We continued our trek toward Cerulean City. At some point during the journey, I started thinking about what I would do once we got settled.
Obviously, I planned to go on a journey, but I couldn't do that forever. Most of my Pokémon knowledge came from the games. I had watched the Sun and Moon anime series, but that was about it. As for games, I had mostly played the Mystery Dungeon spin-offs, along with Emerald, Black, Black 2, and LeafGreen. While this gave me a decent foundation of knowledge, I doubted much of it would be particularly useful here.
I shook my head and refocused.
Vulpix was in her ball. She had insisted on fighting every Pokémon that challenged us and was now resting from the ordeal. Skitty walked beside me, ears raised in vigilance. Mew was strangely quiet, just keeping pace in silence, which made me uneasy for some reason.
I briefly considered becoming a move tutor. Mew could learn every move, so maybe she could teach me how to instruct Pokémon. I glanced at her contemplatively, then dismissed the thought. I didn't want to rely on her too much.
"Guess I'll figure it out later," I muttered, shaking my head as I prepared to battle our tenth Rattata of the day.
■■■ SAVING ■■■
Night had fallen again. According to the map, we were about halfway to Cerulean City—just two more days to reach it, and one more day to exit the forest.
Skitty had fallen asleep the moment we set up camp. I understood her exhaustion, though. She'd fought what almost amounted to a small army of wild Pokémon today. Okay, maybe I was exaggerating a bit, but she had learned Swift in the process—a solid ranged move to add to her arsenal.
Vulpix had decided to get experimental this evening and was now trying to sit in the campfire. Her Flash Fire ability let her absorb flames to increase her power, though it didn't work if the flames burned too hot. Still, the ambient fire had energized her. She was practically vibrating with zoomies. I sent her running laps around the camp to cool off, and she returned looking extremely embarrassed.
Mew volunteered to cook for us today. I was honestly a little curious about her cooking, so I let her take charge. The mischievous grin she gave me suggested that might have been a mistake—it looked like she was back to normal.
I wasn't even sure what ingredients she used—she hadn't taken anything from the bag.
When she handed me the bowl, I looked down at what appeared to be a perfectly normal ramen noodle soup. That in itself was suspicious.
"Where did you get the ingredients from?" I asked, raising a brow.
"I got the idea from your memories," she said with a bright smile, completely ignoring my question.
"What will it do to me?" I asked, deciding to be direct this time.
Mew pouted—she probably didn't want to tell me but knew I wouldn't eat it now if she refused to explain.
"I promise it won't hurt you in any way," she finally said after thinking for a bit.
"So it will do something?"
"Just eat the soup," she exclaimed, exasperation clear in her tone. Vulpix, who had been quiet this whole time, giggled at Mew's annoyance.
I smiled then took a sip.
The soup tasted inexplicably perfect, like every comforting meal I'd ever known fused into a single spoonful. Before I could question it, warmth spread from my stomach to my fingertips, and I watched in amazement as my hands began glowing with a faint pink light.
"Uh. Mew?"
"Surprise!" She twirled in midair, her tail curling in delight. "It's an aura amplifier! Well, technically a type-resonance catalyst in soup form, but—"
Vulpix interrupted by shoving her snout into my bowl. After gulping down several mouthfuls of noodles and broth, she froze completely, her six tails standing stiff like a peacock.
The rich aroma must have woken Skitty, who blinked sleepily before zeroing in on the remaining soup. I pushed the bowl toward her, watching as she lapped it up eagerly before I turned my attention inward.
The initial rush of energy had faded, but left behind some extreme clarity. I'd been avoiding my psychic abilities, mainly because I didn't know how to develop them properly. Mew refused to teach me until I reached a certain level with aura control, and my emotional sensing remained juvenile at best, often giving me vague impressions rather than concrete feelings.
Now, I understood the next steps in my psychic training. Mew had once explained that humans who developed psychic abilities naturally were extremely rare—it typically required psychic ancestry or direct blessing from legendaries. The process became clear: I needed to gather my limited psychic energy, channel it to my forehead, compress it into spherical form, and manifest it like a third eye. The mental image reminded me of a certain psychic-type eeveelution. But attempting such an advanced technique here would be unwise—the energy drain would leave me completely exhausted.
Vulpix suddenly shook off her daze, a wide grin spreading across her foxlike face. "Watch this," she said, turning toward the campfire. I felt an odd energy fluctuation from her eyes moments before the flames erupted into a towering pillar, startling a Noctowl from its perch and making Skitty jump.
Not to be outdone, Skitty formed a Swift star that hovered unnaturally in the air before accelerating slowly and striking a distant tree. Normally Swift attacks moved in straight lines until hitting their target—this controlled acceleration was something new.
Both collapsed immediately after, utterly drained by even these modest improvements.
Mew floated above us, arms crossed. "Don't look so impressed. That soup just gave you the barest nudge in the right direction." She pointed at me. "You've got maybe three more weeks of aura basics before I stop holding your hand. After that, you're on your own."
"Why?" I asked, rubbing my tingling fingers. "Isn't this faster?"
"Faster isn't better," Mew scoffed. "Aura's personal. Everyone finds their own way to use it eventually - that's what makes it special." She gestured to my exhausted Pokémon. "They'll remember maybe ten percent of what they just did. The rest they'll have to figure out themselves."
________________________________________________________________________________
AN: I'll be honest I struggled with this chapter. If any of you have some ideas for the progression of this story, please feel free to inform me.