GULP.. GULP... drinking some water from the bottle which was used to store liquor previously, I continued walking in the deserted Grassland.
" I have been walking for 2 hours and not a single soul.!.. Is this area perhaps some forbidden land where once you enter inside you don't return alive?
No, there were humans back there.. so that's not the case.
I can see why there are no monsters here as there is not any proper vegetation. But surely some should be , right?
Don't monsters adapt to their habitat?
And many thoughts and conjectures passed through my mind like this as I kept walking.
After a few more hours as I dragged my tired body to continue moving forward , I realised that the dry ground till now has started to become wet and sunlight has been blocked by the tall standing trees.
An eerie silence has covered the atmosphere as all I hear is the fluttering sound of leaves and creaking sounds of the twigs under my feet.
' This is much worse than a deserted Grassland alright ' was the thought which passed through my head.
Silence doesn't mean that there are no dangers, rather it means the opposite. An absolute silence and at such a place where there is abundant vegetation can only be considered as abnormal.
I tried to be as alert as I could and enhanced my senses as much as I could and resumed the walk. Taking slow and light steps, as not to disturb any unknown presence, my eyes locked on a weird looking plant.
A thin and slender stem and two big leaves attached at both sides with a large oval shaped yellow head . Two beads over the assumed head which would make the eyes and a small circular opening at the base of the head, that can be counted as it's head.
' Yellow head, two leaves and slender stem... Isn't it that a fucking Bellsprout.. ?!
Wait, that can't be true right? I mean I got reincarnated into a fantasy world with Goblin setting, so how can there be a pokemon in this world!! '..
My brain failed to process the dramatic change in the plot so I gave up thinking about it overall. !!..
Who cares if there is a pokemon or a dinosaur in this world..!!
As long as I am alive, even alien invasion wouldn't mean anything to me.. !!
Reasoning everything behind fantasy world logic I got closer to the bellsprout..
' If there is a bellsprout maybe I can find a Wildvine too? ' filled with hopes, I got closer to the bellsprout and picked some fist-sized stones.
" I choose you, Geodude!! ".. I shouted out loud as I threw the stone aimed at it's yellow head.
THUD
And the stone fell down after striking the bellsprout and getting no response. There was no movement at all. The leaves fluttered and the wood creaking sounds drummed loudly in my ears.
[....]
" Fuck, this is so embarrassing !! I want to just dig a hole and hide myself. It was no bellsprout, just a cheap copy..!"
[ It's alright, anyone can lose it if they keep walking in such an environment. It's a psychological occurrence ]
The system's monotonous words which seemed like a mix of consolation and sarcasm made me more depressed.
Feeling dejected and embarrassed I approached the fake Bellsprout and tried to poke it with my spear when suddenly two of its vines which were kept well hidden till now caught my legs tightly giving me no time to react..!
" Fuck.. It has lured me in well..! Why are all the beings in this world so smart, first those wolves and now a plant too!!.. No, if he's really a Bellsprout then it's not surprising it's smart..!"
I got no time for jokes now, the grip is too tight and I can't free myself easily.
It might be a cute herbivore if it really was the same Bellsprout from my memory , but looking at those sharp teeth and the green gas coming out from it's mouth I realized how wrong I was!!
" Who said Grass types are always herbivores!!.. I should go and ask them to update their pokedesks!!"
I was being pulled to its body slowly, all my struggle was in vain. After all the spear was made of stone only, even though it can pierce through Goblin's head easily, that was because I was prepared that time and could put all the strength I had in my arm.
But now that my movements are restricted so much, I can only swing around the spear as it was a wooden stick.
" No, I can't die just like this after coming to this world.. Not like this!"
As it opened its mouth wide ready to put my whole body inside I pulled out two bottles from inside my pouch and threw it inside his mouth with ' Throw '.
And soon I got the results as it's face became distorted, struggling to hold back what was demanding to come outside.
Taking the opportunity I drank what water was left in the other bottle and..
' Hydro pump!! '.. I shouted inside my head as I spit the water out with all my lung capacity..
[ Hydro pump failed to reach Bellsprout. Bellsprout received '0' damage ]
"... Well, that's because my STR Stat is low you know. I just need more training, and one day I will become a Pokemon Master! "
BLURGH..
Maybe getting annoyed by the casual dialogues exchanged between me and my system, it decided to kill two birds with one stone and vomited it's stomach out on me...and ran away asap.
Ignoring the foul smell, I started rolling my body over the ground..madly
" IT BURNS!.. IT SO FUCKING BURNS..!!"
[ ANALYZING : The Gastric juice of the Bellsprout has a pH of lower than 1, which makes it even more acidic than the gastric juice secreted by Goblins.]
" But why does it burn so much..!! "..
I lost all my breath as I tried to apply the wet soil over my skin in hope it will soothe the burning pain I was receiving.
[Answering : Probably because it had an empty stomach, the sight of a fresh prey stimulated it's stomach to produce acid in large volume.]
" Don't be so objective about it!!.. Why are you not helping me? At such times, System is supposed to give some OP item or skill which helps the player!!.."
[ Answering : There are indeed some items which could help the for this, but they are currently unavailable and Host must complete the quests given by the System to get them.]
" Please stop, you told me no such things when I asked last time "... catching my breath I retorted to the System's 'What's there to think about?' statement.
How can I not know that!.. System only tells something when the times come.. And most of those times are when the Host is facing death!!..
But, doesn't that make it cliche?.. I thought you were not one of those cliche Systems!!
[ Host has taken considerable damage. Advised to recover ]
" I know you can read my mind, so stop trying to change the topic.!"
But what it said was true, Half of my skin was burnt. It was painful doing even a small movement in this condition. The acid was too strong. If not for my mental strength, I would have fainted and ended up in some other ugly plant's stomach.
" Who said Pokemon is for kids.. It's definitely a horror and must be PG rated!! "
I took support of a tree and sat next to it for some rest.
As I had the VIT of 6 which recovers my health at 0.06 HP per second, my skin started recovering.
" Within two minutes I got completely healed , amazing. Though it's not practical in an intense fight, the recovery rate would increase with VIT as I level up and at some point it would be almost like instant regeneration.
But isn't that supposed to be a S-rank skill? "
[Answering : That is not the case. Increasing VIT Stat becomes hard after certain level , and is different for every species.
If certain conditions are met, the individual can acquire the Hyper regeneration skill, which is one of the top 10 S-rank skill.]
" So after a certain point my VIT Stat would stop increasing huh. Makes sense though. If not, then you can just become Immortal if you reach level 100.
Does it apply to any other STAT or SKILL.?"
[ Affirmative. : It would not be as much as VIT but other Stats also follow the same rule.]
" I see. Then let's leave it for later when I reach that point. "
Fully recovered, I stood up and reached the place where the fight took place and crouched down to pick my ' Geodude'.
" Don't worry. It was just a bad match for you. We'll get stronger together and someday you can get your revenge. ".. I consoled my poor Geodude and placed it inside the pouch.
"I also need to work on my Hydro pump."... and I found myself a new goal which would open a new path for me. Path which would bring me towards a new journey.!!
And I got ready to walk on that path...
[Quest !! __ You have started a new journey, but you're still too weak.
And to become strong you must face dangers and thrive.!!
Finish the given objectives to become strong and rise above others.
1) Wild slimes have appeared in a nearby village 2 km ahead and are destroying the village.
- Kill slimes ( 0/30 )
_________
Rewards :
' Hydro pump ' - - Increases lung capacity of Host drastically. Can be used to pump out the water stored inside the mouth as a jet stream.
_________
Failure :
Permanent loss of 1 HP. ]
"I think I am falling in love with you, System."
[.....]
" So today's menu is Slime soup . Let's go!! "
With a gleeful expression on my face and the spear in my hand, I dashed forward to kill some slimes.