Kenneth's Monologue

I'm hungry...

Mom, Pop, Big Sister, where are you now? I'm scared. Please come back.

They said the Plankas ate them. Even my friends told me that I'm an orphan now. Well, all I know is that they're gonna have blackeyes from me if they insist on saying it.

I'm hungry again...

Who's this guy? Mom says I should not talk to strangers. But...

Hahaha...Girana's funny though...I guess he's not bad.

So his name is Big Bro Archer. Yes, he's a good guy. Anyone who cooks for me is a good guy, especially when it is fish...

Aaaah, that was the best meal I've ever had since two weeks ago...the fish was superb...

Hope Big Bro's gonna stay. But will he leave as well?

Dear God, I pray, please keep my Pop, Mom, Big Sis...and Big Bro protected from harm.

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Archer was about to hug his Pokemon when a childish voice spoke inside his mind.

...Archer...Master?...

"Huh?!" He exclaimed in surprise, abruptly halting his movement. No one was around him, except for Girana who was now resting its body on the table, seemingly tired. "Was that you, Girana?"

...Yes...Master...me...talk...

Archer took a seat facing Girana and rubbed its head. "How did you even do it?"

...Me...not know...

He couldn't help but worry over the Pokemon as he spotted its almost droopy eyes. "Is your body okay? Does it hurt anywhere?"

...Me...okay...me...feel tired...me...want sleep...

Archer took out the Ghost Pokeball as he said in concern, "Okay, better go back to your Pokeball and rest well. There's a lot of things we've gotta do after today."

...Me...thank master...

"Return."

Archer picked up his notebook and lolled in the chair. Cupping his chin, he began flipping the pages but his mind was wandering. So I am now an actual Pokemon Trainer, huh? I wonder what future lies before me, then. I hope there's something more that I could use to strengthen myself inside the bag. Let me check on it.

He rummaged Cyrus' bag once again, taking out the first thing that he was surprised with: a decrepit ring.

Taking a closer look at the ring, he detected that it had some scrawny writings engraved on its band, which he suspected to be letters of unknown origin. An onyx-like gemstone was fastened on its upper shank, which reminded him of Cyrus' eyes when he used the powerful technique back at the fossil lab. It did not look enchanting at all and anyone might just take this ring as a cheap jewelry. Even though it looked harmless, Archer never intended to wear this unless he was sure that it was safe to use. Since Cyrus informed him that everything inside the bag was helpful to him in his journey, then he was very sure that its use would be recorded inside the old notebook as well, just like the Ghost Pokeball.

He perused through the notebook, only to find out that some parts of the notebook was like a jungle of information, very cluttered, and its page numbers were nonexistent. There was no table of contents so he decided to create one for his future reference. He numbered every pages, writing every major and minor things he deemed important. It took him for about three hours to finished, and it drained him mentally and physically as well. The time was 4:30 PM, and he believed he still had time to take a nap, and cook food after resting. Archer wrote a message in a blank paper and hanged it on the outside doorknob.

I need to sleep.

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"Grimer!"

"Grimer!"

"Grimer! Grimer! Grimer!"

"Muuuuuuuk!"

Archer ran as fast as he could until he reached a deadend. The familiar stench he knew was getting stronger, and dozens of the insistent Poisonous monsters were sliding toward him, ready to devour him whole. Mangled bodies with lab suits came out from the ground, their scalp bleeding and their faces full of scratches, calling his name. The winds howled furiously, and a booming voice reverberated across the place. "Do you fear me, weakling? I'll teach you what is fear," the voice kept on repeating the very same words, until every single creatures he saw grabbed a piece of him, mutilating him parts by parts. He wanted to die, yet he wouldn't. It is as if someone or something protected his meager life.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Archer bellowed, his head and back still sweating profusely, his eyes filled with tears.

Was this the second time he had this nightmare? Dang it, so the pressure seems to get me now.

His rumination was cut-off by the loud banging on the door, and heard someone asking loudly, "Big Bro! Big Bro, are you okay?!" The door flew open and Kenneth sprinted towards him, his hands shaking.

Archer could not say a word as he was out of breath, as if his chest was being squeezed.

"Big bro, I'll get you some water. Please wait," Kenneth offered as he strided outside the room. After a few minutes, true enough, he came back with a glassful of cold water. "Here, take this."

Archer took the glass and drank hastily, his mind still perturbed from his nightmare. Calm yourself, calm yourself. Exhaling a deep breath, he massaged his head, waiting for his blood pressure to go down.

"Thank you for the glass of water, Kenneth."

"Your welcome, Big Bro. Are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine now." Archer smiled at him reassuringly as he returned the empty glass. "I'm ashamed you've witnessed my scaredy-cat moment."

Kenneth just grinned as he patted Archer's head. "Don't worry, everyone cries and gets scared, even the big guys."

"Hey, hey, cheeky brat. Now who is supposed to be the Big Bro here?"

"Hehehehe."

Archer looked at his watch and stood up. "Come on. Let's go downstairs and prepare our food."

"Okay, Big Bro."

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The table was filled with dishes as Archer, Kenneth and Mia took seats and began eating.

"Big bro...thish ish...reaaaly gwood." Kenneth grabbed a piece of chicken leg as he gobbled the fish tail on his plate.

Archer giggled, seeing his face all stuffed up like a Pufferfish. "Hey, slow down, will you? They will not run."

"But they will disappear fast," Mia argued. "Look at Kenneth, Big Bro, he's like a monster."

Archer shook his head, eating his fill at a slow pace. "Well...Kenneth, here take this."

Kenneth scratched his head as he received the apple tied with a glossy ribbon. "What's this?"

Archer and Mia looked at each other, and together greeted, "Happy Birthday!"

Kenneth just stared at both of them, and his eyes reddened. "How, how did you know?"

"Well, Mia told me earlier this noon when you were busy preparing the rooms. Now you are 5 years old, and is eligible to become a Pokemon Trainer." Archer peeled an Apple as he explained.

Kenneth held the Apple firmly, and answered, "I...I actually forgot that it was my birthday. Thank you." Kenneth was about to cry when Archer knocked his head lightly.

"That just means you're getting older," Archer joked.

"Yeah! Grandpa Kenneth, have you forgotten to brush your teeth as well?" Mia added, giggling.

"Yeah right, Grandma," Kenneth rolled his eyes, but his smile betrayed him.

All of them were in a festive mood as they continued eating.

________________________________________________________________

Archer took a bath and were in his sleeping outfit when the alarm rang. He checked on his watch, nodded and set the notebook at the table, ready to study again. "It's 7 pm. I still have five hours before napping time, so better get moving."

Opening the notebook, he found what he wanted and started reading.

Artifacts

Artifacts are items that are of unknown origin, oftentimes recognized by the etched letters of the Ancient Mwara. They have wide range of effects, such as but not limited to increasing Pokessence, training, strengthening the body of its wearer, and giving random skill like teleportation. They are either in ornament or in orb form, and are activated by supplying Pokessence.

As of the present, there are a total amount of 50 Artifacts recorded by the Pokemon Museum. Unearthed in ruins, they are then tested by the Pokemon Research Institute whether they are dangerous or not. According to its use, it is then classified into three categories: Offense, Defense, and Support Artifact.

Offense Artifact, as the name implies, gives a skill that can directly harm their targets and their ability to attack, while Defense Artifact are those that gives their wearer a boost in their statistics. Support Artifact, on the other hand, have wide uses that generally helps its user on miscellaneous things, like training bodies.

The most commonly known Artifacts are HM, or the Hidden Machines, an artifact in orb form. A Pokemon Trainer lets his Pokemon be exposed to the radiation emitted by the Hidden Machine, for about a week or two, depending on its Pokessence and compatibility. If it is then successful, the Pokemon will learn its corresponding skill, like Surf, for instance. These Hidden Machines, if we consider the categories' description, is classified as a combination of Support-Offense.

But the most interesting ones are the ornament-form Artifacts. They are artifacts that should be wear by the user to make it usable. As a general rule, at no times can someone wear more than one ornament-form, because the first one will prevent the other's effect, which is known as Pokessence Interference. By definition, pokessence interference is a manifestation of an artifact that makes another artifact useless, as long as they are being used by the same person.

Archer tapped his fingers as he analyzed all these new information.

Hmm. I can say that artifacts can be used by Pokemon and Trainers not just as an external aid but as an auxilliary effect as well. Let's see what it says about this ring, then. Hmm...page 176...weird, it's the only Artifact recorded here. Since Cyrus said that a friend of his wanted to give these things to me, is it possible that all these recorded notes were written specifically for my use? Hmm...well, it doesn't matter. I'll just take them as it is.

Ring of The Anti-Matter

A ring made by Giratina, an aggressive Pokemon living in Reverse World, or otherwise known as the Distortion World. It generally enhances the compatibility of its wearer to anything related to Ghost, like affinity, Pokemon and skills.

That's it? No further information? And Giratina...Girana...well, maybe it's just a coincidence but I'll take note of this. Well, I guess its time to do some tests.

Archer wore it on his ring finger, and it fitted him perfectly. Admiring it, he then clenched his fist as he felt his Pokessence being absorbed by the ring until it stopped, as if satiated. Nothing happened at first. He waited for a minute until he began seeing all the blue-black mists floating in the room. Is this Ghost Pokessence?

He tried touching the mist but his hand just passed through it. All of a sudden, he felt severe pain, like that of ants gnawing at his body. Twitching in pain, he swiftly took the ring off and set it on the bed, gasping. He stepped back until his back hit the wall, and noticed that the pain was gone. The mists disappeared and the room was once again, normal.

What was that?

Archer held his head in exhaustion. With no one to comfort him, he decided to call out Girana.

...Master...

Girana flew around the room and rested on his head.

Archer chuckled, seeing that Girana still liked his head as his nesting place. "Are you okay, now Girana?"

...Me...okay...Master...feel different...

"Yes, I was just tired from my research," Archer affirmed.

...Me...talks about something...inside Master...Essence like mine...now stronger...but a little...

"What? You mean my Ghost Pokessence increased?"

...Yes...Master...

Archer was excited, took the ring, and set the alarm to set off after an hour. He wore the ring back on his finger, and instructed. "Girana, I'll do some experiment. All you have to do is look at my body and observe what is happening around me, inside me, whatever you can find. Then after an hour, tell me the result. Okay?"

...Me...understand...

"Here goes nothing," Archer muttered. Soon enough, he was now lying in bed, his body twitching as he tried suppressing the pain, while Girana rested on the table and stared at him intently, without blinking. It went on for some time until the alarm buzzed loudly. He weakly took the ring off, his breath ragged as his sweat trickled down like rain. He rested until he could breathe normally, and started his interrogation.

"What did you see, Girana?"

...Me...saw the Ghost Pokessence...lots of them...tried going inside Master...

"Then?"

...Me...saw it bite you...eat your body energy...then produce more Ghost Pokessence...inside Master...

"So, am I stronger now in terms of Pokessence?"

...Yes...Master...Ghost Pokessence stronger...but flesh weaker...

Archer took his notebook and recorded what he had heard from Girana, and started analyzing. After a few moments of contemplation, he then wrote:

Effect 1/Problem 1 - The ring helps in increasing Ghost Pokessence at the expense of my body. It somehow eats my body energy and converts it into Ghost Pokessence.

Solution 1 - Earn more Poke to buy lots of food and eat more.

Problem 2 - Pain everytime the ring is use

Solution 2 - Train Body to tolerate pain, if possible, eliminate it

...Master...connection between us...stronger as well...

"What do you mean, Girana?" Archer looked behind and ask.

...Me and Master...share attack...connection stronger...both learn the same...

He stopped writing and looked around, facing Girana. "What do you mean, connection? Wait, does it mean I can learn skills that you have?"

...Yes Master...and...me...remember something...something unlocked...inside me...

"What did you remember?"

...A skill...Ghost Phase...

"Do you know how to execute it?"

Girana affirmed. It soared up and rushed into the wall. But instead of hurting itself, it just passed through like a Ghost, and after a few seconds, appeared out of it, and landed back on the table.

...Ghost Phase...

"Does it need anything to do Ghost Phase?"

...Me...no need...body made...not real...but real as well...

Archer recalled how the book described Girana: an antimatter Pokemon. He wondered if it can will his body to change from reality to anti-matter and vice versa, but did not ask. He would just wait until Girana can properly talk inside his mind, making its speech more lucid so he could further understand.

"How about me, do you think I can learn it?"

...Master...can try...but wear ring...if do it...

"So, all I have to do is wear this ring as I practice it? What should I do?"

...Master...body crash the wall...hit and hit...until Master succeed...me teach Master, in mind...

"But will it not destroy my body before I learn anything?"

...Master...not worry...me...cover Master...and heal body...use Ghost Pokessence...

Archer smiled bitterly as he heard Girana's solution.

It's gonna be a long night.

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CHAPTER 14 : TO SLEEP, TO EAT, TO TRAIN, TO WORK

CHAPTER 15: THE FIRST BATTLE