Bitter Work 3.4
October 25th, 2022.
The Fireside Woods was the first of the ‘Nodes’ that Professor Laven was interested in, areas that were considered a high-point in the energy of the world. There were many such locations across the world, and some were more exciting than others, the Power Spots of Galar where there was enough ambient energy and Galar particle flux to allow for Dynamax and Gigantamax phenomena, in Alola, the trial arenas where Totem pokémon battle challengers, swelling with incredible energy. The areas in Paldea that allow for wild Terastallized pokémon, those kind of areas of high energy exist throughout the world.
The Fireside Woods were known for being unusually rich in fire-type pokémon, something that was only possible because the forest was thin and most of the plant species loved fire, as it cleared out competition and provided a source of nutrients for offspring to sprout within the searing heat, along with a mix of fire-resistant grasslands spaced between great patches of forest.
“So… what kind of data do we need to extract from the Fireside Woods professor? And why do we need to stop at the Fireside Pokémon House first?” I scratched my skin, hiding a cheeky grin as I bounced on my heels, letting the motion calm my nerves as we waited at the front steps of a local Pokémon House, a volunteer shelter for abandoned and orphaned pokémon.
Something about that idea irked me, at the idea that even in this world people treated pokémon as accessories and tools rather than living, thinking beings. Even the stantler I had caught had gotten something in return, good shelter and food, it was the hard fucking minimum to treat them with common decency and respect.
Laven was scratching her cheek on the holographic screen of my super-enhanced phone. “The local Pokémon House works with the Rangers when it comes to abandoned pokémon, for some reason bad trainers keep leaving their pokémon in the Fireside Woods so there’s a regular patrol in the area. So it’s a good idea to check in with the House to go into the forest.”
Oh. Fair enough. After a few more minutes of chatting I hung up on the professor.
Akari tapped me on the shoulder, gently tugging me towards the door to the shelter, which was opened by a blonde Hiker woman, who looked like she could break me in half with her thighs. I flushed at the thought, she was very pretty… damn.
I shook my head, and Akari continued tugging me forward, speaking up with a curious tone. “You’re… Miss Akagi?”
The identified Hiker woman smiled warmly. “Missus Akagi is a bit more accurate, I didn’t wine and dine a fine lady like my wife without earning the title ya know.”
I blinked. Oh, that’s cute.
“Are you telling our guests our life story again Kara?” I could hear a voice from deeper in the voice, softer and cuter than Akagi’s boisterous lively beat.
“NO SWEET POTATO!” That was pretty loud wasn’t it? Was my only thought as we stepped into the modified home-shelter. It was pretty big, two stories tall, the living room and kitchen had been reassembled into a homey shelter, with high fences splitting off an area for about a dozen pokémon in total. I could see a scruffy looking eevee, with a scar over one eye that provoked sympathy from me.
There was a small swinub who looked tired, cuddling with a plush piloswine plushy. Strangely enough… none of them noticed the loud yell…?
How did she do that?
I was going to chalk it up to subconscious aura magic, and leave it at that.
Kara brushed back her blonde hair with a smile. “So you’re the professor’s lab trainers then? Looking to survey the Fireside Woods?”
“We are.” My voice wavered but I didn’t dare pause awkwardly. “It’s for her research, but we were told to check in at your residence before doing any of that.”
Kara nodded. “That’s cuz my wife is a Ranger, and the Fireside Woods is her jurisdiction.” Oh, so that was the connection the Pokémon House had with the Rangers. “When I heard two Lab Trainers were looking to enter the forest I knew some interesting shit might be going down. What kind of things are you working on?”
I breathed deeply as I thought about my area of research. “I’ve mostly been focusing on a study of the comparative biology of pokémon,” I wasn’t going to mention the study included comparisons to my own home’s life forms. “Plus some side work when it comes to studying aura and its role in pokémon moves and abilities, and physiology. Though… it’s quite basic since part of my time is dedicated to learning the field.”
Kara looked curious, and her gaze shifted to Akari, who smiled nervously.
But she spoke up. “I’m not… really aiming to be a researcher like Brandy, but I suppose what I do fits with pokémon athletics science, and sociocultural anthropology in terms of pokémon-human relations.”
Kara smiled. “So an excuse to be a battle junkie and the second one is getting to learn about cultures outside your mountain clan and how they treat pokémon?”
Akari just stared at Kara “Yes.”
“Good. It’s nice to see the young folk be so enthusiastic about their fields of interest,” Kara sounded sincere. “Though it also makes me hate that I have to ask for your help.”
“Help?”
Kara grimaced. “One of our residents is a bit of an escape artist, not too bad really, because she tends to stay pretty close by…”
“Not this time?” I said quietly, worry cropping up in my mind.
“We’re fairly certain she went into the Fireside Woods, and we can’t get any additional Rangers aside from my wife for this. It’s not incredibly dangerous, but two at least 2-star lab trainers can certainly keep some heat off of Tsuyoki.”
Being lab trainers gave us that much credibility, huh?
“I think we can manage that, and having a guide and extra hands can’t hurt can it?” Akari responded with enthusiasm and I gave a silent thumbs up.
Kara just smirked.
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“Tana na na na!” I listened to Tsuyoki’s quite frankly adorable humming (singing?) as she guided us through the large woody biome, her head practically bobbing along with her black ponytail in her black and orange ranger uniform which included a nice hat.
Tsuyoki was interesting, she was shorter than me, which made her really small and generally… cute and feminine, and kinda derpy… bubbly? But she was still a 5-star trainer, having earned five badges before joining the Pokémon Rangers as a cadet.
It was an interesting organization, one that had changed and shifted over the years after contact with regions like Fiore. They were initially just a subset of trainers that still caught pokémon, but the development of the capture styler led to a paradigm shift, creating a fusion of methodologies. They had their personal partner team, and used capture stylers to calm wild pokémon and recruit them in their missions to brave the frontiers.
The older woman’s partner pokémon was a furret, a six foot long living carpet of brown and beige fluff, with dark green eyes bordering on black. His aura shifted and twisted in a regular pattern within a dense bubble of slate gray, and his pressure was light, since he wasn’t in full-battle mode.
I had Llayda out since as a water-type she would be the most suitable when it came to countering the numerous fire-types living in the Fireside Woods. In turn Akari had Happy out, the bipedal fire pig smirking as he sniffed out something none of us humans could smell.
Llayda had recently worked out Aqua Tail, which had been easy for me to explain with my aura sight. I just told her to reach for the flexibility of water instead of the platonic absence of normal energy. It wasn’t true neutral, but it was close in some sense of the word. She was interested in a couple of moves, Liquidation was one alongside Belly Drum to maximize her attack strength. Though for the latter, I had to wait until she was an azumarill and strong enough to handle the damage.
She’s also interested in Chilling Water for some reason, and it was… an interesting idea.
Akari hummed quietly as she patted her pokémon on his head, and I noted the odd gloves on her hands, they were made of a soft leather fabric with lines of gold tracing towards a circular round gem that was dim, matching in color with the black material.
“What are those?” I asked quietly, lowering my voice in a whisper. Akari didn’t startle, eyes briefly flirting over to the Ranger before leaning to speak.
“They’re… training gloves, they help when it comes to focus and channeling of… certain energies,” Akari was happy to explain, rubbing her hands together with a shy grin. “They work well when it comes to actually using that energy instead of just moving it or sensing it’s movement. I’ll let you borrow them if you want.”
I snorted and she glared. “Sorry, sorry,” I apologized. “But my hands are tiny see?” I waved my hands, showing off their majestic smallness. “Always have been, so I don’t think they’d fit very well.” Akari made an odd face, and to my shock I suddenly had her grabbing my hands to inspect them, eyes tracing them with a curious look.
“Umm…” I coughed and she let go with a light blush.
“I was curious, never noticed before.” I… accepted that explanation, and ignored the smug looking fire pig watching us. I stuck out my tongue, not caring about how childish it was. Little bastard was an adult and could take it like a man, pig, person.
Whatever.
“So… so the pokémon we’re searching for, you mentioned they were a fennekin?” Tsuyoki was pulled out of her humming by my question, her eyes looking sad.
“Yep. She’s a real cutie, but her trainer is another story,” a sneer didn’t look right on the ranger’s face, but that was what it was. “From what I can tell, her trainer is an arrogant piece of work who treats his pokémon like tools. If they’re not strong enough for him… he lets them go.”
I flinched, sounded like a Paul-kind of person. “I’ve heard of trainers like that, that’s just…” it was awful, it made my skin crawl that people treated sophont veins with such disrespect. I also knew that was both highly unethical at best, and various levels of illegal at worst.
Sometimes things don’t work out when it comes to a pokémon, but throwing them away was… a very, very different matter. It made me sick, and I grimaced to myself, wondering if the urge to beat him in a pokémon battle was new.
“So do you know where we need to search for this little fire fox?” I placed my hands behind my back, my eyes darting back and forth across the gigantic red trunked trees surrounding us. Redwoods maybe?
“Probably the Victini Shrine.” Tsuyoki answered with a chipper attitude and I coughed.
“Victini Shrine?” I asked, and Akari looked just as curious.
“The fire pokémon of the forest worship the Fire god Victini, more in his capacity as a God of Victory but still… They had humans help them build a spot where they could offer sacrificial flames, and plant fire gentians.” Aren’t those symbolic for victory?
Oh… yeah, sometimes I forget that pokémon worship the legendaries as their actual gods. I had seen Mirko build a shrine to Regigigas on more than one occasion, Jericho was a bit more esoteric, providing tribute to some unnamed Poison god. What I found concerning was the fact I could hear the capitalization in my own head when it came to legendaries and their typing. Llayda made tributes to Diancie through a short tea ceremony, which I was forced to sit through on some occasions. The question then was guessing which I should attend because as a faerie she can be… unpredictable.
She had been taunted into a rage once or twice by some of the fire pokémon who had wanted to challenge us. Of which there weren’t many with Furret the Furret out and frightening some of them off. Having a 5-star mon followed by two borderline 3-star mons was a good thing in many respects. Also begged the question of why Llayda hasn't evolved when she had built up more than enough might.
“Heya, eyes up!” The Ranger chirped, and I paid more attention as we walked into a clearing, a circular platform of raised dirt covered in reddish-orange grass. In the center of it all was a Shinto-esque shrine made out of smooth obsidian, with a round deep hole fit for fiery offerings at the center. “She should… be here.”
I examined the shrine closely, looking it up and down, how should I do this?
I decided to use my aura reading, since that was a useful ability even if it was all I could do with aura.
I immediately regretted it as the Pressure roiled in waves, like I was suddenly in the center of a massive bonfire, in my eyes it was a mass of golden torch flame, extending across the forest in great dancing embers and scintillating linear blazes.
Oh.
I did my best to ignore the blinding aura, and it didn’t take long to fade into the background, the natural Space of the wild aura of the Fireside Woods. I could see another signature, a shade to that bonfire, burning scarlet and orange flames with hints of psychic pink.
I shut off my aura reading, and lightly prodded Llayda towards the source of that less insane aura. She painted a warm smile on her face, and called out to the fire fox hiding herself in the bush at the edge of the clearing. From the shaking of the bush the pokémon was refusing. Why?
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Why was she so scared?
It was instinct that saved me at the last second, throwing myself into a panicked roll as a sudden pressure slammed down into the world. Claws the length of half my chest sliced through the air where my head had been, and I let out an unimpressive squeak of terror. Claws blazed with the white light of Slash, air compressing under the sheer force of the strike.
“Furret, Protect and lend a Helping Hand!” Tsuyoki immediately reacted, essentially flash stepping with Agility, and summoning a great beige shield of energy to block my attacker’s Fire Lash, the whip of fire blazing white hot before giving away to the inches thick barrier.
Furret started clapping his paws together, hands glowing with a faint golden sheen.
What the hell had attacked us?
Dust scattered, obscuring the pokémon until it rose on its back, arms spreading in a t-shaped pose, six inch long claws sparking with chaotic fire energy, a long neck rearing back to reveal a long snout and beady crazy eyes.
“MOOOOR!” A massive heatmor let out a battle cry, eyes wide and sparks black as night flashing along its spine. At least nine feet tall, claws radiating outward with lethal intent.
There was something very wrong here.
“HOI! KEEP BACK!” Tsuyoki stepped between us and what had to be an Alpha heatmor who chuffed with unbridled rage. “Keep your pokémon in front!” I could feel the balls on my belt wiggling with anger, and I reached out to them with a shiver.
Keep calm, if you pop out suddenly…
I didn’t want to get my body cut in half by the clearly enraged xenarthran, and I could see the burning flames twisting around his claws, a modified Fire Punch probably.
Dark energy flared around the Alpha, and I felt blood rush away from my face.
“DUCK!”
The clearing exploded with the twisting impact of Brutal Swing and Fire Lash.
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A blast of Incinerate was blocked by Kirby, his refined Protect forming a suitable bulwark against the Alpha heatmor. The pokémon was way too strong for any of us alone, and Furret the furret was the only pokémon on an equal playing field. He was using Follow Me to draw in the berserk monster’s ire and attention.
“Double Team!” He split into multiple clones, and heatmor reacted with a strange gurgling cry, and Spit Up mixed with fire-type energy, releasing a powerful beam that Furret blocked with Focus Blast, which split the attack in quarters before slamming into the anteater like a truck.
“We need to weaken this heatmor as much as possible, my stylus can’t break through his mania!” Tsuyoki looked haggard, having made several attempts to encircle the wild pokémon with the energy of her empath device.
Happy fired a Mud Shot into Mud Slap, both blinding and slowing the enraged fire-type, who blew off much of the mud with a body-conforming Fire Spin. He threw our more mud attacks, many of which missed… why would, oh!
“Bruiser-Archer, take away his footing.” I called out to Mirko, and she accelerated into the sheer speed of Quick Attack, dodging Heatmor’s rapid fire shots of Incinerate shaped into spears of flame.
Heatmor was slow, but hit like a truck at both close range and long range. So we needed to get him off his footing, couldn’t let him leverage his absurd physical strength and special power.
“Bubble Beam the field!” I called out to Llayda and she did as I asked, right as Mirko flash stepped into Heatmor’s reach, and with a smirk she used a Work Up boosted Dizzy Punch to explode the ground around the feral fire pokémon’s feet.
Llayda’s Bubble Beam hit at the same time, and the Alpha was thrown off his feet and into the wet and deep mud with a roar of pain. He hissed, and I could feel something building deep inside of the now slippery fire type.
Steam rose off his back, and the back of his tail was filling up with smoke and fire and brimstone, and I flinched.
“Protect, he’s using Overheat!”
We barely reacted in time, and I was sent flying by the sudden gigantic wave of fire, heat and explosive force.
And right into a bush.
I rubbed my head, shaking at the sheer sound banging inside my skull.
Hate it, hate it, hate it, make it stop…
I shuddered, I didn’t like loud noises… I just couldn’t tolerate it. I never had been really, and this was—
I heard a quiet bark, and found myself staring into the wide, honey colored eyes of the fennekin we had come out here for to begin with. She was looking at me with distrust, ears held back against the side of her head, and the common smile of her species replaced with a sharp toothed growl.
“Hey, are—” I flinched as I heard Mirko use Swift, which told me she was still in the fight. “Are you okay?”
“Fooo…” She looked angry at my question and I rolled my eyes at her, this was not the time.
“It’s fine not to trust or like me, god knows I don’t like myself either,” I whispered under my breath with a wincing shrug. “But doing so when a crazed anteater twice my height is wrecking us is not the best time for it.”
“Puh…ko.” The fox rolled her eyes, her tail held stiff as she ignored my advice.
I crossed my arms. “I’m sure you care about Tsuyoki don’t you? You wouldn’t have stuck around this long if you didn’t.” Multiple escape attempts and coming back every time said a lot. “Well she’s out there fighting a crazed pokémon because she wanted to find you and help you, that should at least mean something right?”
Fennekin was starting to look guilty, and I winced as I tried to stand back up, it hurt like shit. Did I break something?
I managed to get a better handle on my balance, leaning against the dense truck of the bush I was in, and took a peek out of the bush.
I choked.
Llayda was surrounding herself with a constant field of Bubble Beam that she expanded and grew with Water Gun, using it to quench Heatmor’s flames, and slamming into the mon with a quick one-two punch of Aqua Jet and Aqua Tail. Not that it did much against the much stronger pokémon. It had to be a 5-star or even 6-star monster at least with how it was taking Slams from Furret.
Jericho had poisoned the pokémon and I winced at the burns around his left side, and the raw claw marks on his face. He wasn’t badly injured but he needed a visit to the Center. Mirko was sporting a dark expression, jumping at Heatmor’s face and clawing at it with Cut, and a sweeping strike of Dizzy Punch.
I could see that Kirby was down and out, and I could tell Akari was pissed about it as she gave out commands to Ellis and Happy.
Fuck, this is bad… I can barely even move.
“I’m… not sure about the life you lead before now, and I’m not asking,” I felt my throat close up at the ache in my chest. “But can you at least help us here, for Tsuyoki… She seems nice and kind, and that’s…” I wish that was more common in my world, I wished sincerely for it. “Important.”
Fennekin stared at the battle with weary eyes.
She gave a noncommittal chuff, and nodded. She let out a quiet sound, and to my surprise, she began to gather energy into a single focused white star, which rose silently up into the sky. Interesting.
Wish was an esoteric move, it involved prayer, invoking the raw forces of the universe to heal anyone who could reach out to that great big star in the sky. Llayda chuffed, and used Bounce to reach the star, her injuries suddenly vanishing in a flash before coming down as a meteor against Heatmor.
Good thing I talked about moves like Wish before.
“Do you have any moves that can hit him like a truck, even just for a moment?” Fennekin blinked, and grimaced.
“Stored Power?” She stared at me with confusion and suspicion. “I research pokémon, you know, and it’s a strong move even if it takes a fair amount of setup.”
Fennekin sighed, and her expression shifted as faint rings of energy surrounded her head. Calm Mind, huh?
It went once, twice, and a third time, and I winced as I saw Furret take a hit from the Alpha again, and he twisted into Extreme Speed, practically flash stepping out of the way of the anteater’s Flamethrower.
Mirko glanced over to the bush, and offered a thumbs up before throwing out a quick wave of Swift stars to distract and addle the enraged heatmor. How did she…?
Each iteration of Calm Mind involved precious seconds, and I flinched as I saw that Heatmor was using Hone Claws and Nasty Plot. Can they learn that? What?
With a single Brutal Swing, Happy was down and I could tell that Akari felt that. The energy feedback from one’s team getting knocked out was dangerous and she could get killed here.
A total of six Calm Minds maxed out Fennekin’s special power and resistance, and I could tell she was about to carelessly throw it out into the field.
I barred her way and she showed her teeth. “No, if you miss and hit one of them… someone is getting hurt.” Fennekin yielded to my explanation, and I hummed to myself. “We need to wait for an opening.”
I watched my team coordinate with each other, Mirko harassed Heatmor with Swift while Jericho poisoned and distracted and Llayda added a layer of defense with her water moves and hydrokinesis and sheer physical strength with Aqua Tail and Aqua Jet.
Furret threw out a massive Water Pulse, using the bubble field as an easy water source, and Heatmor just flared up with a tornado of Fire Spin that was pulled apart by a Hyper Voice from Furret that sent the pokémon reeling.
Maybe now…?
He glared at Llayda with lethal intent, and a poisonous aura began to gather around his stomach and mouth. That was… Belch.
A poison type move like that would kill her.
“Fire now! Please!” I asked as the Heatmor began to scream, those strange wisps of blacker than black shadows sparking painfully along his back.
I threw myself out of the bush like an idiot, and called his attention.
“HEY!” Rage filled eyes flitted to my attention, oh shit what was I thinking!
Fennekin let out a chuff, and right as Belch flew out towards Llayda—
A blinding violet light covered the field.
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I woke up to an unfamiliar ceiling.
I giggled, and felt sore all around but the fact I could feel anything at all was probably a good sign. I reached out to my nebulous core, and my aura responded like an old friend, circulating through my body with a careful and sluggish speed.
“Rilli?” To my shock, I could feel the connection to my pokémon with greater depth than before, it wasn’t much deeper… just a slightly better understanding of their emotional state, their intentions.
I opened my eyes, and found myself being stared at by an irate buneary, a proud and puffed up azumarill, and a bandaged but relieved nidorino.
“Guys?” I coughed, lightly thumping my chest, my throat was dry as hell. “So based on… not in a hospital?” This was a normal room, and I could feel bandages uncomfortably tightened around my ribs. “I was hurt but not so badly that I need to be hospitalized?”
Mirko narrowed her eyes, and I grimaced. “Sorry. I’m not making light of it… just that it’s better than it could be, not that it’s good.” Ugh, I felt like shit. “Do you know what happened after I got knocked out?”
All three stared at me like I was stupid and I flushed. Right… I’m good at guessing their intent and meaning, but holding a conversation with them was a different issue.
“Well, Tsuyoki managed to calm down the Alpha heatmor after it took a direct hit from Fennekin’s Stored Power and your Llayda’s last Aqua Tail when she evolved.” I let out a strangled cry when Akari popped up from the door, leaning her hip into the frame with a gentle smile.
“Oh… hey?” I waved shyly.
Akari snorted. “You weren’t too badly hurt, just some bruised ribs that were taken care of with berry and leek extract-soaked bandages.” That was… not normal and her wince told me my face had told her as such.
“It’s… fine, I guess? Was there something wrong with that heatmor? I sort of noticed some weird… shadowy fluff attached to it?”
Akari’s face pinched into frustration. “Our dexes said the data was… inconclusive and none of it survived Tsuyoki’s use of her styler. It could have been some type of illness, or a residue from a dangerous pokémon.”
“Did we at least get some of that data Laven was looking for?” Akari raised a brow and I shrugged with a pained smile. “Hey, I just wanted to ask.”
“Yeah… that shrine seems to be a gigantic focal point of fire-type energy, which is why there’s so many fire types, it’s a good and healthy environment for them. Which is why that heatmor was there… but it doesn’t explain the insanity.”
I sighed, and tried to stand up… before realizing I didn’t have a shirt on and sitting back down.
“This is a fucking mess.”
Akari agreed with a groan.
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October 26th, 2022.
I laid dead on the couch of the local Pokémon Center, with Llayda cuddling up to me with a smug grin. She had gotten a lot bigger with her evolution, reaching just under a meter feet long and thirty seven kilograms. Which made her a fair bit larger and heavier than the average azumarill and made her my heaviest pokémon.
It also meant her food consumption had gone up to about two to three thousand calories a day, and a quick check at the Center said she had some unfinished growth, to about a meter and a half in length and sixty kilograms. Testing her strength revealed it was off the charts, she could shatter multi-ton boulders and leave several meter deep craters with Aqua Tail and Slam, and she was deeply smug about her overwhelming physical strength.
Luckily I had Jericho there to pop her bubble since she retained a weakness to poison and electric type moves which he had both of.
“Hoi!” I was startled when Tsuyoki stepped into the room with Fennekin in tow, the fire type walking haughtily behind her, it felt… a bit rehearsed.
“Huh?” I said dumbly and the Ranger just smiled back without a care in the world.
“I see you’ve recovered from yesterday, that’s good.” Tsuyoki was bouncing from foot to foot, and I relaxed at her attitude. “So when are you leaving?”
“Maybe another few hours? We’ve got the data we came for, and we’re thinking of taking the Tohoku Shinkansen, specifically the Shin-Irori Station.” Like Japan, they had a network of high-speed railway lines built to connect the region together. It was even more extensive and higher capacity by necessity as car roads weren’t as practical.
A good amount of their transportation was taken up by using pokémon, and that made a lot of sense.
“You want to take on the Nakagawa Gym then?”
“Yep. Akari and I are aiming to take on all the Major League Gyms, hopefully before the season ends.” We had eight months or so in that regard. From what I remember the average person doesn’t tend to get more than three to five badges, and it can take them over a season to earn all eight. So about a year and a half to two years was what it would take to become what would be called an Elite-class trainer.
Fennekin perked up, giving me an inquisitive glance as she walked around the Ranger.
“Well that settles it, my cute little tsundere here wants to come along and won’t take no for an answer!” She gestured to Fennekin with a laugh, who promptly spat at her with a very weak Ember, letting out a series of yelps and yips that were clearly her protesting that.
Tsuyoki‘s peppy expression didn’t change. “Fennekin, you literally agreed to this while walking to the Center, and I know you were going to be all tsun-tsun about it. You can change your mind of course, but be honest about it.”
Fennekin chuffed, but after a staring contest that she lost against the brunette, she faced me with a hesitant expression.
I coughed, rubbing my neck. “Are… are you sure about this?” I didn’t want to force her into something she didn’t want.
Fennekin… sighed, and offered me a nod. “Do you have a ball or…?” Tsuyoki shook her head, and I scrambled for my bag. I had a couple of pokéballs I had bought from a few Marts… and with a small aha I grabbed a Premier Ball. “Is this one okay?”
Fennekin just rolled her eyes and I wondered what the hell I was getting myself into.