I thanked Lee and took one of the pairs of shorts that were of the khaki cargo variety and walked into the bathroom shutting the door behind me. Taking off the expert belt I quickly dropped the tattered and horribly damaged remnant shorts I was wearing leaving me totally naked. I originally wore boxers under my pants but those had literally fallen apart within two weeks of me getting to this world so I was fairly used to going commando at this point. I sighed in relief once the restricting piece of clothing was removed and my dick wasn't getting pressed tightly against me.-

While I dealt with the discomfort easily it didn't mean that I wanted to all the time. After that I stepped into the pair of shorts that was slightly too big for me but that was fine since after I tightened the expert belt I was good to go. Walking out of the bathroom Birch gave me a thumbs up to let me know it worked for me. "You can toss that old thing into the bin over there." Lee said pointing at a blue trash can in the corner.-

I tossed the now useless piece of cloth into it without hesitation while grabbing the pokeball holster and hooking it up to my expert belt on my right hip. I then fished out both Gaia and Vulcans balls from my bag and stuck them to the holster. Birch looked at the black and white ball that belonged to Gaia curiously once he saw it. "Where'd you get that ball from Alex?" he asked clearly interested in it. "I bought it from a street vender since it looked cool and I wanted my starter to have a nice ball." I lied with a shrug.-

"A pity , I've never quite seen it's like before and was curious how it was made." he said not really all that upset. "If I ever figure it out you'll be the first to know." I promised with a smile. He nodded and dropped the topic satisfied with how it went. "Well lets get you back to my house so I can introduce you to my wife and let you take a nice warm bath." Birch said with a wide smile. "Thanks for the help Lee , you know where to find us if you need anything!" the large man shouted over his shoulder as we left the store and Lee just threw us a smile and a thumbs up.-

Birches house was much the same as the rest in the village with wood and brick construction and a small flower bed in front of it. I had to duck down a good bit to walk through the door however as the building was clearly designed with much shorter people in mind. The professors wife was currently in the kitchen chopping vegetables in preparation for dinner most likely when we walked in. "Lily we're back and we have a guest!" Birch said loudly and the brown haired woman turned to look at us but paused for the briefest moment when she saw me.-

"Welcome back! And welcome to Littleroot stranger!" she said with a warm smile. Birch chipped in at that point and explained my situation to his wife after I introduced myself. "Oh you poor thing! Please feel free to get cleaned up in the bath while I get the couch set up for you." she said compassionately. I shook my head at that though "There's no need I'll sleep out in the pasture with my pokemon like i'm used to , but thank you for the offer." I said appreciatively.-

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The entire family was surprised by this answer but Birch just laughed "No wonder your pokemon respect you so much , you must do everything together right?" He asked with a smile and I nodded seriously. "After I get done cleaned up please allow me to treat you all to a meal , not to brag but I'm a pretty good cook if I do say so myself." I offered and they were all taken back by that. "I was actually prepping the vegetables so that works out just wonderfully thank you!" Lily says with a kind smile.-

"May why don't you help your mother prep the vegetables while I show Alex how to use the bath?" Birch asked and May agreed and the two women went to the kitchen. Birch then led me through his house to a door past the stairs that went upstairs that he turned the knob to and opened. The bathroom was a pretty average place with a stone sink and metal toilet and large plastic looking tub. "Just turn the red one for hot water and the blue one for cold and the towels are on this stand right here." He said showing me what he was talking about.-

He left after that and I turned on the hot water and filled the tub without even touching the cold knob. I spent the next twenty minutes getting rid of the built up filth on me using copious amounts of soap and shampoo before finishing with conditioner. I got dried off and placed the towel I used in the part of of the shelf labeled {used towels} before getting dressed. Now despite still looking like a savage I was a clean at the very least.-

The women had finished up the prep work with the vegetables and the whole family was relaxing in the living room chatting about the events of the day. "...And then this Entei comes charging through the bushes and pins me to the ground after a mighty struggle!" Birch was saying while showing off. "He actually screamed like a girl when Vulcan got ahold of him." I spoke up and Birch looked betrayed while the two women laughed. "That sounds more like my husband than what he said" Lily said with a smile. "He wasn't afraid for very long to be fair as after he screamed Gaia and I rushed into the underbrush and saw him with a look of excitement instead of panic or fear." I said with a chuckle.-

"How could I not be excited? That was a legendary of all things , any researcher worth anything would be dying to study such a thing from up close!" Birch said defensively. "While I don't doubt that , typically self preservation aught to win out in that situation no?" I teased and he looked away awkwardly. "Luckily for you Vulcan was under strict orders NOT to kill or injure anyone we met otherwise , well we wouldn't be having this conversation." I added to make it abundantly clear that my pokemon were not the peaceful creatures they appeared at the moment.-

He went pale at the thought but didn't argue or anything since as their trainer I definitely knew my pokemon bettor than he did. "Sorry if I ruined the mood but I figured it would be best to clear that up before anyone makes a mistake in judgement and gets hurt. My pokemon helped me survive in the wild and are probably a lot more brutal than domestic raised pokemon and it's important to remember that." I said and the whole family nodded in agreement.