemon. Peridot, due to the sheer density of the surrounding buildings, was unable to make such a facility. As a replacement, a bunch of the surrounding alleyways were selected then cleared out and made into an open space where we could practise. There wasn't even a dumpster here.

Luffy was right beside me and so was Pace. Both of them were enthusiastic to meet our new teammate, and so was I, to be honest. I liked what I had seen in Swablu so far, but I was a bit worried she would be hostile due to being captured so suddenly.

I had promised her a one versus one after all. So being caught that way, interfering in her battle, might cause her to be violent.

"Luffy, if she causes trouble once she's released, I want you to deal with her," I said to my Starter in a serious tone. He nodded once, a determined expression on his face, then took a step forward.

I gulped nervously as I pointed Swablu's Pokeball in front of me. It snapped open, and a flash of light burst out as Swablu formed in front of me. She landed on the ground, her little feet planting her on the asphalt.

For a moment, she seemed slightly dazed, but she quickly regained her composure, seeing me and having a quick look at the walls surrounding her.

She glared at me but made no hostile moves. I took that as a chance to let her hear me out.

"Hey. Sorry about that back there," I said in what I hoped would be a soft tone. "I didn't want that fight to stay that way, in a stalemate, that's all." I knelt down, looking the bird in the eye. Contrary to the popular notion that Swablu was a gentle Pokemon, I could tell that this one had a vicious streak to her from the way she glared at me.

"Right. So I caught you. You know what this means right? I am your Trainer now. And you are my Pokemon. I want to make some things clear before we do anything though," I began. "You don't have to fight for me if you don't want to."

Now that caused her to perk up.

"I have no intention of keeping a teammate who has no interest in what I am doing. If you don't want me as a Trainer, that's fine. I can give you up for adoption, or contact a conservation group to send you back to your habitat," I explained. "But before you make a decision, I want you to consider what I am offering to you."

I took a deep breath. "You're a good fighter. A very good fighter. That Tailwind of yours? Very solid. And you seem clever as well." She puffed up in response to my praise. "However, you aren't perfect. You have a long, long way to go, girl. And you can't get there on your own." I pointed to both Luffy and Pace.

"I've already explained what I want to these two. I want to be the best. Better than anyone else. And Luffy and Pace are going to be there as well. I think you have what it takes to be there as well," I said, my solemn ambition manifesting through my words. "If you join me, I won't guarantee that we will never lose or anything like that. Hell, we might lose a lot along the way. But, in the end, what I can guarantee is that you'll grow stronger. Much stronger than any Altaria around."

I offered her a hand. "So, what do you say?" I asked, hiding my nervousness behind a confident facade.

Swablu paused, looking at my hand for an instant. She seemed to be considering something as she waddled towards me.

She then jumped, and, with a flap of her wings, landed on my head, its soft feet planted firmly on my scalp. I looked up at it as it rested on my head, perched on my messy black hair.

"So… that's a yes, I take it?" I asked her, and she tittered back in an affirmative tone. Luffy and Pace both seemed fascinated by the flying type sitting on my head who looked haughtily down on them.

For a moment, everything was silent. Frankly, I wasn't expecting it to be… this easy.

"Would you like a nickname?" I asked the bird after a minute, who was preening its wings now. It paused and considered what I was asking. "I gave Luffy and Pace theirs when I asked them. It can help you seem… more unique. Stand out from other members of your species, you know."

The Swablu considered it before jumping down into my arms as I caught her. She nodded once, signifying she wanted one.

"Hmm… let's see here…" I thought for a second. "Cotton, maybe? Or perhaps Loom?" I suggested referencing the nature of her wings. She shook her head, refusing both.

The next ten minutes were spent deliberating over various names, all of which were refused by my newest teammate. Catherine, Amelia, Sieglinde, Soar, Justice, Quicksilver, Nimbus, Skye, and Gust were all swiftly rejected by her, and I was running out of ideas. Luffy was named after one of my favorite fictional characters while Pace got his moniker on a whim. Giving Swablu a new name was surprisingly challenging and a test of my creativity.

"How about Winda? I think it fits because of your Tailwind, I suppose?" I finally suggested.

She considered it as she fluttered in the air in front of me. She twirled and drifted before landing on my arm and nodding, accepting her new name as 'Winda'.

I beamed at her. "Welcome to the team then, Winda!"

---

Training your Pokemon was important.

It may seem rather obvious at first glance, but it was something most trainers often forgot. To be fair, it's easy to lose yourself in the triumph and defeat of combat. The rush of attaining victory in a Pokemon match was rather addicting, really. And after facing a defeat, you would want to bounce back with a win.

The issue with recklessly throwing yourself into a never-ending series of battles was that there was simply no progress going on when you did so. In order to actually remedy your Pokemon's flaws and hone their strengths, you need to sit down, analyze their flaws and talents, create a rough development plan, and push them to train, exercise, and practice.

That doesn't mean that actual matches aren't any less significant. On the contrary, most of the actual growth occurs during a fight. There is no replacement for actual experience—not natural talent or the best training in the world. Facing actual combat could cause a Pokemon to experience extraordinary breakthroughs and grow leaps and bounds in traits such as strength, speed, and combat technique.

Simply put, the most important factor in a Pokemon's growth is Stress. Both physical and mental. And the best place for them to experience stress is fighting other trained Pokemon. Combat is ideal for a Pokemon to learn to fight.

Training is important for a Pokemon to learn how to fight.

A full day had passed since I gave Winda her new name, and I was back again in the same alleyway. Most of the last day was spent helping Winda acclimate to our presence and ensuring my three Pokemon tried to get along with each other. There was tension between the haughty Winda and Luffy, but it seemed that they were at least willing to work with each other.

I sat on a wooden crate, notebook in my lap. In my left hand, I had my Pokedex where there were a bunch of academic articles. In my right, I had my pen which I used to write down details into the pages of the notebook. I was creating a training plan for my Pokemon, looking up videos and articles online, and trying to figure out how to make each member of my party grow to their fullest extent.

My priority right now was Luffy. Speaking frankly, sometimes I worried that I had neglected my Starter over the last few days in favor of helping Pace out.

Pace did need the help. And Luffy did understand that. That didn't make me feel any less guilty. I had caught Pace almost immediately after I chose Luffy, after all.

It was hard, trying to figure out how and when to take care of each team member. I wanted to provide each of my teammates with an equal amount of attention and affection, but that was… difficult, frankly. And a bit frustrating.

Being social was never my strong suit. In these circumstances, where I have to be social and proactive in taking care of my party, I am forced to constantly ask and question my decisions to spend time with each of my Pokemon.

I shook my head and tried to refocus. I underlined the words 'Power-Up Punch' on Luffy's page in my Training Notebook.

I had a plan or at least the vague outlines of one. My first target was beating the Electric-type Gym Leader, Julia. She was infamous for her explosive, vivacious personality, and her love for explosions had made it sort of obvious what her Ace would be. My suspicions were confirmed by a quick question to the local Nurse Joy.

An Electrode.

While not particularly strong, along with their pre-evolution Voltorb, they were one of the fastest Pokemon on Earth and were infamously difficult for beginners to deal with. They had sufficient firepower to make handling their electric attacks a problem, and an Explosion was enough to ensure a knockout against almost any sufficiently weakened Pokemon. Even landing a hit on them was tricky, since they were fast enough to evade anything you threw at them.

There were a few ways you could take them down though. Unmissable attacks like Swift were always troublesome for Electrode to deal with, and simply evading Explosion was also an option. Their defenses were also generally mediocre, and they didn't handle wide-area moves like Earthquake or Rock Slide that well either.

Unfortunately, most of those options were not available to me.

What was available to me though, was Luffy. More specifically, his evolution's Mach Punch. My hopes lay mostly in the fact that Monferno's Mach Punch would be enough to bridge the gap in speed between the two Pokemon.

In order to learn and master Mach Punch as a Monferno, it was important that he learned Power-Up Punch first.

The execution of both moves was shockingly similar. Both Punches involved the tensing and relaxation of specific muscles in a Pokemon's body, which led to two very different effects. In the case of Power-Up Punch, there's a build-up of physical strength and muscle power for subsequent strikes. For Mach Punch, there's a sudden improvement in speed which can make the Pokemon almost blindingly fast.

In the case of the Infernape line specifically, Chimchar lacks the lower body and leg strength in order to execute a Mach Punch's speed enhancement. Monferno, on the other hand, has impressive lower body strength and flexibility, allowing them to execute Mach Punch flawlessly almost immediately after evolution.

There was no wonder that, for a time, Mach Punch was considered the Infernape line's signature move.

I closed the book, sighing slightly as I placed it back into my bag. I had my plan for Luffy, though my ideas for Pace and Winda's developments needed to be workshopped more. Still, I suppose improving Pace's physical strength and Winda's efficiency with Tailwind wasn't a bad place to start.

I picked up my bag as I stretched out slightly. Now that I had finished figuring out what to do, it was time to go find some stuff for my Pokemon to use during their Training.

Something heavy for Pace… Something like a plank or some bricks for Luffy to try punching… I had a full list of things I needed in my head, and hopefully, I could get them all for cheap. It wasn't like I was getting Power Items or anything like that. Most of the things I needed were more everyday stuff.

And then, it was time to get to work.

---

A/N: Well that took longer than expected.

I was busier than usual so I accidentally ended up missing my original, planned update date by a wide margin. Acclimating to a new country and preparing to travel to said country was...rather exhausting to be frank. So, I ended up procrastinating. This chapter was mostly ready for a long time, and I only had to do a few touch-ups and edits before posting. I have given this story much more thought though, and I have a few... very interesting ideas on how to take it forward. All I am willing to say right now is to expect some very heavy divergences regarding plot and worldbuilding as we approach the end of Reborn's Main Story.

Now, about the chapter itself. Initially, my plan was to have Swablu be just another catch, but then I gave it a little more thought. Altaria wasn't just any other Pokemon, it was a candidate for Alex's final Team. And since I had a series of fairly interesting arcs planned for the other candidates, I wanted to make her whole schtick more interesting.

Which led to this whole thing about being a 'King'. In this context, 'King' is a gender-neutral term used for the leader of a group of Pokemon. I couldn't find a place to fit this worldbuilding, but I'll probably explain it in greater depth in a future chapter. I don't want to say anything more, especially since all my plans are subject to change in the future, but expect Luffy and Winda to clash in the future.

So yeah, that's it! The next chapter is being worked on and depends on my personal schedule but I should get it out... in time, I suppose. Thanks to Cat_and_crow for Beta Reading and good day!

(I completely forgot about my Beta request on my last chapter. I saw a few people interested but forgot to respond. Just DM me again, and we can talk it over.)

 

[ArtMagnus]

This is the full roster of Pokemon currently being used by Alessander Tektonius. Also included are their species, movesets and any special techniques they know.

Luffy Pace Winda

• 
  
  
  
  
  
  Name: Luffy
  
  Species: Chimchar
  
  Current Moveset: Scratch, Growl, Ember.
  
  Special Techniques: None.
  
  
• 
  
  
  
  
  
  Name: Pace
  
  Species: Zigzagoon
  
  Current Moveset: Tackle, Sand Attack, Growl, Covet.
  
  Special Techniques: None.
  
  
• 
  
  
  
  
  
  Name: Winda
  
  Species: Swablu
  
  Current Moveset: Peck, Disarming Voice, Tailwind
  
  Special Techniques: None.
  
  

This list will eventually get updated as the story goes on and the number and strength of the team increases. I will also probably divide the list into 'Main Team' and 'Standby' when the number of our members exceeds 6.