PokéMonster Hunter

9 - Deadweight

Bazel had spent the next week digging into research about the Irydian Abomasnow. It wasn't as common as the Abomasnows from Sinnoh, but wasn't uncommon either. The smithy and other traders apparently relied on a good number of passive Snover to keep some items collected in decent conditions if they required the right temperature. This beast only seemed to appear when not properly culled before hand and was considered a three badge hunt. Once he learned that, Bazel stopped reading up on it and instead focused on getting his first badge.

Throughout Irydia Island, there were a number of small settlements, generally an outpost and some farmers, that maintained local wildlife. Each one also was home to a master hunter - complete a task or two and they would approve you to get their badge. Some stores would even offer better items for you then - figuring that a seasoned hunter was worth trading good items with compared to a newbie. In addition, the Pokémon Center, a guild hall named after the popular relaxation and recovery spots in the mainlands, would allow you to take harder quests based on badges. If Bazel wanted to make a name, he'd need to hunt more than Caterpie the size of a child, trapping Snover and culling an angry horde of Sandshrew that took more time than he would have liked to admin.

There were three master hunters nearby - one within the icy plateau, one at an oasis, and another along the coast. As he charted out a path, a familiar face came up to him.

"Ahem..."

Bazel was nose deep into a map of Irydia when Reina interrupted his concentration. While she was normally barely awake from pure exhaustion, her eyes betrayed an uneasiness behind them. Her body posture was that of a wounded animal on the brink of forfeit.

"Yes Reina? Hawthorn need me?" He already started to put up the atlas and journals detailing the areas under the expectation.

Her body sagged a bit and the question, "I'm sorry..."

"It's whatever, let's go." He rolled his eyes, he understood innately how much of a annoyance serving as Hawthorn's current hunter gopher hand become and felt complete sympathy for her assistant. As Bazel rose to his feet, he readjusted the armor on his arm. 

He was no longer wearing the faint pink and blue of  the Nidoran armor he started off with, instead wearing a mixture - a hood made from a Caterpie to grant a weaker version of Shield Dust, bracers and chestplate from Nidoran to keep Poison Point, and after a nasty and rather annoying encounter with the fox Pokémon Nickit, leggings and faulds made from the shell of a Gastrodon to grant the ability Sticky Hold. Ignoring the green hood, his armor was almost pastel in color and covered in a random assortment of shell and spike - not unlike a few other novice hunters he had passed by. Only his greatsword, made from the horn of a Pincer, looked remotely remarkable.

~~~~~~~~~

Reina and Bazel walked through the door to the library, exiting the cool night air for the warmed of the firepit that warmed the entirety of the library, and met Professor Hawthorn at her research table. Just as always, her hair was a fritzed mess, only compounded by Irydia's natural humidity. Her glasses were smudged with oily fingerprints from constant research and no proper rest. "Yo prof, how's it going?"

Hawthorn was apparently deep into a research journal as the two were greeted by a yelp, "Ahh! Bazel! Just the person I was looking for, how goes the hunt for your badge?"

"Well, Reina kinda interrupted me as I was deciding where to head to tomorrow." He smirked towards the assistant, who closed her eyes and sunk her body down into a chair instead of reacting to his comment. She was asleep before the cushion sank in.

"Ah good, perfect even!"

"Pardon me?"

Hawthorn cleared her throat as Bazel made to leave, only to have a young woman standing in his path. "Miss, if you will?"