- Vagabond - Male Reader x Pokémon

Chapter 5: Ember

"The PS system simply stands for 'Pokémon Storage' system. It's a new technology, so it's not been fully implemented yet on a large scale, but we're seeing good progress. Hopefully it'll be widely accessible in a few years time." Mina explained, gesturing towards the display. "Usually the limit for how many Pokémon you can hold at one time is six..." She twirled around, making the number six with both hands. "Firstly, because official battles sanctioned by the Pokémon Association specify a maximum of six per trainer's team. Secondly, six is about the most amount of Pokémon a normal trainer can manage at one time, especially if they're dealing with multiple third stage evolutions..."

She leaned in really close, holding her arm over her mouth, as if not to let any of the others hear her. "And it's kind of a taboo thing. I know you aren't doing so well remembering things so don't worry. It's tradition, and people with more than six are usually seen as up to no good!" [Y/N] gave her a nervous laugh. "Sure, I get it. I think..." The machine beeped behind her, stealing her attention once more. Her fingers danced away at the computer, before she pressed a large red button signalling the transaction's end. "Once a trainer catches more than six Pokémon they can send them to us for safekeeping. It's good for the trainer, the Pokémon and us! The trainer can focus upon perfecting and training their on hand teams, the Pokémon are well-fed and pampered here with us, and we can conduct our research with a massive pool of willing participants!"

The machine made a noticeable ding, followed by a green light. A canister hung against the wall with a large, circular empty slot. Suddenly, an electrical charge fired through the space, joined by a swirling energy. [Y/N] looked at the machine anxiously, and so too did the three Pokémon who sat atop him. Soon, the small vortex calmed, finishing with a bright, shining light. In its place sat another one of those red and white balls, linked in the centre with a black belt. It fell onto its side, still and dormant. "Huh. Did that just..." He said aloud, not wanting to sound stupid. "Teleport?" Mina reached into the slot, snatching the ball from its socket, "Uh-huh. You got it. Teleportation, isn't it neat? Well, more accurately it's just a data transfer, but that's not important" Along with the small ball, a string of text appeared on the monitor, a message of sorts but it was too small for [Y/N] to read from where he was standing. She made sure to read it twice before leaving the terminal.

With the ball in her hand, Mina made her way towards a small corridor, her white lab coat swishing past with every step. "Over here next!" She called, waving for him to follow. [Y/N] looked to his left at Chimchar, then to his right at Piplup, and finally down towards Turtwig, receiving three blank faces. "You guys aren't helping me here..." He said to himself, following the scientist. Teleportation didn't appear a small feat, that was a big deal, and yet she waved it off like some minor thing. It didn't make sense to him, but perhaps technology was just that advanced here?

Catching up to Mina, an automatic door slid open before the two, temporarily blinded by the room's excessive lighting. However, once his eyes adjusted to the new scenery they were met with rows upon rows upon rows of the same red and white balls, one after the other. And there was some variety, some were blue and red, others were yellow and black, and some were just plain strange. Mina sauntered over towards another computer, "Firstly, we need to register this little guy in the database. Documenting each one is really important so we know who and where everyone is..." She added, scanning the ball on a small display. "For example, this isn't just some ordinary Pokémon. This is a Toxicroak, a final stage evolution..."

"This is sent by Silas, one of the Elite Four! They do a lot of work rescuing abused Pokémon, especially those used only for breeding farms and underground battles. It's a shame that it happens but with us at least you know they'll be taken care of with us here, live a better life." There was a noticeable sadness on her face upon mentioning the dire circumstances some of these monsters came from. [Y/N] certainly didn't like the idea either, nobody, be them person or animal, deserved to live as a slave, forced to do things they didn't want to do. He walked forward, placing the green turtle to the ground, who was soon joined by its two other starter companions.