Espy eyes glittered as she pawed her human’s head repeatedly, crying “Eee! Eee!” and pointing at the colorful jewel above her.

Nina giggled at her Eevee’s cuteness and set down the step stool she was carrying. The girl climbed onto the stool for some extra height and held Espy up so that the Pokemon could reach out with her two little paws to pluck the Mago Berry that had caught her eye.

While Espy was happily savoring the sweet and delectable flavor of her latest spoil, Nina looked around to see that Tini had coiled himself around a branch and was gorging himself on Pecha Berries.

“Tini, don’t be such a slob! Only two Berries per tree remember?” Admonished Nina. The girl had set that rule because she didn’t want to be a menace and ruin all of Melanie’s harvests.

Tini wilted at his trainer's scolding and promptly jumped off the tree. “Since when did he become so good at climbing trees?” Nina mused.

Seeing how dejected Tini was, Nina couldn’t help but boop her gluttonous little Dragon on the snout, staining her own nose with Pecha juices. Tini giggled at the sight and assaulted his partner with more boops for fun.

Nina giggled and wrestled Tini into her embrace. “Alright Tini, that’s enough. You’re gonna get me all sticky. I see some Bluk Berries over there. Those are your faves right?”

“Tiin~”

As they made their way over to their next mark, Espy pawed at Nina again because she caught sight of some Nanab Berries she wanted to try. Only to be met with denial from her human.

“No can’t do, Espy. See how green they are? That means they’re unripe. I don’t want you to get a tummy ache later.”

“Eee…” whined the cute little furball. But Nina stood firm. Instead, she promised Espy that she’ll ask Melanie later to see if the brewery had any Nanabs in stock.

“Bulba~”

“Saur!”

Nina bent down to address the pair of Bulbasaurs that ran up to her. “Hey guys, do you want some Berries too?” She had developed a friendship with the two Grass Types after their little game of tag the day before.

She also found out that the two Bulbasaurs actually belonged to Melanie, and that they were largely in charge of looking after the lost Pokemon. Not that they were doing a very diligent job of it.

The pair of Pokemon cried out in affirmation and each pointed at different Berries that they wanted.

Nina nodded in understanding and asked Tini for his help while she set down her stool. “Tini, could you go get that Oran while I grab the Persim?”

Her partner nodded and set out into action. Meanwhile, Nina raised Espy up so that she could pluck a Persim from its tree, turning a blind eye at the cheeky little Eevee who grabbed an extra Berry for herself.

The little girl and her group of Pokemon continued their leisurely stroll through the fragrant rows of Berry trees and the fields of wildflowers. Occasionally stopping to pluck a few Berries that caught their eyes.

***

Nina watched on with interest as the workers in the brewery manually filled up bottles of Shuckle juice before passing them down a roller to the next station to be labeled.

Melanie’s brewery was unlike anything that Nina had ever seen before. And she did quite enjoy visiting breweries in her past life, albeit it was beer breweries. Unlike the industrial, all-metal tanks and machinery of the breweries she was used to, Melanie’s set up was much more rudimentary.

There were wooden barrels, which she used to store the Shuckle juice, hanging from a high shelf, connected to tappers and tubes which flowed down to the filling station where humans and Pokemon alike filled glass bottles with the liquid.

Right next to the bottling section was a number of large wooden tubs which they used to blend different batches of Shuckle juice together. And right beside that were where they added yeasts into the Shuckle juice to ferment it into alcohol. Nina could see casks upon casks of Shuckle wine aging away until it was their time to be bottled and sold.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

“Your workers all look like they’re getting up there in age, Melanie.” Commented Nina.

The woman nodded in agreement. “Some of them are from the nearby off-route village. Some of them are retirees from the city and wanted a more scenic environment to settle down in.”

Melanie explained how she was just brewing as a hobby initially. “I was living in a small wooden cabin by myself next to the pond and would feed all the lost Pokemon that came my way. Then one day, a Parasect — who is now the Alpha of this area — rescued a Shuckle which he left in my care. I had Berries which I was growing in my backyard and I always have some leftovers so I thought why not?”

“How did it snowball into becoming such a big business then? I saw quite a number of Shuckles in the cellar.”

Melanie chuckled. “That’s quite a long story. For one, the Shuckle that Parasect found was female. I’m not entirely sure on the mechanics of Pokemon breeding but I’m pretty sure it was a stray Ditto that did the deed. There was also a little girl from the nearby village that found my cabin and kept coming back to play with all the Pokemon.”

She explained how her existence spreaded through word of mouth and eventually there were some villagers who would stop by to ask for her help in procuring supplies from the city.

“Money is always an issue with the villagers since they don’t really engage with the outside world much,” said Melanie. “And there was only so much I could do to help them out of my own pocket. So eventually we came up with the idea of starting a Berry farm which then spun off into a Shuckle juice brewery. So in that sense, the villagers are also shareholders, I suppose?”

Nina nodded in understanding, most Berry varieties were commodities despite their fairly magical properties. In her past life, there would have been no end to the number of pharmaceutical companies who would pay a fortune to get their hands on a sample. But here in the Pokemon world, they were treated just as regular fruits and hold similar value. Adding value in the form of Shuckle juice just made sense, given how rare the Pokemon are.

“That Alpha Parasect, are you still on friendly terms with it? I’ve never heard of an Alpha that’s friendly towards humans before.”

“Of course,” confirmed Melanie. “Parasect stops by for treats from time to time, with her family. We’ve known each other since she was a Paras. And it’s not entirely unheard of. Alphas are really smart and most of them have cordial relationships with their local Rangers. They understand that sometimes, they might need help from humans. It’s foreign intruders that they take issue with.”

Nina stopped short of asking if she could meet with Parasect. She was no longer as helpless as she used to be since she now had Tini and Espy, but they aren’t strong enough to go toe to toe with an Alpha just yet.

“What about the Beedrills then?” She asked. “It’s rare for wild Beedrill to be so… well behaved around humans.”

“Ah, that’s simple actually. Their queen used to be a lost Pokemon as well. I took care of her after she found me and she’s since gone independent and started her own hive.” Melanie smiled wistfully at the fond memories. “It’s always a happy occasion whenever I see Pokemon under my care find the strength to move on…”

“It’s no wonder the Pokemon in this area love her so much,” thought Nina. “This woman might as well be a saint with how pure her heart is.”

Melanie continued on with the tour and answered whatever questions Nina may have when suddenly, the sound of an explosion could be heard from outside.

Melanie and her workers jolted in fear and looked around in panic. While Nancy pulled Bobby into a protective embrace.

“What’s going on?” Asked Nina.

“I-I don’t know…” Said Melanie, when another explosion rang out and the whole mansion shook.

“Stay here,” said Nina. “I’ll go have a look.” She then turned towards Espy and asked her Eevee to return to her Pokeball since she’s not battle ready just yet. “Tini, are you ready buddy?”

“Tiin!” Cried the determined Dratini.

“No, this is my house. I’m coming with you!” Melanie couldn’t bring herself to just cower in fear behind a child in a potential emergency. After yelling out to her workers and telling them to take shelter in the basement, Melanie raced out of the mansion with Nina and Tini.

***

The first thing Nina saw when she got out of the mansion was the wide back of her Uncle Ali. The man was shouting orders to his Gardevoir and Drapion which he had released at some point.

“Elizabeth, keep up the barrier! Don’t let a single one of these thugs get through!” He yelled at the Gardevoir. He then immediately turned towards ‘Keith’, his Drapion, and ordered the Pokemon to shoot out Toxic balls at his opponents.

Up in the sky, Nina could also see Martha the Corviknight, battling against a group of Flying Types all by herself.

“Uncle Ali!” She called. “What’s going on?”

“Nina! Get back inside, it’s not safe out here!”

“I can help!” She argued. Nina could tell that the Pokemon her uncle was facing was not particularly well cared for. She was sure that Tini could take them if it came down to it.

“It’s just a bunch of poachers and thugs,” said Ali. “They’re after the Shuckles. Get back inside, call for help, and reinforce the doors. I saw a group of them circle around to the back earlier.”

Just as Ali said, Nina could see a bunch of dark clothed individuals standing behind the opposing Pokemon. Each of them sporting a flashy red ‘R’ symbol somewhere on their person, signifying their allegiance.

“What the heck is Team Rocket doing here?!”

“Where’s Misty?!” As a Gym Leader, the orange haired woman was the most competent battler of them all. Not to mention her abundant experience when it comes to dealing with Team Rocket.

Ali winced. “She passed out in the living room. Go wake her if you can!”

Nina nodded and rushed back inside. “Melanie! Leave this place to Uncle Ali, we gotta secure the inside!”

The woman nodded, but Nina caught her looking anxiously at the various lost Pokemon who were trapped in nets. No doubt, the work of Team Rocket.

“Those nets are specifically designed to contain Pokemon. We can free them after taking them all down. Now, come on! I need you to call the authorities while I go get Misty!”

Melanie shook her head to get herself together and follow Nina inside, just in time to see a bunch of Team Rocket goons being assaulted by the Pokemon hanging inside the house.

“Melanie, the Pokemon here all listen to you — keep them organized and buy me some time. I’m gonna go look for Misty,” Instructed Nine. She was tempted to send Tini instead, but she wasn’t sure if there were any more goons lurking around.

“Wait, before you go,” Melanie showed Nina her Pokegear screen, gesturing at the top where it showed there was no connection to the network.

“Shit!” Cursed the girl. “That means they either have some sort of device or a powerful Dark Type Pokemon jamming our communications.” Since the Pokenet was run by Psychic Pokemon and Porygons, only the opposing Type Energy could cause enough interference to disrupt it.

Nina shook her head. “It doesn’t matter, stick to the plan for now. I’ll go looking for the jammer once I wake Misty.”

Melanie gave a determined nod and ran towards the group of Rocket thugs while shouting out orders to the various lost Pokemon.