Ethan made a mistake.
As he and Chatot walked back to the farm, Ethan had tried his best to explain to Chatot that she shouldn’t be ashamed of her strength, and that her being scared and uncomfortable was his fault. That he wasn’t interested in her being strong, and she could be the weakest Chatot in existence and he’d still have her around. His mission was a success, but it came at a cost.
Now, Chatot did agree with him. It wasn’t her fault at all! It was his fault! He was to blame! She had turned from the sweet flying spark of curiosity, wonder, and song, into a haughty parrot who demanded berries in return for the suffering she had suffered by his hand.
Thankfully, by the time they arrived at the farm, she’d returned to her normal loving self. As soon as they entered the clearing, she fluttered off to go find her new friend, and Ethan had a phone call to make.
“Did you get permission?” Looker immediately asked as soon as the call connected.
“I did. Although I have some more questions that I'd like answered, if you don’t mind.” Ethan picked a few Oran berries to snack on as he heard the shuffling of papers on the other end of the phone.
“Good. I’ve gotten hold of a construction company that’s willing to work deep in Eterna Forest. I’ll give them a call after we’re done and let them know we can get started. What questions did you have?”
Ethan swallowed a bite of Oran as he sat down on a log he’d long since placed near his cabin. “First, I wanted to ask if you guys could furnish the house being built. Things like appliances, a bed… basically everything. I don’t have the capital to do that yet, but I'd be more than willing to pay the League back. Do you guys do loans?”
“Yes, we’ll be covering the costs of furnishing. More and more of your information has proven valuable in our efforts. So, we’re giving you the VIP treatment, so to speak. I think furnishing a house isn’t something that will break the economy of the region,” Looker chuckled, and Ethan deadpanned.
“Okay, that’s good news. Next, I wanted to ask about the policies regarding foreign pokemon, pokemon that are used in businesses, and the carrying capacity. As selling and buying pokemon is illegal other than when they’re bred or an egg, how would someone get their hands on a pokemon from a different region? This also ties into my other two questions. So, if I wanted, say, a Miltank for milking for my breeding ranch, how would I go about that? Also, since I’ll be a ranch, I’ll be bound to have loads of pokemon at some point in time. How many can I have around at once? Sorry for asking them all at the same time…” Ethan rambled.
Looker hummed audibly from the other side of the phone. “I think you’ve misunderstood some of the laws, Ethan. The buying and selling of wild pokemon is illegal in those scenarios, but caught and trained Pokémon are different. There is a timeframe during which new captures can’t be sold, which is three months, but if the pokemon itself would like a new home, who are we to stop them? A trainer and a pokemon splitting apart is not a rare occurrence. When journeys end, many pokemon are either traded away or sold with the pokemon’s consent. Some kids return home and their pokemon would like to continue battling. Sometimes, pokemon want to get away from battles but their trainer wants to continue on. You understand?"
Ethan felt dumb in hindsight. He’d been told for his whole life that pokemon were your partners for forever, but when real life comes around, those ideals fall apart. “Yeah, I understand. I assume foreign pokemon follow the same rules?”
“That’s correct. While we don’t have a PC computer system like you remember from the games, we do have a way to transfer pokemon in their balls from one location to the other. But if you wanted an egg, you’d have to get it the old fashioned way. When it comes to carrying capacity, the standard for trainers is six pokemon. Ace trainers and higher members of the league may carry more depending on their rank. As you’ll be running a breeding and move tutor service, you yourself will be able to carry up to six pokemon, but your other pokemon may reside on your ranch. Basically, if you ever leave your ranch you may only take six pokemon with you. Don’t worry about the paperwork or taxes for your business either, as you’re a… unique case.” Looker took a deep breath, winded by his explanation. “Any more questions?”
“No, that’s it… Thanks for all your help, Looker. Give me a call when things are in motion.”
“I will.”
*Click*
After polishing off the rest of the Oran berries he’d picked, Ethan checked to make sure Shuckle was still around. He assumed it was, as Chatot didn’t come back after flying off, but becoming friends required effort, and he wanted to make sure they were getting along.
He found Chatot, Shuckle, and the Oddish who called his ranch home, all out in the middle of the meadow. Chatot sat on top of Shuckle, as Shuckle sat on the ground, only having its head noodle sticking out of the hole of its shell. They were watching the seven Oddish hop, skip, and twirl around in an organized dance. It was a dance he’d seen many times before, and one he’d even helped them with.
After a few seconds, Chatot flinched as a lone raindrop pelted her beak. She leaned back and gazed at the clear blue sky up above, and with a curious tilt of her head, she watched on as the incoming rain fell all across the meadow.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Ethan stood right at the edge of the Rain Dance’s downpour, barely getting a few drops on him as he continued to watch the interactions of the pokemon silently.
Chatot seemed to love the rain, fanning out her wings to catch more of the raindrops on her body. While Shuckle didn’t seem to like the rain at all as it immediately snuck back into its shell. Chatot noticed her new friend's suffering and quickly angled her wings to block off all of Shuckle’s holes. She even used her beak as a plug, stopping the water from getting into his shell. Ethan couldn’t help but smile at the scene.
The Oddish stopped their dance and the one in the center scrunched up its face. It began shaking with concentration, and two seconds later, a vibrant orange orb launched high into the sky, causing the rain to instantly cease, as well as raising the temperature all around the meadow.
The orb, which was the move Sunny Day, was also a move Ethan had a hand in. Were the Oddish showcasing his skills as a mo—
*Whoosh* Whoosh* Whoosh* Whoosh*
Multiple puffs of Sweet Scent followed after the successful Sunny Day, robbing Ethan of what little ego he’d managed to build up.
Chatot removed her beak and closed her wings, unblocking Shuckle’s holes. Shuckle ever so slowly raised its head out from one of its upper holes, and carefully scanned the sky for any more incoming rain. When it spotted the Sunny Day orb floating and rotating in the sky, its caution evaporated, replaced by wonder and intrigue.
Ethan would have to remember that Shuckle didn’t like water, even though it made sense, given his rock/bug typing.
Sunny Day was one of the Oddish’s favorite moves, and they used it often. They loved to soak their leaves in the faux sun and usually stayed rooted by burying their tiny feet into the ground. It was nice to see them out and about, as it was not a common sight. So Ethan watched them move and dance while he had the chance.
After a good thirty minutes, the now tired Oddish all waddled back toward their usual resting spots, flashing him cheerful but weary smiles as they passed. They shuffled back and forth, burying their bottom halves into the soil, then closed their eyes after releasing a final puff of their actual favorite move, Sweet Scent.
Shuckle slowly worked its way back toward Ethan’s berry trees, and Chatot continued to ride him like a stoney mount. Seeing his chance to befriend the rocky bug, Ethan walked slowly alongside it as it crawled along the grassy ground. “Hey, Shuckle. Do you have a favorite berry?”
Berries seemed like a go to ice breaker.
Shuckle slowly trudged along and nodded its noodly head with a content smile.
“Which one? If you want, I’ll grab some ripe ones straight from the tree for you.”
Shuckle nodded with only its head, rapidly, but its neck was unmoving. It appeared to have very precise control over its movements. It pointed with its thin arm toward one of the berry trees that he knew nothing about.
The berry that grew on the tree blended in extremely well. The only indication that there was anything special about the tree at all was the unusual grassy green pine cones hanging straight off of the branches. Long ago, when he’d originally found this berry, he’d stumbled upon it by accident. He had thought the berry itself was an actual pinecone, and tried to crunch it by stepping on it. It got mushed instead.
This green pine cone berry was only tied with one other as the bitterest berry he'd ever tasted—the other being Pachirisu’s favorite.
Ethan began plucking an armful of the berries, causing Shuckle’s eyes to widen further with every single one he grabbed. Its mouth hung open in disbelief at the haul it was about to receive. After picking around twenty of them, Ethan knelt and handed them one by one toward Shuckle’s quaking limb.
When Shuckle grabbed the first one from his outstretched hand, it stared at the berry like a long lost family heirloom. It gently stuffed it into one of its many holes. When Ethan finished handing them all over, he’d expected Shuckle to be full, but Shuckle wiggled a limb, asking for one more.
Ethan snapped off another berry and handed it over. This time, instead of storing the berry in its shell, Shuckle gave a big, gummy chomp, trying to gnaw away at the berry. Ethan was surprised at the sudden chomp, having expected it to store the berry like all the others, but what surprised him even more, was that the berry began to liquify in Shuckle’s mouth.
Shuckle smiled with its eyes as it happily munched on the berry, causing juicy bits and pieces to drip down its chin and splatter about. “Shuckle!”
Chatot, interested in her friend’s favorite berry, fluttered up and nabbed one herself. She pecked at it and seemed to enjoy it like all the others she’d ever had.
Ethan sat down on the solid ground and leaned on his knees. “So, do you like my farm?”
Shuckle rapidly nodded and flailed its back leg-limbs as it continued to gnaw on the liquifying berry.
Ethan took a deep breath and gave Shuckle a warm smile. “Do you want to stay here with us? There’s going to be more and more pokemon who stay here with me, and you’re more than welcome to join. No, I want you to join.”
Ethan lowered his hand toward his belt, and without taking his eyes off of Shuckle or losing his smile, unclipped one of his two empty pokeballs. He placed it on the ground in front of it. “You can live here without being my pokemon, but I think I’d like it more if you properly joined me. Do you know what this is?”
Surprisingly, Shuckle nodded. Ethan hadn’t expected Shuckle to know what a pokeball was, and during his moment of surprise, a red light enveloped Shuckle, sucking him into the ball.
*Shake* *Ding!*
“♫ Chaa-tooot-tooot-tooot! ♫”
Chatot gave an excited and cheerful birdsong as she fluttered her wings and hopped along the ground in pure joy. Ethan laughed, but couldn’t hold back his enormous smile. He released Shuckle from its ball back onto its original spot and then clipped its ball back onto his belt.
With a stupefied look, Shuckle rapidly blinked its thin eyes. Chatot gave a few chirps and nodded sagely as she hopped over to drape a wing over her family member. Almost as if saying, ‘I know right?’
That made Ethan wonder even more about what it was like inside the pokeball. He’d have to find a way to get Chatot to tell him about it sometime in the future.
Just as he was about to warmly welcome his newest partner, Shuckle abruptly snaked its head down and gave a jubilant chomp on its lost berry, splattering sticky juice across his face. Chatot burst into chittering laughter, completely ruining the moment.