Lilith watched in wonder as Incineroar disappeared from view. The pack of Houndoom and Houndour let out a howl of victory. Their snouts went skywards in celebration. The pack leader, Houndoom, sat on the ground exhausted. His body sustained many injuries.

Houndoom and Houndour jumped from their vantage points. The pack converged down into the valley. They went to congratulate their leader.

Lilith decided it was time to leave. She had overstayed her welcome. If any one of the Pokemon below spotted her, the consequences would be unknown. Lilith decided she would rather not find out.

Lilith removed her hands and let the tall grass fall back into place. She shuffled backwards. Some flattened grass returned to its previous position as Lilith withdrew, and went back the way she had come.

Lilith re-traced the plateau. Minutes later, Lilith was back to overlook the derelict town. She had to wade through long grass until she finally found her way. From there, She traced the ledge around the outer reaches.

The fight replayed in her head as she walked. The two Pokemon were frighteningly strong. It further reinforced how real the world was. Yes, there were Pokemon, but this world was far from a Game. In fact, only the basics like a Pokemon's species and what Moves they learned had been translated.

‘Levels are still a bit foggy, but they seem to matter more than type. And the Moves aren’t so linear, they can be used in new creative ways unlike the Game. Hmm, and the most drastic change in the battle format, moves can be used congruently. The structure of battles from the Game is all but gone.’

Lilith checked the Sun’s position. The Sun inched past Noon, slightly into the afternoon.

‘Plenty of time.’

With an abundance of time, Lilith decided to explore the mountainside. Her renewed mindset allowed her to be a bit more flexible with where she went and how she handled other Pokemon.

Many attempts at communicating with Pokemon could be had.

***

Lilith followed the Plateau westward as far as it could take her. Lilith passed by her initial ingress. The small footpath filled with trees was all but ignored. The same scenery dominated the landscape. The area beyond that was much harder to navigate. The plateau gradually sloped upwards. Soon, grass replaced gravel, and green was nowhere to be seen.

Uneven rocks inclined towards the peak.

It would have been much harder if not for her direction. She stayed towards the safer areas. Lilith had no intention of increasing her altitude, where the slopes grew much more steep. Although the ground grew uneven, her path forward wasn’t as perilous.

The first Pokemon Lilith spotted was minutes after she had left the plateau. A wild Nosepass wobbled around eating rocks. Occasionally, it would stare off into the distance. No matter what it was doing, its nose always snapped in one direction like a rubber band, before it could go back to its business.

Lilith found the whole situation odd.

She showed herself to the Nosepass. Lilith stepped out of her hiding spot but never approached. If it attacked she was ready to jump for cover, but it seemed all too inclined to ignore her. Despite being relatively close, it never even acknowledged her.

It was like Nosepass knew she couldn't hurt it. What was the point of looking at every ant that crossed your path?

Despite Lilith’s wounded pride, Lilith continued her journey onward. Too much time had been wasted observing the Nosepass.

Pokemon occasionally flew overhead, but they were too far away to identify. Even with the rugged train, Lilith was making good time when she wasn't observing the surroundings. About half way back to her camp, Lilith paused.

Further ahead lay specks of yellow colored spots on a rock formation further ahead. The uniformness was jarring. The color stood out even more, not matching with any of the surrounding rock. Lilith continued to observe from a distance before the full picture was finally formed.

Bulbs of feet emerged as Lilith identified the group of Pokemon.

If not for prior knowledge, Lilith would have thought the Roggenrolla were just a strange rock formation. They were bunched up so close that they were almost unrecognizable. Hundreds of Pokemon gathered up in close proximity. Each yellow dot was an eye.

The Roggenrolla mound didn’t move. They perfectly imitated their rock surroundings. Lilith decided to not approach the Pokemon and their ambush.

Lilith watched the group intently as she made her detour. The closer she looked, the more that appeared. Some even closed their eyes, perfectly imitating the rock around them. Hidden among the pile were pairs of eyes, not singular ones.

‘So another non-hostile Pokemon if not angered.’ Lilith thought.

Lilith assumed that any Pokemon would be hostile under the right conditions.

Boldore, the Evolution of Roggenrola, followed her movement. Once Lilith knew what she was looking at she could tell they were watching her.

Lilith waved in acknowledgement, and then aimed back towards the forest below. Lilith didn’t look back to see if she got a response. The only way through would be to disturb them.

Lilith’s detour had come to an end.

***

Once back in the forest, Lilith recognized her surroundings. She made record time in finding her base camp.

She approached cautiously. Lilith was unsure how Pansage was doing. In fact she had practically forgotten all about the small monkey.

Lilith glanced left and right. She climbed a nearby tree to scout out the area. Once safe, Lilith checked around the area and inside her makeshift tent. Pansage was gone. Lilith wasn’t surprised, she had left yesterday and hadn’t come back until now, sleeping in the abandoned town.

‘So much for a thank you.’ Lilith grumbled.

Lilith spent the rest of the day refilling her water pouches down by the river. She enjoyed dancing around the tiny Tympole as they tried shooting her with weak Water attacks.

***

Two days passed. In that time, Lilith temporarily ended her explorations into the unknown. She spent the time gathering knowledge about Pokemon. Lilith followed different Pokemon and studied their behavior.

Lilith had shifted from exploring to survive, to exploring for fun.

Caterpie and Wurmple covered the forest, they only fed off leaves and other plants. Lilith got close enough to prove that both were mellow if left alone. Lilith watched Basculin jump in the river. They were the most unassuming Pokemon, and the hardest to learn about due to their location.

She watched Rufflet fly overhead. They would occasionally dive down and attack unassuming bug Pokemon in the forest.

She watched Lillipup hang out in the plains. Once spotted, Lilith was barraged by them like last time. Stoutland never let Lilith get too close to her though. Her eyes watched Lilith’s every move.

As time went by, Lilith’s food supply dwindled. Impidimp would make random appearances and ask for food. Lilith’s nights consisted of the two raiding different Berry orchards. Persim Berries were finally found and collected, along with a variety of others. Similar techniques were used compared to previous times in their acquisition.

Lilith would provide a distraction, and then Impidimp would go and collect Berries. His small nimble body and climbing skills proved him to be the best for the job. Lilith assumed Pansagfe could do the same under the circumstances, but was never around at night.

She asked the little imp if he wanted to be a part of her Pokemon team. He was the most sound decision, and also her first choice. Grimsnarl had high utility. It could learn status moves like Light Screen and Reflect, Moves that halved incoming attacks.

Lilith's mind came up with many ideas on how the moves might be able to work under the new conditions of the world. Combined with The species large base Attack, It would be a strong support Pokemon that could also handle itself.

The two had connected over stealing stuff, and Impidimp had proven to be much smarter than it let on.

Impidimp brushed her off, however. He shook his head and then asked for more berries to eat. The little glutton obviously just wanted her for the food.

Lilith examined the Pokemon’s small body.

‘Can Pokemon get fat?’

Her next choice would be Pansage. Although its species of Pokemon was rather weak overall, they had a growing connection.

Pokemon in this world felt a little off. It was due to how strong everything around her was.

Lilith looked at Pokemon on an equal footing, but that wasn't the case. Pokemon with weaker stats had overcome the difference and beaten their opponent. She had watched similar scenarios play out.

‘Levels must matter. In the game, a Level 20 could obliterate a level 10 under normal circumstances.’

That did not take into account that other factors like type matchups, or natural counters might be able to bridge the gap. Pokemon fights were much more dynamic than that.

Lilith was so used to having the Pokemon Game’s story be so linear. It always had a strong, but beatable opponent. That wasn’t always the case out in the wild.

Lilith felt much more safe the past few days, but that didn’t mean a Pokemon wasn’t necessary. One was definitely needed. Lilith would take whatever she could get.

Her new day began.