Chapter 153: The Psychic Boy
The future Sandgem Town wasn't even a village yet. It was just a small human settlement: Sandgem Camp.
A dozen or so wooden houses were built together without any discernible pattern, surrounded by a ring of wooden posts acting as a "city wall." The posts were only about three meters high, not even tall enough to block Will's view. They probably weren't meant to keep Pokémon out.
"It's the same in every world," Will said, standing outside the wooden posts and peeking in. Even on the same continent, the development progress between two human settlements could be so vastly different. Sinnoh's most developed city, Jubilife, was the seventh-largest in the future Pokémon world. Its current prosperity was probably not much different from Cherrygrove's. But Sandgem Camp, so close to Jubilife, seemed to still be living in the Tribal Period.
"Meow?" the Meowscarada beside him tilted her head curiously.
"It's nothing. Just a small human village. There are Pokémon inside, so they probably won't be hostile to us," Will said, shaking his head.
They walked around the wooden wall and came to the main entrance. There were no guards. Will and Meowscarada strolled inside.
It seemed some kind of entertainment was going on in the small camp. About twenty people were gathered in the central square, watching something. Even when people saw Will and Meowscarada appear, they just gave them a second glance and had no other reaction.
This wasn't too strange. After all, there were more Pokémon in this camp than humans, and they were all common Sinnoh species. And judging by their behavior, more than half of them were wild.
"Meow?" Meowscarada was surprised by the humans' reaction. Based on their journey so far, shouldn't humans have a much more exaggerated reaction to seeing them? Like crowding around and chattering nonstop, or pointing strange squares at them that went click-clack.
"It's about the same as in Azalea Town," Will explained casually. "Because they don't get out much, they're used to seeing strange Pokémon, so it's no big deal." They were probably looking because of his large size, not because his species was unfamiliar.
However, Will had forgotten that when he was in Azalea Town, Meowscarada was still just a baby who didn't understand anything. So even if he told her it was like Azalea Town, she couldn't understand.
As they got closer, they could hear the noisy chirping of several insects from within the crowd. The sounds had no particular meaning; to Will and Meowscarada, it was like human humming, focused on rhythm rather than content.
"Meow?" Meowscarada ran over and lightly hopped onto Will's tail. She then propped her paws on his shoulders to see into the crowd. Several red Pokémon were making the noise.
"Kricketune," Will said. He was tall enough to see them easily.
Kricketune are the musicians of the Pokémon world. They are skilled at combining their cries with their scythe-like arms to create melodic sounds. Each one has the ability to improvise, and the melody changes with its emotions and the individual. Many human musicians study their melodies, trying to find inspiration.
"Hmm, a very ancient activity," Will said, losing interest after a couple of glances. It seemed that long ago, human villages would treat their singing competitions as a form of entertainment, like cockfighting. But this sort of thing was only popular in small villages. After all, not much else happened here.
In the future, with the popularization of the internet and the rise of battling, contests, and breeding, people probably wouldn't spend their energy on this anymore.
Will quickly looked away. But since Meowscarada seemed to want to watch, he didn't turn to leave.
"Hah..." a sigh sounded from beside him.
Everyone was engrossed in the concert, but no one except Will had noticed the sound. He turned his head. Standing next to him was a short, ordinary-looking boy with black hair. He was staring at the Kricketune with a look of utter boredom, as if he had lost all will to live.
"...You're a Sceptile from the Hoenn region, aren't you?" the boy asked, noticing Will's sharp gaze. He had recognized his species at a glance.
"Impressive," Will praised with a grin. This boy was truly impressive. Judging by his clothes, he was a resident of this camp, and he had no Poké Balls on him, so he probably wasn't a trainer. Even if he had traveled, he probably hadn't gone far and couldn't have seen many Pokémon. Logically, he shouldn't have known about Sceptile, a Pokémon unique to Hoenn.
"This one is... hmm, no idea," the boy said, looking at the Meowscarada on Will's tail and shaking his head.
If you knew about a Paldean Pokémon too, I'd really be impressed, Will thought, shaking his head. Paldea was in the southern hemisphere, a long way from Sinnoh.
"Paldea? It's a Pokémon from that far away?" the boy asked, giving Meowscarada a few extra looks.
Will was dumbfounded, staring at the boy.
"Oh, hello, Sceptile. My name is Milo. I'm a novice psychic. I can hear your thoughts. I hope I didn't startle you," Milo said, the dead look in his eyes brightening a little. It seemed the arrival of these two foreign Pokémon had sparked some interest in him.
"Meow?"
Meowscarada was intrigued. She jumped off Will's tail and stood on the ground, frowning as she studied Milo. Her sense of smell was much more sensitive than Will's. She could smell the scent of a Pokémon on him, a faint but deep-seated scent that would probably cling to him for his entire life.
This is the first time I've met a psychic, Will thought, looking at Milo with a new sense of caution. He needed to control his thoughts. He couldn't be thinking about anything he shouldn't, lest Milo realize he was a transmigrator with a cheat ability.
"I've never met any other psychics besides myself either," Milo said with a shrug. He then pointed to a nearby house. "It's pretty boring here. Would you like to come to my place to chat? I'm very interested in seeing the world from a Pokémon's point of view."
"Let's go," Will said with a nod. He had no interest in the Kricketune concert. In his two years in the mountains, he had heard all kinds of Pokémon sing.
"Meow~" Meowscarada hugged Will's arm and shook her head. She didn't want to leave.
"Then you can stay here. I'll come back for you later," Will said, rubbing her head.
"Meow... meow," she hesitated, then shook her head again, hugging his arm tighter. She decided not to listen to the concert. She wanted to stay with Will.
"You two have a good relationship. Are you a couple?" Milo asked, leading the way and glancing back.
"No," Will shook his head.
Most people in this era didn't know yet, but although a Sceptile and a Meowscarada were both Grass-types, they couldn't have a child. The two species had reproductive isolation. It's difficult for two species that can't breed to develop "love." It's not impossible, but it would require at least one of them to have a special fetish.
Take humans, for example. If humans had egg groups, they would undoubtedly be "Field" and "Human-Shape." And many of the popular "waifu" Pokémon, like Gardevoir and Lopunny, belong to these groups. So, a human's attraction to these Pokémon could, arguably, be classified as "normal."
But a Sceptile and a Meowscarada had no egg groups in common. Them being together... in the eyes of the people now, it might not look strange. But in the eyes of a future Pokémon Professor who specialized in egg groups, it would be an unconventional pairing, to say the least.
"Oh, so you're like father and daughter, or brother and sister."
"Something like that."
"Even though you're not the same species, you can still be close family. That's one of the most charming things about Pokémon," Milo said.
He led them into a small wooden hut. It was simple inside: a bed, a table and chairs, and a large pile of books. That was it. But this kind of room was probably the norm in this camp.
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