Vita Magicis (HP SI-WC) (Patreon)

Chapter 53: Next Time I’m Traveling Alone

Day Later

It had only taken a few hours into Viridian Forest, after the girls experienced the joy of bug Pokémon and the horrors of actually traveling by foot like regular people, before most of them had enough and begged me to fly them to the nearest city.

Seriously, Wizards and Witches were a pretty lazy race for the most part. They’d lived so long with the comforts magic provided that camping in the woods was absolutely not something they enjoyed, with the exception of Luna.

The only other Pokémon caught had been a Caterpie by Ginny, since she wanted a Butterfree, and a Weedle by Luna.

With a resigned sigh, I pulled out a bunch of broomsticks from my inventory, having a feeling this would happen, and handed them out to each girl. Then, making sure we stayed above cloud cover along with some concealing spells, we made our way to Pewter City and rested for the evening in the Poké Center.

Now, we found ourselves eating breakfast the following morning, all gathered around one big table discussing what our plans would be going forward.

“Haah, one day. You lasted one day before throwing in the towel.” I said with a deadpan look at the girls around me, Luna and Sakura excluded, while the others stared down in embarrassment. “I thought I clearly explained that we’d be trying our best to blend in.”

“B-But Onii-chan,” Illya whined, crocodile tears gathering in the corners of her eyes, “walking is so boring and takes too long. Why can’t we just fly to the place that has the Pokémon we want? It’ll be much faster that way.”

Rin, trying to butter me up, jumped in next. “Besides, Aether, you seriously didn’t believe that we’d be able to travel the whole region in the limited time we have here, right? Especially while also trying to capture the Pokémon we want?” She explained in a rational tone, one that might have worked if she wasn’t fidgeting and avoiding eye contact.

“S-Sorry, I’ve never been camping before, and it’s a lot harder than I thought it’d be.” Rose looked down at her lap, genuinely remorseful, along with Daphne, Astoria, and Ginny.

‘At least it made sense with those four, three of them raised in either lavish lifestyles or too poor to do such things, and in Rose’s case, never experiencing anything thanks to the loving care of her relatives,’ I thought dryly.

“I apologize. I could tell you and Luna were really looking forward to this, but we ruined your trip,” Hermione said, looking downcast.

I glanced to Luna and Sakura seated beside me, the only ones that hadn’t complained; after a brief silent exchange, they both nodded. With a sigh, I turned back to everyone.

“It’s alright, everyone. I guess I was too caught up in going on an adventure and ignored the fact that we’re here on limited time, even though I’ve said it plenty of times myself.” I relaxed my posture, and everyone let out relieved sighs.

“Besides, Rin is right, even if she’s just trying to get out of being punished later,” I added, giving her a playful, narrow-eyed look.

Rin blushed and shivered at the hidden meaning before staring down and keeping quiet.

Amused, I turned back to the group with a smile. “Now that that’s settled, let’s talk about what Pokémon each of you wants so we can plan an efficient route.”

Smiles bloomed around the table instantly.

“I want a Growlithe!” Ginny was the first to chime in, grinning from ear to ear.

“I want a Vulpix,” Daphne said next, wearing one of her rare, quietly pleased smiles.

“A Seadra for me, though I’d be okay with a Horsea too,” Astoria declared, arms crossed and as devious look on her face, most likely already coming up with ways to terrorize others with it.

“An Abra for me. They’re said to be really intelligent.” Hermione pushed her hair behind her ear. “Though I’d much prefer a Ralts… but since they’re not found in Kanto, an Abra will do.”

“Eevee. I want an Eevee~” Rose said with a happy nod, already imagining all the possibilities. “It can evolve into tons of cute Pokémon.”

“A Lapras for me. I can’t wait to ride it~” Illya said with a giddy smile. “I can already imagine how cool I’ll look standing next to it when I transform.”

“If it’s not too much trouble, I want a Jynx.” Sakura looked at me first, waiting for confirmation. When I nodded, she scooted a little closer with a soft smile.

“Even though I already have Sir Sparksalot and Butters (Weedle),” Luna said while hugging Pikachu like a plush, “I would really love to capture a Ditto. The idea of a Pokémon that can transform into any other Pokémon is… fascinating.”

“That’s fine, Luna.” I reached over and patted both her and Sakura on the head. “Honestly, you two deserve a little reward for being the only ones who didn’t cave in within the first day.”

“That’s not fair, Onii-chan~!” Illya immediately whined, her pout intensifying by the second. Astoria joined her a breath later. “This is unfair and unjust treatment to your girlfriends!”

“It sure is,” I agreed without hesitation, making Illya pout harder. “Luna and Sakura deserve it for being good girls. If you were also a good girl, I’d treat you the same way.”

“Hmph! The nerve to call a Magical Girl like me a bad girl.” Illya huffed with her arms crossed. “I’ll have you know I’m the definition of a good girl.”

Several deadpans were thrown her way, none of which she acknowledged, obviously.

Shaking my head, I turned to the older pair. “Anyway. What about you, Asako? Bella?”

Both blinked, double-checking I was actually including them.

“A Gastly,” Asako said thoughtfully. “It would be helpful with my occupation.”

Bella went next, clearly embarrassed. “A Meowth… please.” She pretended not to notice the playful teasing looks at her very adorable choice.

“Alright,” I said, doing a quick mental scan of the Kanto routes. “Here’s the plan. From the closest Pokémon to the farthest: Hermione, then Bella, Ginny, Daphne, Astoria, Asako, Rose, Luna, Sakura and finally Illya.”

“What about you, Senpai?” Sakura asked softly.

“Hehe, don’t worry about me. The Pokémon I want are all in places we’re already visiting anyway.” I answered with a mysterious smile, immediately drawing a round of playful boos.

With that, we finished breakfast and headed out for the day. And even though I was a little bummed I wasn’t getting the classic Pokémon adventure I’d wanted, nothing said I couldn’t come back later, with just Luna and Sakura, and do it properly.

‘Next trip, I’m definitely only bringing a few girls along. All of them is just too much of a hassle,’ I thought as we headed toward Cerulean City.

=====

Our first stop of the day, after reaching Cerulean City less than an hour later, was getting an Abra for Hermione. So we headed up toward Route 24.

Since Abras were notoriously tricky, teleport-happy little gremlins, all Hermione really had to do was hit one with a Stupefy. It dropped like a sack of potatoes, and a second later a very joyful Hermione had her first Poké Ball capture.

Taking advantage of our location, and the fact this was the Game World, I used my time to grab myself a Charmander from some guy who was practically begging people to take it off his hands. Call me a basic bitch if you want, but Charmander has always been one of my favorites, and I wasn’t leaving without it.

Before leaving Cerulean, I snagged my second starter, Bulbasaur, from a girl who wanted it to find “a good trainer.” Thanks to Company Perks, all Pokémon I captured started with max affection, so she only needed one look to decide I qualified. Honestly though, even without the perk, I would have taken good care of it. I loved animals, always had, always will.

After that we headed down Route 5, where Bella got her Meowth, and then we flew to Vermillion City, reaching it by day’s end.

All this rushing around was slowly crushing my spirit though, so I finally asked the girls if we could please slow down and take Vermillion easy for a few days. Not only to train our Pokémon, but to actually enjoy being here instead of speedrunning the entire region. We’d already skipped straight through two cities without exploring a thing, places I remembered fondly from my childhood.

Vacations were supposed to be enjoyable, not running around like crazy people from place to place.

Luna, and Sakura, to a lesser extent, were the only ones who shared my point of view. When I suggested resting for a bit, they practically leaped onto the idea.

“This day has been draining,” I groaned, flopping onto my bed for the evening.

“We missed too many places to explore,” Luna echoed sadly from the top bunk. Being a big group, we’d been forced to share rooms with four bunkbeds each. “I really wanted to visit Mt. Moon.”

Other than Luna, Sakura and Rin were sharing this room with us.

“Senpai, do you want to explore the city with me tomorrow?” Sakura asked from the opposite top bunk, clearly trying to cheer me up.

“That sounds wonderful, Sakura. Let’s do that.” I turned my head to see her looking down at me with that lovely soft expression, so I smiled back.

“Great~ I’m sure we’ll find something fun to do,” she said brightly.

“Well, we’re by the sea, so there should be plenty of interesting things. There’s also Diglett’s Cave not too far from the city,” I mused.

“We could also go to the beach,” Rin added, suddenly speaking after being quiet the entire time.

I glanced over at her. Her back was to the wall, but her bright red ears told me exactly where her mind was wandering. And judging by Sakura’s tiny growing smile… yeah, they were both remembering our last visit.

“Oh! I heard that lots of couples love to have sex on the beach. We could do that, Aether,” Luna announced proudly and cheerfully, zero filter as always.

Rin made a strangled squeak and immediately buried herself under her pillow. Sakura’s smile widened by several dangerous degrees.

‘These girls are seriously constantly horny,’ I thought, amused. ‘Honestly, I’m shocked none of them have asked for a quick fuck since we arrived or just straight up demanded I fuck them. And Luna is definitely not helping matters with her strange ideas for fun.’

“…We can talk about that tomorrow, Luna,” I eventually said, not confirming or denying anything.

“Okay~ I’ll go shopping for a swimsuit then!” Luna declared happily… and two minutes later soft snores started coming from her bunk.

“Congratulations, Rin,” I whispered with a quiet chuckle. “I think you’ve just met your match. Luna may have dethroned you as the biggest pervert in the group.”

I got a pillow to the face for that one.

And with that, sleep finally claimed us, though I had a feeling the next few days were going to be… busy in a way that had nothing to do with Pokémon.

=====

With a new day ahead of us, everyone split off to do their own thing. Some went to train, others to hunt for new items at the Poké Mart, and the rest wandered off to explore.

That’s what Sakura and I did for most of the morning and well into midafternoon. We hit every attraction that caught our eye, food stalls, little shops, the docks, even squeezed in a movie. We did it all.

The real highlight, though, was when I managed to get us tickets onto the S.S. Anne, which would be docked in Vermillion for a few more days before continuing its voyage.

Walking the halls of a ship I had only ever seen in games felt surreal. Sakura stayed close at my side as we explored the upper deck, the ballroom, and even had a few casual battles. That was when I confirmed something important.

Ever since arriving, I’d been wondering whether the abilities I inherited from Satou would let me learn Pokémon moves. So far I’d only tested it indirectly, copying moves from the Pokémon we had already captured, but I didn’t know if that was a special case or not.

Turns out? Nope. I could learn them all.

That discovery immediately awakened the gremlin inside me.

There were dozens of moves I wanted to try, Shadow Ball, Aurora Beam, Aura Sphere. And then there were the legendary moves I absolutely wanted to try someday: Aeroblast, Sacred Fire, Roar of Time.

I didn’t plan on provoking any Legendary Pokémon anytime soon, mostly for the girls’ sake, unless left with no other choice but someday? Yeah, I wanted to test myself.

After our little adventure we regrouped with everyone else for a late lunch around 3 p.m. and swapped stories about our day.

“Aether, I need more money,” Rin said immediately, extending her hand like a bill collector while avoiding looking me in the eyes. “I ran out of what you gave me.”

‘This bitch seriously has no shame.’ I thought silently deciding to punish her later.

I raised an eyebrow even as I started pulling more cash from my inventory. “I gave you close to half a million. What the hell did you spend it on?”

Rin blushed and fully turned her head away. “I… might have gone a bit overboard buying every berry in stock. And the Revival Herbs in back in Cerulean.”

“Hah. Be grateful money isn’t an issue, or I’d be furious you burned through a whole trip’s worth of funds in two days.” I handed her the cash, earning a small, guilty “thank you.”

I glanced around the table, only to see Illya and Hermione looking off to the side with the exact same guilty expression.

“…Don’t tell me.”

Two slow nods.

I sighed, reached back into my inventory, and handed out more cash. “Spend it slower this time, or I’m going to start asking for… compensation.”

Hermione turned pink and nodded meekly.

Illya, of course, smirked like the devil incarnate and winked. “Onii-chan, I’m ready to do any dirty thing your mind can come up with~”

Half the table flushed. I flicked her forehead hard enough to make her yelp.

“Head out of the gutter, pervert. Anyone else need money?” Thankfully, the rest shook their heads.

“I realized something today while battling someone,” I said next, catching their attention. “We really need to train our Pokémon. If you want your Pokémon to evolve or participate in Gym badges, we need battle experience. I lost most of my matches today, mostly out of inexperience.”

“That sounds reasonable. I’ve already trained Sir Sparksalot and Butters a little,” Luna said with a nod.

“Yeah, I should train too if I want my future Horsea to evolve,” Astoria added.

Seeing that everyone agreed, I proposed, “Then let’s dedicate the next two days to training. At the end of the week, we’ll take a break and hit the beach before moving on.”

“Sounds good. But if we’re going to the beach, I need a swimsuit, I forgot to pack one.” Ginny said.

“That does sound nice,” Daphne agreed.

“And then we can all have sex with Aether~!” Luna cheered loud enough to make the entire Poké Center turn.

I groaned internally.

Of course she didn’t forget.

Hermione immediately exploded, face bright red. “L-Luna! Stop saying things like that out loud!”

Rose, Ginny, and Daphne matched her embarrassment.

Curiously, Astoria had no such shame, and was staring at me like a starving predator. And Rin, Illya, and Sakura? Oh, they were right there with her.

‘Well, not like I didn’t see this eventually coming.’