MTLNOVEL Chapter 3: What a prick!
{Hey there, author here! Thanks for checking out my fanfic! If you spot any errors or feel a part could use improvement, please comment to let me know so I can fix it for future readers. I'd also love to hear your thoughts on the chapter—what you enjoyed or didn't—so feel free to share! Apologies if the pacing feels a bit slow at times.}
{Now, on with the chapter!}
"talking"
(Thoughts)
*Sound effects*
{system or author}
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(POV Will)
"SHIT!" I yelled, feeling the relentless heat searing the last traces of moisture from my eyes. I could almost imagine my tears vaporizing instantly in the blazing sun.
The air felt burning. It felt much fresher then the air in the city but it was painful, every breath i take burned my lungs.
(BUT HOW IN THE HELL DO I SURVIVE IN A DESERT IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE?) Panic clawed at my chest as I crouched to the burning sand, swearing at the system with every heartbeat. My options were bleak—no shelter, no water, no idea what I was even doing here.
Slumped over and half-buried in hopelessness, my eyes suddenly caught something unusual—a peculiar motion in the distance, subtle yet captivating, stirring the stillness of the scorching desert. I froze mid-thought. About twelve meters away, the sand began to sway—not wildly, but with a strange, almost hypnotic rhythm. It was... almost…alive.
"…Eh?" I muttered, squinting at the movement.
Out of the golden dunes, a tiny cactus suddenly shot up, no taller than a pen. Its vibrant green contrasted starkly against the endless desert, almost glowing under the scorching sunlight.
A sweet fragrance—like a mix of vanilla and jasmine—wafted through the dry air, so out of place in the arid heat that it made my head spin.
"Eh-…" I blinked, dumbfounded. The little cactus seemed... alluring, almost as if it were calling to me. My feet moved forward without permission, driven by a compulsion that clawed at my mind.
Every fiber of my instincts screamed warnings, urging me to turn back. Yet, something about it was mesmerizing—innocent-looking, but unsettlingly out of place.
Kekekekeke…
A chill snaked up my spine, a sharp contrast to the heat. Laughter? Why did I hear laughter?
Kekekeke!
The sound grew louder and more menacing with every step I took. My breath hitched as I found myself standing directly in front of the cactus. It seemed so harmless up close, yet I couldn't shake the creeping dread pooling in my gut.
Then, like the snap of a twig, the sweet scent vanished, replaced by a sharp and dry tang of the desert that burned my nostrils. Control returned to my limbs, and I stumbled back, blinking in confusion.
(What's with me losing control of my body today?! My instincts, the system, and now this… wait—)
"Why is the bloody cacti glowing-"
*Whizzzzz*
*Squelch…*
A piercing whistle cut through the air, and a sudden sting grazed my left ear.
"AHH! MOTHER FU—" I dove to the ground just as a flurry of glowing green needles zipped past, embedding themselves into the sand where I had been standing.
Without thinking, I rolled to the side just in time to avoid the next wave. The spot where I was seconds before was battered by…jagged, sharp-…purplish stones?
"what in the…"
Kekekeke~
I snapped my head up, scanning the shifting sands, but the cactus was gone. Instead, the desert itself seemed alive, the dunes rippling and circling me like a predator sizing up its prey.
Through the shifting grains, I spotted a hint of green. My body took over.
My body acted before my brain could process.
I lunged forward, plunging my right hand into the burning hot sand and grabbing onto something prickly that... rough and wriggled?
KEE!
"DAMNIT!" I yelped as fiery pain erupted in my palm. It felt like dozens-no hundreds of swords stabbed themselves through my palm.
My body rebelled, but I couldn't make it let go. Summoning every ounce of strength, 'I' wrestled against what felt like a barbed wire being dragged through the sand.
"AHHHHH! LET GO LET GO!" I wailed in pain using my free left hand trying to force my grappling right hand to let go. Heads up, it reallyyyy didn't work out.
With a final heave, I ripped it free. In my bleeding hand was a melon-sized cactus, its small arms—the ones I had seen earlier—dangling limply.
I stared at the prickly fuck that attacked me with confusion as I held it by one of its…'arms' wondering how could a cactus glow and shoot quills and purple rocks moreover how could it even move?
Then, two eyes opened on its spiny surface, causing me to reflexively slap it away like a volleyball.
KEEEEE!
(Fuck that hurt!) I winched at the dull pain in my hand as I stared at the apparently 'alive' cactus.
The creature skidded across the sand, only to spring upright, its spines bristling.
The prick responded with another volley of needles, this time aiming lower. As I jumped out the way, involuntarily, the bastard reacted and adjusted its aim, quills bore into my leg.
"ARGHH! YOU LITTLE—" I bit back a curse, twisting mid-air to avoid another barrage. My heart raced as I realized it had been aiming for somewhere... more vulnerable.
*Squessh…*
Needles bore into my thigh, but I was thankful, I'd it be my thighs rather painful experience to my privates.
The cactus waddled toward me with shocking speed, its stubby legs kicking up sand in a blur, reaching my side in seconds.
KEEKEEKE~
It…laughed? seeing my pained expression. Then as it laughed it tried pushing me into the field of strange purple rocks.
It was laughing again, its mocking cackles grating against my ears. Before I could react, it lunged, slamming into my knees with the force of a battering ram.
I toppled backward, barely catching myself with a handstand before flipping back onto my feet. My acrobatics startled the cactus for a moment, I kicked it away like a professional footballer.
Keeeee!~
The kicked seemed to damage its body, slightly but it was the first signs of damage. Small thin cracks appeared where I kicked it, the thin almost invisible lines seemed to secreted a strange clear liquid.
(Alright, if it can 'bleed' it can die…wait it's a plant. Do I need to thoroughly rip it piece by piece and burn it? if this is fantasy world, which I assume it is, would the thing duplicate if I do that?-…hmm…)
My eyes sharpened staring at the 'creature' as it struggled to get back to it's feet.
(…Actually that thing looks quite familiar…where have I seen it before?- OH SHI-)
!
*Swish!*
I twisted my body watching as a flurry of needles zoomed past me, inches away from my face.
Turning back to the charging cacti a realization settled…
"…"
WAIT A FUCKING SECOND!
(You've got to be kidding me?!) My body reacted on instinct; trading blows with the living cactus as my mind spiraled into chaos.
I stared at the cacti in shock as I took note of its appearance.
Small spherical form with two oversized arms… Check.
Large cone shaped thorns… Check.
Small yellow thingy on the head that looks like a crown…. Check.
A bunch of holes forming a face… Check.
…Holy shit.
{Image}
(Is that... a Cacnea?! This can't be real. Did I end up in the Pokémon world? But-… HOW?! Is this the other world I got sent to! But it's a world of fiction! Not that I'm complaining, I absolutely adore those fantastical little buggers.)
My thoughts raced as my instincts wrestled with the sentient plant, landing jabs and dodging its vicious barbs though most did land creating bruises and a few splinter-like puncture wounds.
The Cacnea spun like a top, its arms turning to into spiked flails aimed for my legs.
"HELL. THE. FUCK. NO. YOU'RE NOT GETTING MY KNEECAPS!" I jumped over an arm swipe which slammed into a rock, spiderweb like cracks etching itself into the area of impact.
"…HOW IS IT SO STRONG!?" The previous blows I sustained didn't have nearly as much power as that one! If they did, I'd be mush right now!
The cacnea although seething in rage was rather smug hearing my remark, it grinned—or at least, that's what it looked like.
It's eye curving upward and narrowing at once, the multiple holes making its mouth thinned in small slits, then it's 'mouth' curled into a chilling mockery of a smile.
"PLEASE JUST FUCK OF MATE!" I was quaking in my boot-…wait I'm not wearing anything right now.
Grabbing a fist-sized rock and I hurled it with all my strength.
*Woosh~*
KEEEEEE!
The rock struck its side, leaving a small crack that oozed more of the viscous clear liquid.
The Cacnea was enraged its attacks getting faster. The Cacnea leapt into the air trying to slam down me like a mini hulk with thorns.
My mind was too clouded to act and my instincts took over. Then my body sidestepped dodging the blow entirely.
Kee~!
The Cacnea's arm involuntarily wedged itself into a rock.
…ke?!~
It went from a furious leafy bastard to a cute childish bastard trying to undo a mistake.
Ke~! Ke! Keee?~
It struggled to take it's arm out of the rock, cutely swaying side to side trying to loosen it.
I took pity at the poor bastard-no child, helping the poor thing out get its arm out. It took trial and error but I befriended the thing, my first pokemon caught! We then set out to venture the world and make more friends along the way!
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Sike.
I wasn't even in control; my instincts were and 'I' didn't let the opportunity pass by. I wasn't even aware of anything going on, thoughts cluttered my mind blinding me to everything else.
(If I'm in Pokemon-, which might I add which is fictional world, was my world also considered fiction? How can this even be possible?…it wouldn't make sense if I went from real life to fiction?...right? Right?)
"…"
The cactus looked at my empty eyes with fear sensing my 'bloodlust' I suppose.
"…a…d....that…of…" I was a mumbling mess adding more for the cacnea to fear.
Kee?~
It nervously gestured surrender giving a faint smile that displayed unease and fear. It put on a cute act, trying to sway me not to attack it and seem harmless.
"…"
I jumped onto the cacnea, with all my weight and force focused on my feet.
*CRUNCH!*
KEEEEK!
The cacnea let out a shrill shriek as it weakly tried to punch my leg with its free arm, felt like a plastic bottle tapping my shin, didn't hurt at all really.
KEeeEEekkEEE!
The cactus flailed wildly, its spines slicing shallow cuts into my shins.
(If Pokémon are real, does that mean other fictional worlds are too? Could Saitama be out there? Is Robin real? Is—oh god— the One Piece real?!)
"…h..w...wou…d….e…v.....rk…." I was far too absorbed in my thoughts to notice the pain.
The cacnea looked at me with horror and confusion, moments ago I was screaming and lively now I was just an emotionless machine inflicting pain.
I lifted my foot and slammed it down again, another crunch reminiscent of snapping celery was heard as the cacnea flailed even more wildly.
*CRUNCH*
*CRUNCH*
*CRUNCH*
*CRUNCH*
*CRUNCH*
KEEE! KEE?!
*Snap!*
KEEUUU!?!?
Then I repeated the movement over and over with no expression on my face whatsoever. The cacnea kept flailing and flailing trying to free itself until it just started crying from the torment.
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"Huh? Wha-"
By the time I snapped back to reality, the Cacnea was retreating, limping away with...a chunk of its hollow left arm missing?
"Huh? Wonder where that went…" hearing my words, the Cacnea turned around looking at me with puffed…cheeks?-yeah cheeks its eyes swelling with tears; its pride crumbled to dust.
I winched when I tried to move forward, feeling a stinging sensation on my leg.
(Huh? What the...)
I glanced down at my ankle, where a large piece of its flesh was lodged through my leg like plaster after punching through a wall.
"Uh… sorry? Wait—NO, WHY SHOULD I BE SORRY!? CUNT, YOU TRIED TO KILL ME!" I shouted, flipping it off as it hobbled away.
Kkkeeeeeuuu
*swoosh*
Enraged, the Cacnea shot a needle at me with the last of its energy.
I tiled my head.
*swiish~*
I dodged it effortlessly; it didn't even alert my instincts.
"…"
The Cacnea looked back at me nervously, realizing its attack had failed.
"I'm giving you a head start, 1…" I crouched into a sprinting position as the Cacnea scampered off with its figurative tail between its legs.
KEEEEE~
"…2…"
"…3…"
"…4—and you're not even worth the trouble." Once the Cacnea was far enough, I stopped counting, glad my bluff had worked.
"That could have been so much worse…" I muttered, leaning against a large rock that offered a sliver of shade. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing.
"AND DON'T COME BACK, YOU NEEDLE-SPEWING FAGGOT! IF YOU WANNA TRY ME AGAIN, YOU'LL GET MORE THAN YOU CAN HANDLE!" I shouted making sure the cacnea heard it. Ahh~ I could hear it crying from here, music to my ears-
*Cough*
"Argh!"
Then suddenly I clutched my chest in pain felling the burning sensation in my lungs from earlier.
"arghhaaaa..." Then everything just slowly bounced back at once, the fatigue, the adrenaline's backlash, the pain of my wounds, my lungs burning in agony, and the sensation of the deserts wrathful heat.
(Fuck everything is too loud!!) I filched at each heartbeat, why is it so loud?! I can feel my whole body vibrate to it!
I writhed in pain for a solid minute until i settled down from the sensory overload.
"Hahh...hah..."
(How did I just beat a Pokémon in a fight… A bloody pokémon!) Exasperated, sweaty, and in pain, I pulled out the needles in my leg along with the Cacnea's pad that was logged through.
(I'm assuming that Cacnea was only level one or two… so did I basically just beat a toddler?) my mind drifted away as I watched those strange stones the cacnea created disintegrate before my eyes.
*Squelch…* *Pop!*
"Ssssss!"
I hissed returning back to reality as I yanked out a particularly deep needle.
"Hahh…I just hope these don't have poison-…toxin? Narcotics- ugh whatever! In them…"
The scorching desert heat had cauterized most of my wounds to a certain extent, saying it wasn't exactly a pretty sight is an understatement, God I hope I don't get an infection. I glanced up, away from the sun, at the countdown timer ticking down.
{00:52:14.53}
"Ugh… not even ten minutes in, and I'm already at death's door!" I grumbled, watching the timer continue.
"…I need a plan."
(I'm in a desert, in the Pokémon world, freshly attacked by a sentient cactus. I'm injured, exhausted, and facing the backlash of adrenaline. My only real option is…)
I shifted against the rock, positioning myself more comfortably into the tiny sliver of shade.
(…wait out the timer, conserve my energy, and hope I don't run into any other Pokémon that might want my ass as a 'snack')
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I waited under the scorching desert sun, left alone with my thoughts. Apart from a passing flock of Spearow and Fearow, who paid me no mind, I encountered no other Pokémon.
(Those green needles were definitely Pin Missile. That hypnotic scent it emitted—could it have been Sweet Scent or maybe Captivate? And then there were the purple stones—Toxic Spikes. As for the digging through the sand, it could be Dig, or maybe it was just its way of movement. And during the fight, its punches felt ridiculously strong… Pound, perhaps? Or was it simply raw physical strength? Ugh, I still can't figure out if this world follows the game's four-move limit.)
My mind was racing with all sorts of possibilities of this world, like does it follow the manga? (realllyyyy hope it doesn't), is mega evolution a thing in this world? at what point of the plot have i been sent to? Do the game protagonists exist?
I occupied my mind with such things as a...distraction. Something for me to do and stop me from screaming out from the pain and existential crisis...i don't want something to come and eat me...please god, help me.
*Ding!*
{00:00:00}
{Survival quest timer has expired. Analyzing… Host has survived with minor wounds. Congratulations, you have passed the first system quest and are now qualified to use the system.}
"Fu-… Sigh. Of course, it's just the system," I muttered, glaring at the source of my misery...which I kinda forgot about.
{All currently accessible system functions are now available to the host.}
A faint blue glow enveloped the hovering system panel. Without warning, the glow ceased, and the panel dropped.
"Wait, huh…" I didn't even have time to react but my hand 'instinctually' caught it, avoiding a rather painful impact on my family jewels-…wait I don't have a family…they're jewels to me none the less…
(That was close!) keeping the depressing thoughts aside I observed the phone sized panel with curiosity.
Actually, it might as well have been a phone with how all its functions were displayed like app icons on any regular phone.
"System? System you there?" I called out getting no response.
{…}
"For the thousandth time in the past hour, System, Screw you, ya stupid git!" I cursed my heart out before looking back at the glorified glass phone.
Sighhhhh…
Might as well, it's a matter of survival after all.
(Lets see what we got…Trainer stats? me I guess, Pokemon stat, that and those Spearow confirm I'm in pokemon world, Store, Pokedex? That'll be useful!, Inbox-)
"Hmm?" looking at the inbox I saw a red dot on the icons corner that displayed the number one.
!
(Please be a starter pack please be a starter pack)
Without thinking about I tapped the inbox which opened something similar to an email tab on the panel.
{Inbox Title: Starter kit -Clothes -Random pokemon -15 System points -1 potion -1 revive}
{Collect? Yes/No}
(Bingo!) I grinned pressing the yes button with no hesitation.
{+1 revive}
{+1 potion}
{+15 System points}
{+Random pokemon}
{+Clothes}
With each notification from the panel in my hand an item materialized into the real world until only the system points did not materialize; which conformed my hunch that the points were the system's form of currency.
Neatly sprawled before me in the sand was the 'starter kit'.
Consisting of a toothpick sized crystal with a matte yellow finish, the Revive.
A cylindrical purple canister with a white cap, kinda shaped like a room freshener spray can, the Potion.
A set of blue jeans, a white shirt, a belt, and a secondary belt for storage and holding pokeballs I guess?, running shoes, fingerless gloves, and…a dull green winter coat…
{IMAGE}
(Why the fuck would I need a winter coat in the middle of the bloody desert!)
And finally, a baseball sized white and red ball, the pokeball with MY starter pokemon.
I resisted the urge to grab the pokeball right then and there and let out my 'partner in crime'.
(Don't think any pokemon would like being greeted by a butt naked human claiming to be their master-…maybe a ditto?-NO NOPE NADA DON'T EVEN GO THERE!) I slapped myself trying not to picture the fucked up thought of pokephillia.
{Author here, THERE WILL BE NO POKEPHILLIA IN THIS FANFIC! It's disgusting and disturbing to think about.}
(I'd like to at least make a lasting first impression…) with a calmer head screwed on I continued my train of thought.
Of course, being the 'sensible' human I am I quickly wore the sand coated clothes, storing the other two items into a small pouch attached to the belt.
"Now then…" Wrapping the coat around my waist, I crouched to the ground, staring at my one and only partner with a mix of anticipation and hope.
(I didn't need a fish—not here, not now—but a solid partner who'd keep me alive in this merciless 'Non fish friendly' environment.)
My thoughts were filled with worry as I picked the pokeball up, trying to calm myself down to some extent by polishing it using my sleeves.
"System, in the past hour I have meet you, please for the love of god or whatever fucked up being you serve, don't screw me over and give me a something like a Feebas or god forbid a fucking goldeen…"
Taking a deep breath, I pressed my thumb against the Pokéball's button. A streak of brilliant white energy burst forth, outlining a form that quickly took shape.
(Come on…I'm not that picky just please give me something that's useful…)
I squinted against the desert sun as the energy faded, revealing a towering shadow that blocked out the sun.
RRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAA!
The figure flexed, its form crystal-clear as sunlight reflected off its glossy blue carapace, nearly blinding me.
(Now this is surprising!) Joy surged through me as I took in the sight of my new partner basked in sunlight, exuding power.
RRAAA~
It flexed its robust body striking posing as if it were stretching.
Actually with a clearer view it wasn't all that towering, at most maybe a meter and a half?
"Oh yeah I can definitely work with a-"
{WHO'S THAT POKEMON?!}
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Thanks for reading and if you don't mind please share your thoughts of the chapter.
Sorry if the story is slow!