Chapter 6: Kadelast Region: Chapter 5

'Thoughts'

"Speech"

[Growth Detected]

[Scanning Host]

[Scanning: Scanning: Scanning]

[Scanning Complete]

[Host Status: Available]

[Host Growth Potential: 91.5%]

[Potential Change Detected: Increased: Review System Options: Needed]

[Insufficient Data]

[Retrieving Missing Data]

[Retrieval Complete]

[Reviewing Data]

[Number of Recent Paths Chosen By Host: 3]

[Paths Chosen Growth Potential: 5,  4, 14]

[Review System Options: Sufficient Data]

[Conclustion: Sufficient Growth Detected:]

[Update System Plan: Time Until Host Unlock System: 9 Years, 1 Month, 3 Weeks, 23 Days...: Set Time: 5 Minutes]

--Amber Pov--

It's been about a month and a half since my near-death experience at Eternal forest. I say near-death because thinking back to it, the boss Trevenant's last attack could have easily killed me if they didn't redirect it to avoid the Phantumps. I wish I could say that my lapse of judgment was due to my old memories and that they led me to think Pokemon don't kill. Sadly the truth is, I have plenty of memories of the opposite being true, with scenes of the manga and many Pokedex entries from the games conveying how dangerous Pokemon can be.

However, despite all the potential danger, I was in, the sight of Fletchling being reunited with their flock made it all worth it. As soon as we got home we went straight to the PokeCenter to get Fletchling healed. Once he was fully healed, we went around the city looking for their flock. After a few hours of searching, Fletchling was happily reunited with their flock of other Fletchlings, a few Fletchinder and a pair of Talonflames. Since then they would greet me as I walked to and from school, and during the weekends we would explore the city together. Fletchling even let me give them a nickname, which is in my opinion a major achievement. If a person gives and uses a nickname for a Pokemon depends on many factors. The two major ones are how the person feels about nicknames and how the Pokemon feel about nicknames. Some people like to use nicknames, some don't and Pokemon are very much the same. My mom for example loves to give her Pokemon nicknames, but only if they want one. So far only 3 of her main Pokemon use nicknames, one of them behind her Houndoom Doom. 

So for Fletchling to allow me to give him a nickname is a major privilege. So not wanting to disappoint them, I spent the next couple of days thinking of a good one. Once I came up with a nickname they might like I told him what it was the next time I saw him.

"How about Tempest?" I asked as I walked home, with the Fletchling sitting on top of my head.

"Fletch?" Fletchling chirped, wondering what I'm asking about. With the amount of time I spent with him, I have gotten fairly good at interpreting what he is saying.

"Your nickname, Tempest means storm. I know you didn't like how you were "beaten" by some harsh weather, but I'm confident that you will eventually get strong enough to overcome any storms. So you can think of the name as a declaration, that you will overcome and surpass even the mightiest of storms. Plus I thought you would like a cool-sounding nickname"

"Fletch," They chirped as if testing how it felt to say the name while associating it with themselves. Before happily and loudly chirping, showing how much they like the name, causing me to giggle.

"I'm glad you like it, now how about we get some sweets to celebrate your new name?" They chirped in agreement, however, any other thoughts halted when something popped in front of my eyes.

[Challenge System Online]

[Availble Paths: 3]

"Fletchling?" Tempest chirped asking if something is wrong.

"Do you see this?" I asked, pointing towards the floating text, and from their confused look, they clearly can't. "Never mind, it's nothing I'm just seeing things." Ignoring the text which eventually disappeared I went to the closet bakery to buy some pastries. As we explored the city, I would tear a piece of the pastries and present them to Tempest who happily ate it. Once it started to get dark, I bid him goodbye before brushing the crumbs out of my hair. "Next time I'm buying a less messy treat, I have to take a shower when I get home," I grumbled as I headed home.

The next morning I was relaxing in bed when I remembered the floating text. I tried to remember if there was anything like what I saw in any of my memories, but my search didn't yield much. The best I could gather was that it's reminiscent of a game menu, so I tried saying menu to see if anything would happen. But after a few minutes of nothing, I tried a different approach as I recalled the first line of text.

"Challenge System?"

[Challenge System]

[Availble Paths: 2]

"Huh, Uhm, Paths?" 

[Available Paths: 2]

[Recently Chosen Paths: 3]

The new line of text caused me to raise a brow. "Does that mean I have to be specific about what I'm asking? Let's try this, expand available paths."

[Available Paths: 

Stay Home:

-Growth Potential: 1

-Likely Outcomes: 80% Helping Dad With Some Chores, 20% A Relaxful Day

Go Out:

-Growth Potential: 4

-Likely Outcomes: 90% New Encounter, 10% A Pleasant Walk]

"What is Growth Potential?"

[How Much Growth Is Available In Chosen Path]

I couldn't help but roll my eyes at the useless answer, "What is growth?'"

[Growth, Hardship, Pure Challenge.]

"Ok, that didn't clarify anything, so is there a way for you to explain what growth potential is in a way I can understand?"

[Reviewing Command]

[Command Accepted: Change In System Will Help With Growth]

[Scanning Host: Updating System: Language]

[Update Complete:

-Growth Potential > Danger Level: How Much Danger Host >You Will Be In If Path Is Chosen

You are reading story The Finite Path at novel35.com

-Growth > Ǝ̸̢̻͙̖͒̎̍̚x̷̣̜̺͚̀̏͋͘q̸̟̦̳͆͒̾͘͜ɘ̸̢̠̰̮̆͆̈́̚ɿ̴̭͎͚͉̈́͗̈̐i̷̢̯̖̓̎̈́̏ͅɘ̸̗̥̭̻̒̔̇̚n̶̘̺͈̫̏̈́͋̉ɔ̷͍̞̰̮͗̌̚͝ɘ̵̛̞͙̲̭͒̊͛ ]

Reading the new messages just gave me more questions, but I decided that most of them can wait. Especially with how asking for clarification seemed to cause glitches in the system. Because how else can I describe what messed up garbage the system changed growth into? So deciding to ignore the thought that I already broke whatever this system is, I chose instead to see the other options I had."Ok Uhm, open recently chosen paths." 

[Recently Chosen Paths:

-Insist That You Can Stay Home: Danger Level 1, Go With Mom To Eternal Forest: Danger Level: 5

-Investigate The Pokemon At The Forest Edge: Danger Level: 4,  Stay Hidden: Danger Level: 6

-Sneak Away Towards The Adults: Danger Level: 8, Jump in Infront Of The Attack: Danger Level: 14, Stay Hidden: Danger Level: 20]

"20?! System expand that option." I couldn't help myself from exclaiming. Despite not knowing what the numbers mean, I'm pretty sure 20 is a lot.

[Stay Hidden:

-Danger Level: 20: 

-Likely Outcomes: 99% Lost of Host > Death, 0.7% Major Injury To Host Body, 0.3% Moderate Injury To Body]

Gulping at what could have happened if I stayed hidden, my curiosity still demanded I find what else could have happened when I jumped in front of Trevenant's attack. "System Expand the 17 option."

[Jump in Infront Of The Attack:

-Danger Level: 14: 

-Likely Outcomes: 65>25% Death, 35>75% Friendly Reinforcment]

I started to see a connection between danger levels and how likely I meet my demise. However, the changed percentages did raise a question, "system why did the numbers change and why didn't it affect the danger level of the path?"

[Reviewing Question: Answer: Danger Levels Are How Dangerous The Path Is In Isolation]

[Outcomes Can Change Depending On Prior Actions]

[Outcomes Will Update Changes Once The Path Is Chosen And Complete]

"What? Why can't you change the outcomes in real-time?"

[Reviewing Question: Answer: Will Hamper Gathering Of Ǝ̸̢̻͙̖͒̎̍̚x̷̣̜̺͚̀̏͋͘q̸̟̦̳͆͒̾͘͜ɘ̸̢̠̰̮̆͆̈́̚ɿ̴̭͎͚͉̈́͗̈̐i̷̢̯̖̓̎̈́̏ͅɘ̸̗̥̭̻̒̔̇̚n̶̘̺͈̫̏̈́͋̉ɔ̷͍̞̰̮͗̌̚͝ɘ̵̛̞͙̲̭͒̊͛]

"How does knowing the changes in a path's outcome affect the gathering of growth." I paused before I realized what I just said. "What do you mean by gathering growth?"

[Reviewing Question: Answer: Knowing Changes In Outcome Might Cause You To Underestimate How Dangerous A Path Is]

[Reviewing Question: Updating Answer: Answer: System Gather Ǝ̸̢̻͙̖͒̎̍̚x̷̣̜̺͚̀̏͋͘q̸̟̦̳͆͒̾͘͜ɘ̸̢̠̰̮̆͆̈́̚ɿ̴̭͎͚͉̈́͗̈̐i̷̢̯̖̓̎̈́̏ͅɘ̸̗̥̭̻̒̔̇̚n̶̘̺͈̫̏̈́͋̉ɔ̷͍̞̰̮͗̌̚͝ɘ̵̛̞͙̲̭͒̊͛ For The Creator>Arceus]

"Arceus? Like the God of Pokemon? What does the God of Pokemon need growth for?"

[Reviewing Question: Answer: Accessed Denied>Permission Granted: Arceus Require Growth To Face A Great Foe]

The sudden change from the system refusing to answer to giving one was quite jarring, especially with the implication that Arceus themselves decided that it was ok for me to know this. 'Well if the God of Pokemon needs growth or whatever and I can help by going down these paths, then what I need to do is pretty clear.' I thought as I jumped up from my bed. Stretching my arms over my head, I thought back at the available paths I currently have. "Hmm, a day of chores, or a chance for a new encounter." With my choice being clear, I got dressed and headed downstairs.

"Morning Honey," once I got downstairs I was greeted by my dad who was playing a round of chess with his Slowking.

"Morning dad, morning Basil, whos winning?"

'I'm currently ahead of your father young Amber' When I was first introduced to my dad's Slowking, I was taken aback by hearing a voice in my head that wasn't my own. Since then I have gotten used to Basil speaking through telepathy, and even had full conversations with him without saying a single word. 

"So nothing new, well I'm going out to explore the city."

"Are you meeting a friend?" Asked dad as he moves a pawn.

"No, I'm going to help God." From his laughter, he didn't believe me.

"Well be careful, and make sure to get home before it gets dark. Also, do you have enough money on you?"

"I will and yea I have enough. Have fun you two, and good luck dad." I said as I headed to the door.

"Take care dear."

'Farewell young Amber'

Was what I heard as I closed the door behind me, and from the grunt of frustration from my dad. And the feeling of amusement I felt from the mental connection with Basil before it was cut, dad must have once again lost to him. With my hands behind my head, I started aimlessly walking. 'The system just said go outside, but where am I supposed to go for the new encounter?' Even rereading the path given by the system didn't clear up where I was supposed to go, so I decided to just walk until something interesting pops up. After roughly 25 minutes of walking, I heard chirping heading toward me, and turning to the source saw I that it was Tempest.

"Fletchling!" Tempest chirped as he landed on top of my head.

"Hello to you too Tempest."

"Fletch Ling Ling Fletchling."

"Just trying to find an encounter to help god, do you want to tag along?"

"Fletchling!" He happily chirped.

"Yea! Thanks, Tempest, with you here I have nothing to fear no matter what encounter it is!" 'And I doubt anything that dangerous will happen in the city.' I thought as I continue my search, and after an hour of aimlessly walking and a quick break for lunch. Tempest and I eventually found ourselves near the industrial side of the city. "Hmm, it's probably not a smart idea to be here."

"Fletchling" Tempest chirped while nodding. Turning back, I started to head back toward the shopping district of the city. However, I didn't even get 2 steps in before something popped up into my view.

[Recent Paths: Stay Home, Go Out.]

[New Paths Found:

New Encounter: Continue: Head Down The Alleyway:

-Danger Level: 6

-Likely Outcomes: 85% Encounter A Crime In Progress, 15% Encounter Missed

New Encounter: Avoid: Head Back To Safety:

-Danger Level: 3

-Likely Outcomes: 95% A Pleasant Walk, 5% Run In With Encounter]

Looking at the pop-ups and then down the alley, I consider my opinions. "Hey, Tempest you want to potentially stop a crime in progress?"

"Fletchling! Fletchling!" Tempest eagerly flapped their wings and took off. "Fletchling!" They chirped as they started to fly next to me.

"Great! Let's stop some crime!" I said before dashing into the alleyway, with Tempest flying right behind me.