Today was the day the builders would arrive and start working on his ranch, and Ethan couldn’t be more excited.

On the day Shuckle joined his family, Looker called to inform Ethan that the company he had contacted would be arriving in two days. Initially, Ethan was surprised by how quickly they would arrive. However, upon learning that the company specialized in unique environments and that all their members had flying mounts, it was no wonder why they had been chosen.

Shuckle had fit in perfectly at the ranch, and Ethan couldn’t have been happier with his choice to offer him a spot in their ever-growing family. As he couldn’t quickly travel back to the Pokemon Center to get a checkup for his berry hoarder, Ethan did his best to search on his phone about the species as a whole, and to do his own research regarding the health of his pokemon.

From what his novice, self-taught self could tell, Shuckle was in perfect health, and was very young—perhaps only one or two months old. Also, after a few awkward games of charades, Ethan discovered that Shuckle was a male. His berry loving boy was currently digging himself a burrow to hide himself in with the move Dig and storing some bundles of berries deep within its hideout.

Shuckle had really opened up to Ethan, Chatot, and the Oddish after the first day, but every time a new wild pokemon came along to snag one of the juicy ripe berries, Shuckle would immediately withdraw himself into his shell. He would remain unmoving, hidden from everyone, until they assured him that the wild pokemon was gone.

It seemed like he had severe anxiety about new pokemon coming near him. So, Ethan went on his phone once again, to see if he could glean any reason for why such a young pokemon would act this way… What he found made his heart hurt.

In their natural habitats, all wild pokemon were well aware of Shuckle’s near incapability for retaliating to their aggressive attacks. The only thing that they did was hide in their shell until the enemy would give up and leave them alone. As their shell was nigh unbreakable, and with the fact that they could sip their fermenting juice to not starve, it often became a siege.

When Ethan eventually put two and two together, he realized that Shuckle had probably been the target of many attacks, even at such a young age. This made Shuckle scared, wary, and cautious of anything unfamiliar, always expecting another attack. Ethan and Chatot were likely the first living beings to treat him kindly. He remembered when he and Chatot left to find Ursaring—the hesitating and unfamiliar friendly wave...

He was getting better, coming out from his shell sooner rather than later, but these things took time, and Ethan was confident in his ability to be patient.

Another thing that saddened Ethan was not seeing any signs of Pachirisu. Pachirisu had visited him every day, helped with the farm, and was his first real friend. They were the first pokemon he had truly interacted with, and he would admit that he badly wanted to see them again. He had his final pokeball ready for when the time came, and he was sure that they’d come back. If anybody deserved a spot in his family, it was Pachirisu.

Chatot had requisitioned his stone bowl as a birdbath. Which, to be fair, was probably a better use for it. During her exploration of the ranch, she’d always come back covered in juicy berries, which seeped into her feathers. Even he didn’t want a sticky bird riding on his shoulder. He’d even texted Cici, who was the only other number he had in his phone, if the amount of berries she feasted on was a cause for concern. Cici eventually got back to him and told him that if she started to gain more weight, then he’d have to find a way for her to curb her enthusiasm.

As Ethan realized pacing back and forth waiting for the building company to arrive was not going to make them come any sooner, he started down his lines of berry trees, harvesting the overgrowing berries from the ground. He wasn’t harvesting the berries from the tree, as he didn’t have a proper way to preserve them for an extended period of time. They’d stay fresh by staying connected.

When Shuckle came trudging out of his diggy-diggy hole with a smile, he noticed Ethan grabbing all of the berries from the ground and collecting them into piles. Shuckle quickly dragged himself over toward the nearest collection of fallen berries and frantically began jamming them in his holes.

Ethan watched this take place, pinched the bridge of his nose, and then shook his head. “Shuckle. I’m not taking your berries. I’m just creating a pile of them.”

Shuckle wildly shook his head and quickly wiggled one of his noodles towards his homey hole. “Shuckle-shuck!”

Ethan looked to and from Shuckle and the hole, not quite understanding what he was trying to say. Shuckle, seeing Ethan’s confusion, scooted over toward his small pile of sorted berries and began stuffing himself silly. All four of his noodle limbs grabbed a berry, then withdrew into his shell. When they came back out, the berries were gone.

“Shuckle… I’m not keeping the berries from you. Stop that.” Ethan frowned.

Shuckle ignored him and slowly dragged himself back towards, and into, his hole. Ethan stopped what he was doing and walked over to Shuckle’s home. He lay flat on the ground, peering and sticking his head into the dark abyss, and just barely managed to make out the interior of the burrow as it widened the further it tunneled into the earth.

Shuckle was in a small oval dugout, which had alcoves dug into the walls, creating pockets of storage which each held a different type of berry. He unloaded his shell and began sorting through them, placing them each into their own alcove.

When he finished, he turned to exit his home for another trip, spotting Ethan’s head sticking in his hole. Shuckle waved his yellow limbs with excitement and pointed around at the sorted and ordered berries.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Ethan’s worries about Shuckle also having a food issue evaporated as he realized Shuckle was upset because he was trying to do what Shuckle had already been doing—Collecting the fallen berries, sorting them, and stashing them away for storage.

After removing his head from Shuckle’s entrance, he knelt on the ground and smiled as Shuckle came out. “I’m sorry, Shuckle. I didn’t know you were already doing that job. Thank you for your help. Just remember, these berries are for everyone. If another pokemon comes and asks for some, you should share. You wouldn’t want Chatot to go hungry, now would you?”

Shuckle shook his head rapidly from side to side and then nodded his understanding with a cute face of determination. “Shuck!”

Ethan patted Shuckle on his shell, then stood up. “Alright, sorry for upsetting you, Shuckle. I’m glad that you’re helping.”

Ethan strutted over and sat on his old log as he waited for the construction company to arrive. As he waited, he watched Shuckle gather berries with determination, eager to help out around the ranch. He flicked his eyes toward Chatot, who was asleep in the nearby birdbath, floating about like a buoy, and observed the Oddish that lazed about, eyes closed and meditating.

Twenty minutes and a quick lunch later, the faint wingbeats of multiple flying pokemon drew near his clearing. Gazing up, Ethan watched on as five Staraptor and one Fearow circled lazily overhead. Ethan wasn’t sure if they could see him, but he waved at the sky, and as soon as he did, all the fliers began their descent.

The flying pokemon and their riders circled in their descent and eventually used his open meadow as a pseudo runway. They came in fast, skirting the tops of the trees, then slowed with large flaps of their wings, which caused the long grass to sway and roll with the blasting air as they touched ground.

The crew dismounted and began taking off numerous bags attached to their Pokémon. The dark-skinned, lean woman who rode in on the Fearow walked toward him to meet him halfway. She had a warm smile as she looked around the place, but it quickly soured into a grimace as her eyes landed on Ethan’s cabin.

“There were some troubling times, and I had to build it by hand. Don’t shame me too much.” Ethan joked as he reached out and shook the woman’s rough, calloused hand.

“Nah, it’s alright for a newbie with no tools. Ethan, I presume?” She asked, and Ethan nodded.

“Great. I’m Alba, leader for this project you got us building out here. To my understanding, it’s going to be a breeding ranch?” Alba asked as she patted around her chest, eventually finding the small handheld notebook inside her jacket, which she took out and prepared for note taking.

“That’s correct. It’s going to be a breeding ranch, but it’s also a berry farm, as you can see, and I’ll be needing space for when I teach pokemon as a move tutor. Other than that, just a working house with the necessities and I’ll be more than happy.” Ethan explained.

Alba wrote down some notes, then read them over as she tapped her pencil on her chin. “You still need a path to connect to the offshoot of route 205?”

Ethan coughed awkwardly. He’d completely forgotten about the path, too excited about his ranch. “Yes, sorry. That too.”

“Gotcha. Well, you have a pretty substantial budget and we’ve already been paid. We’re down to work until we’re run dry. We can easily fit all of what you asked in, but what else did you have in mind?”

Ethan blinked in confusion. He had a budget?! “Uhh, what would you recommend? You’re the one with the expertise.”

Alba gazed around, taking in the entirety of his clearing in a single sweep. “No water sources. You’ll want a pond and a well at the very least. A proper path leading through the ranch can easily be done with local materials, planks or cut stone, and I'd recommend a small campground for would-be customers. It’s a long walk, and they’ll probably want to stay the night. A simple training field, and… let’s say a proper outside patio? Thoughts?”

“Well, I'll be damned. I’m glad I asked the expert.” Ethan said, surprised by all of the excellent ideas. “Go for them all. You and your crew obviously know what you’re doing—Make sure you don’t step on the Oddish.” Ethan commented and pointed as they both walked to where his cabin was located. The Oddish slowly peeked with a single eye, before returning to its meditation/sleep,

“Thanks, they’re always hard to spot. Any other pokemon out and about that me or my crew need to worry about?” Alba asked.

“Those are wild Oddish, but they live here. I have a Chatot and a Shuckle. You’ll probably see Chatot flying around, but Shuckle is a little shy and cautious. He has a burrow over here…” Ethan pointed at the hole as the noodly head of Shuckle ducked within. “So try not to dig around here?”

Alba waved off the concerns. “Easily done. We may need to get the Oddish to move for a short time while we work on your house, but that shouldn’t be an issue. Anything else?”

Ethan nodded. “If you see a Pachirisu, please find me and let me know. Also, we’re on an Ursaring’s territory and she has two Teddiursa. They probably won’t show up, as I’ve warned them about your presence, but if they do show up…” Ethan trailed off, but Alba snorted.

“Yeah, don’t worry about that. None of my guys are dumb enough to try anything. This job will take… a week? Maybe a little longer, depending on difficulties. During our stay, we’ll be flying to Eterna City to sleep and gather supplies. We’ll try to keep out of your way, but I might bother you when we talk about interior design. Sounds good?”

Ethan smiled. “Sounds like a plan. Feel free to give your pokemon some berries, I got more than I know what to do with.”

They shook on it, and once Alba let go, she turned and barked out orders to her crew. The five men of her crew all mockingly groaned at her voice, causing her to bark out orders even louder. Ethan laughed at their good natured banter.

The crew all threw out some pokeballs, releasing various pokemon to help them with their work. Ethan recognized most of them, such as the two Machoke and three Machop, but one of them was unfamiliar.

Ethan took out his phone and aimed the camera at the hulking beast carrying two massive, thick poles of concrete. It looked like an ogre, with its large red nose and prominent brow.

“Conkeldurr — The Muscular Pokemon: Conkeldurr is known for its incredible strength and mastery of concrete. It uses pillars of concrete to train and hone its muscles, often creating them by mixing and molding its own cement. Conkeldurr's immense strength allows it to carry and wield these massive pillars with ease. In battle, it uses its concrete pillars to deliver devastating blows, and can even throw them as projectiles. Conkeldurr are often seen working in construction, as their concrete is stronger than normal.”

Ethan lowered his phone and stared at the enormous muscled pokemon.

He was in good hands.