Aaron’s Pokemon

  - Artoria (Kirlia)

  - Jeanne (Flaaffy)

  - Durvasa (Mankey)

  - Aletria (Egg)

  - Magellan (Chikorita)

  Entree 5.8

  Aaron Fulan

  Verdanturf Town

  After dinner, I sat around with my team, watching the setting sun. None of us were in much of a mind for training at the moment. A bit of relaxation in a flower meadow sounded perfect.

  Matt wasn’t wrong; At the pace I was going, it’d be a little hard to make both the Grand Festival and Ever Grande Conference this year. But that didn’t mean I considered it a problem worth addressing. Strictly speaking, both badges and ribbons were good for multiple years.

  Still, I couldn’t deny that a flying type of my own had a certain appeal. The sky was a sacred thing. To soar across its vast expanse was a man’s romance.

  ‘Perhaps his enthusiasm struck a chord with you, my liege,’ Artoria hummed. She leaned into my side as she sipped languidly on the cocktail of contentment and peace all around us.

  ‘Perhaps… Passion is always delightful to see in the youth,’ I said, stroking an imaginary beard. ‘Do you have a favorite flying type, Artoria?’

  ‘Not in particular… Although… I must admit, the way that skarmory’s feathers glistens in the light reminds me of scale mail. It is a most fetching design, is it not, my lord?’

  ‘Of course. Maybe we should aim to catch a skarmory for our team? Or a corviknight?’

  ‘A knight?’

  ‘Yup. A flying, feathery knight. Corviknight have a long history of serving with Galar’s knightly orders, though they’re mostly used for flying taxi services these days.’

  ‘Preposterous. A knight, and now a taxi?’ she scoffed indignantly. ‘Where is their pride?’

  ‘I’m sure there’s at least one who is desperate to relive their old glories.’

  ‘Should we meet one, I shall test them myself.’ She held her spoon aloft proudly. ‘By the steel of my blade and will, I shall remind them of the meaning of chivalry, even if I have to beat them senseless to do it.’

  ‘Of course, Artoria,’ I said indulgently as my fingers ran through her hair.

  ‘My lord?’

  ‘Hmm?’

  ‘Do you have a favorite flying type pokemon?’

  ‘Hmm… If I had to choose, a pidgeot. I used to train one in every game I played back when I was a kid,’ I said wistfully. ‘They weren’t very strong according to the developers, but they just looked so cool.’

  ‘I see… I would not be opposed to one of their ilk joining us.’

  ‘Maybe. Like I told Matt: I specialize in special cases. It’d have to be a very special pidgey to fit in with our band of misfits.’

  ‘Hmp, special indeed… Are we but collectibles to you, my lord?’ Artoria sassed with feigned hurt.

  ‘Don’t give me that. A female kirlia who is obsessed with swords. A flaaffy with a love for the spotlight. A mankey that cherishes wisdom. A chikorita with more battlelust than some dragons. You can’t honestly tell me any of you are normal.’

  ‘We serve a liegelord who is as strange as we are. Are you not a human who wishes to master the blade? You can already put an edge upon dull wood. One day, I believe that you will become an “anime sword saint,” whatever that means…’

  ‘Heh, you’ve got a point there,’ I chuckled. ‘Although, now that you mention the pidgeot line…’

  ‘Yes, my lord?’

  ‘I vaguely remember the pidgeotite mega stone being somewhere in Verdanturf in the games I played.’

  ‘Truly, my lord?’

  ‘Well… It was somewhere around here. I can’t remember if it was in Rusturf Tunnel or in the fields somewhere. Or someone’s house for that matter.’

  ‘Please don’t break into random people’s homes to find a mega stone that likely will not be there at all.’

  ‘Of course not. The game had four or five buildings. A real life town is an entirely different matter. Spending time with Matt and talking about flying types just reminded me of it, that’s all.’

  ‘Will you try to look for it? We are better at sensing aura now, and we will be in town for a few days yet, but I feel that doing so would not be a good use of our time.’

  I considered it, then shook my head. ‘You’re right, Artoria. The gardevoirite gives off psychic and fae aura. The pidgeotite probably gives off flying and normal type auras. We’re not trained to sense either.’

  ‘Indeed, it would not do to get greedy.’

  ‘Instead, we should pick up a few freelance jobs while we wait for the contest on Saturday.’

  ‘Jobs? Are the funds Lady Sharon provided insufficient?’

  ‘The stipend’s fine. She even bumped the monthly amount for the alakazite a while back. But most of that money is already spoken for. We need high-quality food, potions, and ointments for after battles and workouts.’

  ‘Is that not everything we need, my lord?’

  ‘Well, I suppose we could skip a few menial chores. We might have to cut out your poffin budget, though.’

  ‘Now, I don’t think that’s necessary, my lord,’ she said with mild panic. ‘Money only has worth so long as it is spent and hard work is good for the soul.’

  I chuckled. ‘True enough, but I’d also like to build a nest egg for ourselves, just in case. That, and TMs. TMs would be nice. Both Jeanne and Magellan are too inflexible in terms of type energies they can call on. Durvasa could use a nudge, too.’

  ‘That is true… Then let us split our time between training and working. It would be great if we stumbled upon the mega stone, but I believe that should not be our priority.’

  ‘That’s the idea. It’s not like the pidgeotite is good for anything besides bragging rights, anyway.’

  X

  My team and I awoke as always at the crack of dawn. The five of us, even Magellan, plodded out towards the training yard dutifully. Yesterday’s evening picnic in the flower meadow was nice, but it was time to get back to the grind.

  Before we could leave, I was called back by the nurse on call. He was a sleepy, grouchy man with a five o’clock shadow and droopy eyes, but he could have been an angel of Arceus for what he said.

  “Yeah, man, your chikorita’s good now. Well, mostly,” he mumbled. He dug around in a drawer before pulling out a sheet of paper. “He should be good with moderate exercise, but not full scale battling. A bit of sparring should be okay so long as it’s on the gentler side. Instructions are here.”

  I grinned broadly. This was even better than a mega stone. “Thank you, nurse. This is fantastic news to start the day.”

  Magellan let out an eager shout as my team congratulated their brother on his swift recovery. It was a cross between an elephant trumpeting and an adorable squeak, but it got the message across. His time on the sideline was nearing its end.

  I reached down and stroked the top of his skull, the place his big leaf grew out of. His leaf swayed happily and the pokemon center was filled with a minty aroma.

  Once outside, I felt Durvasa climb my back to peer over my shoulder at the instructions. I gave it a quick perusal before handing it to him. This seemed like a good chance for a practical lesson on reading comprehension. “Here, Durvasa. How about you read it and try to explain it to Magellan? And then, I’ll double-check to make sure you covered all your bases.”

  “Man,” he nodded resolutely. The rate he was improving at was astonishing. At this point, he was mostly missing vocabulary; his grammar was quite good. “Man-mankey.”

  “That’s right. You need to be careful and clear, or it could impact Magellan’s training. That’s why I’ll go over it again after you’re done, just in case.”

  “Mankey.”

  “Okay. Artoria, Jeanne, let’s start our own stretches,” I called as I led the three of us further away. “Durvasa will catch up.”

  So, we began another morning of grueling yet fulfilling training.

  Durvasa turned out to be an adept translator. There were words he didn’t know, but he got his hands on an online dictionary and did a respectable job of explaining things to Magellan.

  Putting aside the professional jargon, the instructions were fairly easy to follow. That was typical of most pokemon center prescriptions, a natural consequence of the trainer demographic being mostly teenagers.

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  Magellan was to spend as much time in Synthesis as he spent training. After each sparring session, he was to spend at least an hour sunning himself. Any moves which might inhibit the function of his chloroplasts, such as fire or electricity, were to be avoided.

  Further, he was to be fed a special pokemon food which contained powdered sitrus berries. Additionally, a topical cream which could enhance the rate of photosynthesis in grass types was to be acquired. The prescriptions for both would be ready once the head nurse got in to work, so probably after our workout and breakfast.

  After a brief warmup, we began our training in earnest.

  I had Artoria take Magellan under her wing for the day. She rushed Magellan with a glittery, pink sword in hand. Magellan’s task was to use a combination of Vine Whip and Razor Leaf to keep her away. Of course, Teleport was sealed for the duration of this spar.

  My starter still had a ways to go when it came to using fae aura with the same proficiency as her psychic aura. The glittery sword of light was fragile and couldn’t be used to trigger Mana Burst for that explosive impact. But that was perfect. Artoria could use it in an active spar and Magellan got an opponent who wouldn’t hurt him too badly by relying on elemental attacks that’d mess with his recovery.

  Durvasa was off on his own, perfecting Fire Punch. At the moment, he was focused on learning to use the move with both hands while still imparting the same amount of power. That alone was simple. Doing it while he maintained either Focus Energy or Detect, was not.

  I had a feeling he’d succeed soon. I was learning to not underestimate my mankey’s intelligence. Then, we could move on to Cross Chop, one of the stronger fighting type moves out there.

  I wondered which would come first, those moves, or his evolution. Durvasa was growing bigger. He’d been the smallest member of his troupe back in Petalburg, but good diet and proper training remedied that. He was still on the short side, but anyone could see that his muscles were like corded steel. From what I found in online articles, his evolution wasn’t too far off.

  Since the rest of the team was busy, I turned to Jeanne.

  She quickly mastered Thunderbolt. Her Shock Waves were as fast as a regular Thunder Shock. Her Electro Balls had both power and speed. And, because she was constantly using Charge, she was used to operating with a lot more electrical energy in her body than most of her kind.

  “There is nothing else to teach you,” I told her plainly.

  “Flaaf?” she bleated, her wooly head tilted in question.

  “Your physical conditioning is excellent for a flaaffy. Your electric type attacks are about as good as a pokemon can hope to have at your age. You mastered Thunderbolt in days. There just isn’t anything new for you to learn.”

  “Flaaffy! Flaaffy-flaaf!” she cried. Her arms stretched for the sun. Her bulb glowed bright.

  “Don’t cheer just yet. I’ve been meaning to expand your offensive repertoire. You’re a little too good at electric type attacks, Jeanne. You’ve won most battles simply by having more range and power, but a bit more versatility wouldn’t go amiss either.”

  “Flaaf?”

  “Fire Punch.”

  She flinched. I’d given her the TM when I first got to Rustboro, just like Durvasa and Artoria. But while Durvasa worked to perfect the move, Jeanne hardly ever used it. We’d put that to the side for a time because of the Rustboro contest, but it was time to pick it back up again.

  To be fair, Artoria didn’t use it much either, but she had psychic, fae, and ghost type auras to master already. In terms of type coverage, Jeanne was the most inflexible of my pokemon.

  “Flaaffy. Flaaf,” she huffed, sitting on her haunches. She ripped out a nearby dandelion and stuffed it in her mouth before chewing slowly.

  “You have to learn things you don’t want to sometimes,” I told her, running my fingers through her wool. A jolt of static danced up my arm, which I ignored with practiced ease.

  “Flaaf…”

  “Come on, show me your Fire Punch.”

  “Flaaffy… Flaaf,” she pouted. Her paw ignited in orange flames. I could tell even with a casual glance that it was nothing compared to Durvassa’s vibrant blaze.

  She didn’t like using the move because it didn’t have anything to do with our performance. So, the answer was to tie it to contests. “What makes you think that?”

  “Flaaf?”

  “Who told you that we’re never going to use Fire Punch?”

  “Flaaf. Flaaffy-flaaffy-flaaf,” she bleated. She punched the air with her other paw and a shower of electrical sparks crackled where she struck.

  “Yeah, even in close combat, you use the spiralling Electro Ball variant. But didn’t you use Ali’s Dragon Breath to fire dance during your battle? Wouldn’t it be even cooler if you could do that on your own?”

  “Flaaf? Flaaf-flaaffy,” she bleated, pointing towards my sword.

  “It’s true that our appeals round is going to revolve around music, but having a second routine isn’t a bad idea, either. Not to mention, having that trick in the battle round would make you look damn impressive.”

  “Flaaf… Flaaffy?”

  “That’s the idea. You’ll use Fire Punch to ignite the grass type energy from Cotton Guard, letting you do that dance routine without outside help. And that means mastering Fire Punch. You don’t need to be as great as Durvasa at it, but you should be able to use the move with the same proficiency as your Electro Ball.”

  She stood with a resolute nod. “Flaaf.”

  “Good, let’s get started.”

  X

  The next several days passed in a blur. The bulk of it was spent training and getting Magellan caught up.

  We also scored a job from the Verdanturf Town Hall to water the public meadow. It was a relaxing way to spend an afternoon, which made me think they kept that job open for trainers like us.

  Then came the contest. It was… It was okay.

  I wished I could say more about it, but the contest turned out to be exactly what I’d expected. When I first came around, I saw two possible rivals to Jeanne: Drew’s budew and Solidad’s slowbro. Neither were from Verdanturf.

  Now, those migratory coordinators were gone and only the locals were left. No one could give Jeanne a real challenge.

  We stood center stage as the head judge pinned the ribbon on Jeanne’s fur. She was happy to be the center of attention, as always, but I could tell she wasn’t quite satisfied despite our victory. Her bulb was a little dimmer than I knew it could be. She chewed her cud a little faster than usual, a sure sign of her restlessness.

  It was a pity. Jeanne had outgrown normal-rank contests during our travels. Apparently, last week, during the super-rank contest, there had been a sunflora that swept the event, much as my little lamb did here. I couldn’t help but think we would have enjoyed that one more.

  Nonetheless, we accepted our victory with the grace expected of us. We only needed one more ribbon before we could enter higher-tier contests so hopefully, we could get our third normal-rank ribbon in Lavaridge.

  We didn’t dwell on the contest for long. It ended at noon so we grabbed a quick bite and headed to another job by two o'clock.

  It was something I planned ahead of time. A local orchard was looking for an overnight watch that would keep their groves free of pests and raiding pokemon. I planned for us to stay there before heading out early the next morning.

  The Berry Punny Orchard and Cidery, located on the northern outskirts of Verdanturf, needed extra hands this weekend. We were met by a tween boy named James and an aged bellossom when we arrived. The kid had a big, gap-toothed grin and wore a set of jean overalls, a straw hat, and nothing else. I doubted I’d ever find a more “country boy” boy if I tried.

  “Hey there. You’re Aaron, right? Pa told me to show you around and get you started,” he said as the bellossom waved to Magellan. The little hula dancer immediately began chattering away at the fellow grass type as we walked.

  As James told me, the orchard had been in the family for years. They specialized in ciders of the non-apple variety. They had a modest plot of land that they’d partitioned into multiple smaller fields, allowing them to grow different plants and harvest all throughout the year.

  It was mid-May now, which meant that as far as “normal” berries I’d seen in my old life, strawberries, raspberries, and apricots were in-season. They also had small groves of rawst and apicot berries as well. The smaller berry bushes and vines were intermingled amongst the apricot and apicot trees. I asked, and apparently, this created a layered biome that simulated the different ecological strata found in natural forests.

  James was a bright kid. Unfortunately, he was also a typical twelve year old. I could tell he just said that because he’d heard his pa talking about it in the past, not because he actually knew what that meant for the ecosystem. Even so, the explanation was appreciated.

  We stopped shortly after heading into the grove. James pointed up at the tree. “See that? Up there!”

  It took me a moment, but I spotted a flash of red that almost blended in with the dappled sunlight. “A wurmple? You’ve got sharp eyes, James.”

  “Hehe, thanks. We’ve recently got all sorts of bug types and other pokemon eating our berries. We’re harvesting as fast as we can, but pa wants you to either scare them off or catch them.”

  “Okay, that should be easy enough. Do you have any spare pokeballs? I have a few, but it’s not like I want to keep them.”

  “Yup. The town has a bunch of unregistered pokeballs they rent out. They’re in that crate over there,” he said, waving at a box in one corner. “Remember, you can’t hurt the trees though. Pa says some of you trainers are a little too excitable.”

  “Of course not. Now, where can we set up camp?”

  “Oh, yeah, let me show you.”

  The overnight stay wouldn’t be pleasant, but that was the job. Otherwise, the orchard’s owner would never have paid as much as he was offering. It was enough to almost pay for a TM by itself, if one of the cheaper, non-reusable ones.

  To get through this more easily, I split us up into two groups. Myself, Durvasa, and Magellan would cover the afternoon shift until midnight. Artoria and Jeanne would keep watch until dawn. Since the owner of the orchard, a fellow named Paul, rose with the sunrise, we would greet him and then be on our way at about five-thirty.

  I had good reasons for this. For starters, if we had to split the party, it was best that Artoria and I each led half. Out of my little family, there was no question that I trusted her judgment most.

  Second, Jeanne was best suited for keeping watch at night. She wasn’t naturally nocturnal, but she was a walking halogen lamp. With Artoria’s empathy to guide them, they’d have no trouble finding any sneaky thieves no matter the lack of natural light.

  Third, Magellan needed as much sunlight as possible. And though Durvasa could operate in both day and night conditions, Magellan wasn’t as mobile as my other teammates. My chikorita’s range with Vine Whip and Razor Leaf was considerable, but we needed a pokemon who could snatch thieves away from the canopies of the fruit trees.

  Last, and maybe most important, this setup would give me the chance to get a decent night’s sleep despite the overnight commission. Artoria and Jeanne could sleep in their pokeballs while I covered some ground tomorrow morning. Knowing them, they’d no doubt be fine by noon.

  My plan thus decided, I set up camp in a small clearing next to the grove and allowed my two oldest pokemon to sleep.

  I left Magellan with the orchard’s resident bellossom and took Durvasa for myself. Most of our work was pretty simple. He had some moderate trouble with flying types like taillow and spearow, but Paul’s swellow helped us out. The wurmple and zigzagoon looking for a quick bite were minor annoyances at best.

  Then there were the cocoons. Silcoon and cascoon did not eat before their evolution, subsisting entirely upon the energy they stored as wurmple. And yet, I found plenty of those in the trees with my empathic awareness. I even saw some wurmple sneak onto the trees or beneath the bushes before evolving then and there.

  Curious, I asked Paul when he showed up to check in on us. Apparently, the first thing a dustox or beautifly did upon evolution was eat. They ate their body weight in calories, usually sap, fruit, or nectar, to make up for their lengthy fast. So, to make things easier for themselves later, they instinctively sought out food-rich areas to evolve as wurmple.

  So soon after evolution, the cocoon pokemon could barely even wiggle, never mind battle. I just had to pick them up and put them in a big, woven basket alongside the town’s pokeballs. Paul and James would see them shipped to a silk shop or relocated by the rangers where they’d be compensated for their silk with the food they wanted.

  Author’s Note

  Aletria is a Portuguese egg dish. Despite being made with thin pasta noodles (usually angel] hair), it’s a custardy dessert. It’s made with sugar, cinnamon, milk, and butter.

  Do flaaffy even have paws? What do I call the forelimbs? The art has white toes on the lower limbs but nothing on the upper limbs.

  I thought about covering the second Verdanturf contest in detail, but decided against it. Without Solidad, it’s not like Aaron has much competition anyway, better to keep the story moving.

  Animal Fact: There is a type of flightless parrot called kakapo native to New Zealand. This is not to be confused with kereru, the New Zealand pigeon. The kakapo might be the longest-lived bird species in the world with an average lifespan of sixty years (give or take twenty).

  Despite this, they are critically endangered. Because they evolved in a largely predator-less environment, they do not have a meaningful defense mechanism. When startled, they will freeze. Not play dead by lying on the ground, freeze standing up.

  This is thought to be an attempt to camouflage itself as best as possible. This probably worked decently well against eagles, their primary predators, but with the introduction of cats, dogs, and other predators to New Zealand, they’ve suffered from both habitat loss and rapid predation.

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