Chapter 28: First White Town
"Wow, this is magnificent!"
Rio and Takuma sat on Pidgeot's back, flying through the air. Watching the vast sea of trees in the jungle flash past beneath them at extreme speed, they both let out gasps of amazement.
The Pidgeot Leader's flying speed was incredibly fast. Even carrying one Pokémon and one human, it still delivered them to the northern part of the forest in a very short time. This was the exit of Newmoon Forest. The closer they got to the exit, the sparser the trees visibly became, and roads clearly marked with tracks began to appear.
After dropping off Rio and Takuma, the Pidgeot Leader arranged a meeting time with them, then turned and flew towards the depths of the forest. Pidgeot Leader had also sustained considerable injuries in the previous great battle with Rio and the others and needed to find a place to recuperate properly in preparation for the upcoming battles.
"Rio, let's go!"
Takuma had often wandered to the edge of Newmoon Forest to play since he was little, but he had never gone as deep as this time. Now, seeing the familiar scenery of the forest exit again, he felt a thrill of excitement and, calling out to Rio, ran towards the faintly visible small town not far away.
"Finally entering the human world!"
Rio was also very excited. Since being reborn in this world, he had always lived in the Pokémon world. Only when he occasionally came across human items picked up in the forest did he vaguely remember that another absolute protagonist existed in this world—humans.
In Newmoon Forest, traces of human presence were rarely seen. Occasionally, if he heard any human sounds, the Pokémon around him would always tell him to avoid them and repeatedly warned him to have less contact with humans, because in this world, not all humans were friendly.
Just as Vileplume had said, a long time ago, some evil humans would always enter Newmoon Forest to capture Pokémon wantonly. To resist human invasion, powerful Pokémon took the lead, and other Pokémon lived in groups. Thus, the major Pokémon clans currently scattered in various parts of the forest, as well as the several leaders who could protect the Pokémon, were born.
Many humans, facing the group attacks of Pokémon clans and the deterrence of powerful leaders, had been defeated and turned back multiple times. Coupled with the fact that the Pokémon in Newmoon Forest were not considered particularly rare, humans gradually gave up on clashing head-on with Pokémon clans in the forest. An unspoken understanding formed between the two sides: Pokémon gained their own living space, while humans would consciously avoid the Pokémon clans' living areas, seeking necessary resources and capturing lone Pokémon elsewhere.
Some older Pokémon often recounted this history to the younger ones with sighs.
"I wonder if this human world still has those Gyms, the Elite Four, or the regional Champions? Will they be familiar faces (referring to the games or anime), or completely new people?"
Just as Rio was lost in myriad thoughts, Takuma, who had run some distance ahead, came panting back.
"Here." Takuma took the language translator earpiece he was wearing and hung it on Rio's head, giving a proud thumbs-up. "I won't need this when I get back, but it's just right for you to use."
"By the way, do you want to enter a Poké Ball?"
Takuma took out a round, red-and-white Poké Ball with a button in the center from his small backpack.
Looking at Takuma's hopeful gaze, Rio thought carefully but still shook his head.
Poké Balls were not unfamiliar to Rio. As one of the greatest black technologies of the Pokémon world, they were the bridge connecting the human world and the Pokémon world. There were many types of Poké Balls. They could be enlarged or shrunk by clicking the central button; the shrunken form was easy to carry, and the enlarged form could be used to capture Pokémon.
This capture was not forceful; only when Pokémon were willing could they be drawn into a Poké Ball. According to their accounts (those Pokémon who had been captured), Pokémon in a Poké Ball were in a wondrous state. Their bodies would shrink proportionally, their consciousness could still perceive the external environment, and they could even achieve telepathic communication with the trainers who captured them. This was also why, even though Pokémon language and human language were very different, Pokémon captured by trainers could understand their trainers' commands.
A Pokémon captured by a Poké Ball could not be captured by another Poké Ball until the Pokémon left its previous Poké Ball and returned to a free state, only then could it be captured again.
Although Rio was extremely curious about what it was like to be inside a Poké Ball, his consciousness from his past life as a human was latently unwilling to be confined in such a small sphere.
Seeing Rio refuse to become his Pokémon, Takuma was slightly disappointed. He knew this Pokémon before him was different from other ordinary Pokémon.
"Then can we still be good friends?" Takuma looked at Rio with pleading eyes.
As the first human friend he had met in this world, Rio naturally didn't want to lose this friendship, so he readily nodded.
However, Rio had a question that had been bothering him for a long time.
"By the way, Takuma, how come I haven't seen your Pokémon? Where's your starter Pokémon?" he couldn't help but ask.
Takuma very carefully shrunk the Poké Ball again and put it back in his backpack.
"I only have this one Poké Ball. Because I haven't met a suitable partner yet, I haven't had a chance to use it."
Chattering along the way, Takuma, without realizing it, had led Rio to the main entrance of the small town.
Having returned to a familiar place, Takuma relaxed and turned to Rio with a smile. "Welcome to First White Town."
Rio craned his neck to look. The town was not large. Just as its name suggested, most of the houses had white exterior walls, and several residential houses were scattered around the four corners of the town. It was already dusk, and smoke, symbolizing the warmth of home-cooked meals, rose from the chimneys on the rooftops, carrying with it waves of fragrant food smells.
What surprised him, however, was that among the ordinary residential houses, there were two specially shaped buildings: one resembled an ordinary Poké Ball with a red and white color scheme. A flat Poké Ball symbol hung in the center of its red roof. The transparent glass door at the entrance of the white building opened and closed from time to time, and some hurried-looking people could be seen going in and out. The other was a research institute with a white roof, about three stories high.
"Is that... a Pokémon Center?"
Seeing the familiar red and white building, Rio couldn't help but point and ask Takuma.
"Huh, you actually know. Yes, that's the Pokémon Center managed by the Pokémon League. Pokémon injuries can be treated there, and there are other services too. It's also where we need to go in a bit. After all, you still have many wounds that need to be treated first."
It would have been better not to mention it; as soon as his wounds were brought up, Rio felt his whole body ache.
"Then the other building is... Hey, wait..."
Before Rio could ask his question, he was excitedly dragged by Takuma to the entrance of the Pokémon Center.
"Swish," the glass door of the Pokémon Center detected someone approaching and opened automatically.
"Nurse Joy, my Pokémon is injured! Please help me!" As soon as they entered, Takuma, dragging a half-dazed Rio with one hand, shouted.
The interior of the Pokémon Center that met his eyes was quite familiar to Rio:
The Pokémon Center was divided into two floors, with the upper floor being an elevated level. Looking from the entrance, several people could vaguely be seen waiting in front of some machines. The main feature of the ground floor was a circular counter in the center. To the left inside the counter was a healing machine, and to the right were several computers for public use. Above the counter was a large screen displaying a list of trainers and their Pokémon waiting for treatment.
Outside the counter, to the left, were rows of bookshelves filled with magazines and books, along with a few benches for resting. To the right was a huge map, around which several people were currently gathered, seemingly looking at something. One of them wore a black hat, with a few strands of golden hair peeking out from under the brim.
A few elderly people sitting on a bench drinking tea smiled. "Little Takuma, where did you pick up an injured Pokémon to treat this time? You didn't sneak off to play by the forest edge again, did you? Be careful your mom doesn't find out and give you a scolding."
Takuma chuckled sheepishly.
At this moment, a lady with pink hair, wearing a nurse's cap and a nurse's apron, walked out from the inner part of the Pokémon Center and came before Takuma. Following beside her was a round, pink, and adorably cute Pokémon—it was the iconic Nurse Joy and her Pokémon, Chansey.
Nurse Joy bent down in front of Rio and said with some surprise and distress, "Oh my, how did this Pokémon get such severe injuries? It needs to be treated quickly, or there might be lasting consequences."
It would have been better if Nurse Joy hadn't mentioned it. Now that his injuries were brought up, a wave of weakness and fatigue washed over Rio's body like a tide.
"Rio, you stay here and receive treatment from Nurse Joy. I'll go home first. You can find me at that research institute later."
After saying that, Takuma whispered to Rio, then waved goodbye and left the Pokémon Center.
"Alright, I'll take you to the treatment room in the back."
With that, Nurse Joy picked up Rio in her arms and carried him towards the inner part of the Pokémon Center.
Speaking of which, even if Rio was considered tall among Riolu, in front of an adult woman, he was about the size of a large doll, so she could naturally pick him up easily.
Feeling the fresh scent and warm embrace from Nurse Joy, Rio's constantly tense spirit instantly relaxed. And with that relaxation, he fell into a deep sleep.