“I understand that Timburr aren’t from the Sinnoh region,” Emilia said, face wrenched into a frustrated scowl, “But asking that price for even the best Timburr is ridiculous.”

Kasey’s face matched Emilia’s, the older woman jabbing a finger at her as she spoke to punctuate her sentence, “We have to trade for them! What part of that don’t you understand? That means their minimum value is that of any one of our other pokemon! Trading for less than that is impossible, even without taking labor into account!”

With a frustrated expulsion of breath, Emilia threw her hand in the air and marched away from Kasey Sterling, stomping across the hall to where Cashe was waiting. She grabbed his arm and tugged him away from the Sterling pens, “Let’s go,” she grunted.

“Okay,” Cashe let himself be pulled away. They marched past more breeders and Cashe asked, “Not going to try another breeder for your own pokemon?”

Emilia glanced over her shoulder to where they left Kasey, “No,” she sighed, stopping in the middle of the trading hall, “I have two new pokemon on my team already. It will be tricky enough integrating them. I don’t want to grab another and upset the balance further.”

Cashe nodded, stepping aside to make way as people shuffled around them. The trading post had only grown busier as the day progressed, and now nearly every breeder had people lined up around them. “That’s a good point. Should we regroup with Lindon and see if he’s made any progress, then?”

Emilia snorted, “I doubt he is even thinking about pokemon right now.”

“He’s probably struggling to talk,” Cashe agreed. However, they were both soon proved wrong. They found Lindon in an animated discussion with the young man minding the Eggspert Breeding pen, with the pretty girl nodding along to their conversation. He seemed completely at ease, though he was looking over at the pretty young woman often enough that his thoughts were obvious.

“-have a Slowpoke but it’s a Kantonian one,” Lindon was said, patting his bag where he kept his pokeballs, “I don’t want to trade him anyway. He’s really smart and I want to use him on my team!”

“You found a smart Slowpoke?” The young man sounded skeptical. He spoke with an accent that reminded Cashe of the American Southwest. It was similar to the accent Kasey had affected when they first met her, but Cashe could tell the young man’s was much more legitimate.

“Well, for a certain measure of intelligence,” Cashe said with a smile as they approached the trio, “Slowpoke don’t set a high bar.”

Lindon jumped when he heard Cashe speak, spinning around, “Apollo, Emilia! Did you get any pokemon? This is Jack and his sister Dalia, they-” Lindon paused, his eyes locking onto the pokeball on Cashe’s hip. “What’s that?”

Cashe took the pokeball off his belt, letting it expand to its full size. It was a luxury ball, black, with gold and silver accents and a red ring around the top of it. It weighed more than a regular pokeball and felt even heavier given the price he paid for it.

“We found a Sneasel,” Cashe said with a satisfied grin, “It was a great deal, too, only cost me, everything I had and then some. What’s going on here? Are they okay?”

“What?”

Lindon turned around to look at Jack and Dalia. Both teenagers were standing stock still and staring at Cashe and Emilia. Well, mostly Emilia. Jack’s blue eyes were wide and the color had drained from his face, leaving him ashen, whereas Dalia was nearly the opposite, blushing a deep red and looking like she was about to cry.

“Hi,” Emilia said with a little wave of her hand, “I’m Emilia Oak and this is Apollo Cashe. Don’t mind us, we were just checking up on Lindon when-”

Emilia cut herself off as both teenagers’ eyes shot to Lindon and back to her.

“Ya know her?” Jack said, before shaking himself out of his surprise and remembering himself, “I mean, hello, welcome to Eggspert Breeding. We’re just starting out so-”

“Hello!” Dalia didn’t seem to realize she was interrupting Jack. She shared her brother’s accent, but with less of a twang, and her voice was shaking with emotion, “M-miss Oak, how can we help you? Would you like a pokemon? We can give you one. Not for free!” Dalia blushed further, though Cashe doubted anyone had understood her words that way, “But, um, maybe for an autograph or a picture?”

Oh. Never mind.

“Are you okay?” Lindon said, glancing between the breeders with a confused expression on his face, “It’s just Emilia. I told you I was traveling with her.”

“You didn’t say she was Emilia Oak!” Dalia said, her voice several octaves higher than before.

“I don’t know any other Emilia’s though?” Lindon said.

Jack stared at Lindon in mild disbelief and shook his head, recovering better than his sister, “Forgive my sister, if ya don’t mind. We’re from a tiny island. It’s just a few farms and fields, not much else. We don’t see famous folk like Oaks and whatnot.”

“Why don’t we start over,” Cashe said, trying his best to make his smile understanding instead of amused, “Hello, I’m Cashe and this is Emilia.”

“Pleased to meetcha,” Jack said, relaxing and shaking Cashe’s hand. Dalia didn’t get that far, but managed a nod in greeting, “I’m Jack, and this is my sister, Dalia. We’re Eggspert Breedin’. We’re just starting out, so we don’t have much in the way of poekmon, but what we do have is eggsellent.”

Cashe held back a groan at the wordplay. He didn’t want to shatter the kid’s confidence.

“You probably want to do more trading than selling, then,” Emilia guessed.

“That’s right. We’re lookin’ for trades for all our pokemon.” Jack said.

“What do you have to trade?” Cashe said, glancing down at Lindon.

“Uh, nothing right now,” he said, “But that doesn’t mean I can’t catch something!”

“Don’t worry, we don’t have anything to trade either,” Dalia piped up.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“What?” Cashe said.

“Dalia!” Jack scolded. His sister’s eyes went wide and her blush returned. Jack looked around the hall to make sure no one overheard and dropped his voice, “She means we have our breeders but no eggs. That’s it.”

“Oh,” Emilia’s eyes widened and a look of understanding passed over her face, “You only have vouchers.”

“No, ma’am, like I said, we only have our breeder pokemon,” Jack hissed, shooting a glare at his sister. Lindon watched the whole exchange with a guilty expression, as if it were somehow his fault.

“I’m confused,” Cashe said to Emilia, “What are you talking about?”

“Breeders that are just starting out get a bit of help from the League,” Emilia said, keeping her voice low, “The League gives vouchers for a breeding pair or two of pokemon.”

“Any pokemon?” Cashe said.

“The limit is usually for pokemon that are high value but not rare,” Emilia explained, “Like Eevee or Dratini. Both are found in nearly every region of the world, but both are pokemon most trainers would trade for in a heartbeat.”

“I see,” Cashe said with a frown, looking at the teenagers, “So if you two don’t have any pokemon to trade, why are you here?”

“Like I said, we already have our breedin’ pairs,” Jack insisted, “If we didn’t, we wouldn’t be here.”

“I don’t get it, wouldn’t having access to almost any pokemon be a huge advantage?” Cashe said.

“Only if people are willing to trade for them at a fair price,” Dalia said, earning a glare from her brother. She returned it, “Quit it, Jack. They ain’t fools.” She turned back to Cashe, “Coming here without being decided on our pokemon is risky. We can learn what people are looking for to help us understand what people will need in the future and get a head start. Or we can find someone who has a specific or difficult request to fill, like a Ferroseed with Leech Seed and Spikes, or an Eevee with Curse. With vouchers we can fill it for them, easy. Other breeders wouldn’t be able to or it would cost too much for the trainer.”

“Yeah, we got a bit of that for one of our requests,” Cashe said, “But that’s really good for you. What’s the downside?”

“If someone finds out that we still have vouchers, it’s easy to take advantage,” Jack said with a sigh, “If you want a Phanpy with Play Rough, we can get it for you. Problem is, barely anyone wants that. So what happens if you find out we only have a breedin’ Donphan and Dedenne and nothing else in order to get you a Phanpy with Play Rough?”

Cashe nodded, “I understand. Maybe you ask for something rare as a trade, but I find out later that you only have those two pokemon to breed. Maybe I think to myself, ‘Well, no one else wants a Phanpy with Play Rough. Only me. Why should I have to trade a strong or rare pokemon for one?’ I could extort you because you would need another pokemon in order to appeal to any trainers at all.”

“So you can get me any pokemon?” Lindon said, staring wide eyed at the pair.

“I think you might have taken the wrong message from what-”

“If-if they will vouch for you, maybe,” Dalia interrupted Cashe. She glanced at Emilia, “If a big name like Emilia Oak backed you, it might be okay, right, Jack?” She looked up at her brother.

“Maybe,” Jack hesitated. He looked at Cashe and Emilia now with very different eyes than his sister. He was well aware of his age and the vulnerable position they were in as they were just starting out.

“I’ll vouch for him,” Emilia said.

“So will I, if that means anything,” Cashe added.

Jack nodded, focusing on Lindon, “What kind of pokemon are you looking for?”

“Um, Trick Room pokemon?” Lindon said.

Jack frowned, “That is a pretty specific group.”

“No, not just pokemon that learn Trick Room. Like slow, strong pokemon! Anything that might work in Trick Room.” Lindon added quickly, seeing the hesitation return to Jack’s features.

“We could probably do that,” Dalia said, looking to her brother for confirmation.

“It’s still very specific,” he said, “It depends.”

Lindon bit his lip, “How about a Teddiursa? Lots of people want one.”

Cashe let his surprise show on his face. Lindon was going for the big guns right away. Ursaluna was one of the most powerful pokemon around, and though its line was not rare, Ursaluna was.

“Not as many as you might think,” Jack said, “It’s difficult to evolve an Ursaring. You need a specific time and place. And even worse is Ursaluna is hard as heck to train.”

“Field egg group, though,” Dalia pointed out, “We can breed it with a lot of pokemon. A bunch of starters are from the Field group.”

“True,” Jack drew out the word, his voice still hesitant, “What could you trade for it.”

“Um, I would need to catch something,” Lindon said.

Cashe was about to make a suggestion, but Emilia stopped him.

“They need to learn,” she whispered in his ear, “Only speak up if the deal looks unfair for someone. Better they get the feel for it now.”

Cashe nodded and stepped back with Emilia. They watched the negotiations closely, with the trio moving through many pokemon. Of the breeders, Jack did most of the talking, mostly to reject Lindon’s choices. The majority were rejected for being part of the wrong egg group. Jack made it clear that they wanted variety in their breeding options when starting out, so having a single pokemon of a different egg group was not a good trade for them. Lindon, however, obviously did not know much about the topic and kept suggesting pokemon he knew were in Alola but of the wrong group.

After having yet another one of his suggestions rejected, Lindon gave up talking with Jack and turned to his sister, “He’s not happy with anything,” Lindon complained to her.

Dalia smiled, the expression lighting up her pretty face, “He’s like this when he’s nervous. Don’t worry, he’ll come around eventually.”

“What do you want for a Teddiursa?” Lindon said, flushing slightly, “What kind of pokemon would you want to raise if you had a choice?”

“Oh, Vulpix for sure!” Dalia said right away, “They’re so cute with their white fur! Plus they are always in demand so we wouldn’t ever have to worry about trading or selling them. Too bad they are so rare,” she pouted.

Lindon latched onto her words and Cashe instantly saw what was about to happen. He opened his mouth to object, but Lindon beat him to the punch. Except he didn’t object.

“I’ll get a Vulpix,” Lindon met Dalia’s eyes and flushed a deep red, “For you.”

Dalia caught his meaning and blinked rapidly, “I, um-”

“That sounds wonderful,” Jack chimed in with a satisfied smile, “Right, Dalia?”

Dalia nodded, her face regaining the flush it seemed to have more often than not, “Thanks,” she squeaked.

“Then we have ourselves a deal,” Jack shook Lindon’s hand, “Pleasure doing business with you.”

Lindon shook back, a big smile on his face.

Beside Cashe, Emilia sighed, “Well, I guess he has to learn the hard way then.”

“Alolan Vulpix is truly rare, I take it?” Cashe said. He knew the pokemon was supposed to be rare, but he wasn’t sure what exactly that meant.

“It’s not a needle in a haystack,” Emilia said, “It’s more like you know a needle exists, but you’ve never seen one in person, and anyone who says they have is probably lying. I’ve only seen an Alolan Vulpix in pictures and once on TV when someone brought one to a contest. They supposedly still exist in the wild here, but…”

“But?”

“But sightings of them are recorded in history books,” Emilia said. Cashe gave her a worried glance and she waved him away, “Relax, that was an exaggeration. Newspapers do report the sightings though. If someone sees one, they advertise it as much as they can and the area swarms with trainers, a bit like when Pheromosa was spotted. It’s good for local businesses.”

“I thought we were going to stop a one sided deal,” Cashe said with an exasperated chuckle, “But he agreed to it so fast.”

“Didn’t expect him not to negotiate at all.” Emilia confirmed.

They watched as Lindon happily chatted with the pair of breeders, either oblivious or uncaring about what he had just agreed to do. The only abnormal signs came when he accidentally met eyes with Dalia and the pair flushed, only to look away a second later. And Cashe was pretty sure that had nothing to do with the Vulpix.

*****