It took less than ten minutes before some familiar birds landed down on his ranch, each carrying a Pokemon Ranger. The familiar Honchkrow and Staraptor from the two rangers who had come to rescue him previously, called in by Elise for backup, and a large reflective bird made out of solid steel—A Skarmory.

During the ten minutes they’d taken to arrive, Ethan had walked over to the group of Oddish and the singular Gloom to check in on Teddiursa and Ursaring. Much to his relief, and probably the relief of all the residents of the surrounding forest, Gloom’s strong perfume-like odor did as was described in his PocketDex. The calming odor worked wonders for Ursaring, who had calmed down and was no longer threatening to obliterate anyone in between her and Joanna. Her two cubs were hiding behind her, meek and afraid. Gone were the two wrestling fluff balls of fun.

The ranger who had flown in on the Skarmory was, in fact, Ranger Elise. She shifted her eyes between Ursaring and Ethan, who sat by her side and gently patted the moody mom’s arm reassuringly.

With a final pat and a murmur of making everything right, Ethan stood and approached the Pokemon Ranger who dared not step any closer. “So…”

Elise gave him a blank stare. “So, who’s getting arrested?”

Ethan thinned his lips and gestured for her to follow along as Pachirisu scampered over from where he hid beneath the Oddish and climbed up his back to get on his shoulder.

“Pachi-Pach!” The electric rodent nodded with as much confidence as he could muster, and wrapped his fluffy tail around Ethan’s neck protectively.

Elise slid her gaze between the two of them, then looked towards Ethan’s waist where his three pokeballs, and Smeargle’s great ball, were clipped to his belt. “I see you’ve gotten yourself some friends.”

More than willing to lean into the small talk to get his mind away from his anger at someone trying to poach on his land, Ethan patted his pokeballs. “The great ball isn’t mine. It’s for a pokemon staying at my ranch. They decided to part ways, amicably. The other three are my friends, yes. We have Pachirisu.”

“Pachi!” Pachirisu squealed with a hand held high, waving it around as if saying ‘Me!’

“Chatot, who’s flying around somewhere or sneakily eating berries before lunch, and this little guy right over here.” Ethan finished with a smile as they strolled past Shuckle and Dunsparce who were chilling out near the entrance of Shuckle’s homey hole.

Shuckle noticed them walking by and gave a shy smile and a little flail of his limbs in a wave, which Ethan returned. He was glad Shuckle forgave him for asking for his help with tutoring. He’d like for his berry collector to be more engaged with the ranch, but he wouldn’t force the issue.

Elise gave Shuckle a small nod, which caused Shuckle to nervously bend his wiggly neck to look behind him to see if her nod was directed toward someone else or if it was toward him.

After they passed by his berry pal, Ethan thought it only proper to ask about her own pokemon. “What about you? I know of Umbreon and Skarmory, but who else do you have along with you?”

Elise looked fondly at her belt and ran her hands along her pokeballs. “Umbreon, Skarmory, Wigglytuff, Rapidash, Slowbro, and… we’ll leave the last one with me as a surprise. Only one pokemon is not with me here. Wooper is back home.”

He smiled at her affectionate tone. “Woopers are very cute. I always liked them. You have a very impressive team there. How far did you go on your journey? If you don’t mind me asking.”

With a haughty, mocking snort, Elise patted her pokeballs before replying. “All eight, thank you very much. Wouldn’t be a ranger otherwise. Got knocked out round one of the conference, though. Went up versus a flying type specialist.”

Ethan nodded along, pretending that made sense even though he had no clue how that mattered. “You’re looking like a non-evolution specialist, if that’s even a thing.” Elise stated with a raised eyebrow.

With a blink of confusion, it took him a second to realize that, yes, none of his pokemon could evolve. While, of course, that wasn’t planned, it was pretty curious. “With all the pokemon wandering about my ranch, I’m sure I’ll see more evolutions than most people. One of the Oddish evolved yesterday!” He gushed. “It was the first time I’d seen an evolution in person, it was amazing. Last night, in celebration, they went out into the meadow back by my house and did a some kinda dancing ritual. The Gloom shot out a bunch of seeds and all the Oddish planted them in the ground. You should have seen it.”

Elise slowed in her walk, causing Ethan to get ahead. He peered back at her dumbfounded and flabbergasted face. Ethan’s joy about talking about the scene faded as Elise took a heaving breath and rubbed her face with her hands in frustration.

“Uhh…” He started, but Elise spoke over him.

“Ethan. How many seeds?” She asked.

Ethan thought about it, but it was pretty dark. He could only guess at the approximate number. “Maybe fifty…? It was dark.”

“Oh, Arceus…” Elise muttered as she walked up to where he’d paused on the cobblestone path. “You’re a breeder, right?”

Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

He nodded dumbly, a pit forming in his stomach. Elise patted him on the shoulder with pity. “Enjoy raising fifty baby Oddish in a few weeks.”

“Oh, that’s it? That’s not too bad.” Ethan’s shoulders relaxed as the feared ruinous information was just the information that he’d be getting a few more Oddish. “But, and I know I’m the breeder here… Were the seeds eggs? I thought all pokemon laid eggs?”

Elise gave him a raised brow and a dubious look. What she was about to say was apparently common knowledge… Knowledge he didn’t have. “While pokemon can lay eggs, it’s normally only done when they don’t feel safe. Or if it is a caught pokemon, when it’s requested by their trainer. These Oddish must feel safe here if they choose this route. For one, it’s much faster than making eggs one at a time, and two, they’ll all ‘hatch’ around the same time. Safety in numbers, and all of that.”

She started walking again, leading the way. “You didn’t know that?”

“No. I didn’t know that… OH JESUS! I recited a poem for the ritual! Does that make me one of their parents?!” Ethan began to worry. He hoped that the Oddish realized he wasn’t one of them… he’d never tested their intelligence.

Elise’s laughter brought him out of his worries. “Not ready to be a dad?” She mocked.

Ethan was about to retort, but they just passed the training field and arrived at the campground. Elise noticed his gaze and her whole demeanor shifted. Now she was serious. Joji stood beside his tent, pacing back and forth. Chili, Cress, and Cilan sat around the firepit, their elemental monkeys playing slightly behind them, completely oblivious to the tense atmosphere.

And Joanna… She sat on her crumpled tent, hands on her head as she sat defeated. Her sun kissed skin covered in dirt, and hair a mess. She knew what was coming. It was unthinkable that she wouldn’t be found out.

Elise didn’t need Ethan to point her out at this point. She could see it with her own eyes. Her face was just a mask of defeat—knowing you’ve been caught. Elise spoke into the walkie-talkie connected at her shoulder, and when she finished, she walked forward. “Joanna Miller, I’m Pokemon Ranger Elise. I’d like to ask you a few questions.”

—--------------

About twenty minutes passed before Joanna was in handcuffs. Apparently, and not to much surprise, the Pokemon Rangers could, and would, make arrests. Elise and her two fellow rangers took statements from everyone, including him. With all the evidence pretty cut and clean, it was more of a formality.

Joanna had her pokeballs confiscated for the time being, and she was just now hopping aboard a large Talonflame, one of the rangers released.

Talonflame was a beautiful pokemon, and much larger than he’d expected it to be. The large fire-bird’s plumage was immaculate, and its keen hawk-like yellow eyes were in sharp contrast to the bright orange, black, and faint yellow coating the rest of the majestic creature.

Once the two other rangers took Joanna off into the air, Elise walked over with her hands on her hips. “While I know that this was technically poaching, and she will be held accountable, she will not be liable for the five-million fine. A spoken agreement is more of an honor deal, not one locked into law. I’d recommend making paper or digital contracts in the future.”

He hadn’t lied when he said the fine was more for their protection than a way for him to make money, so he wasn’t the least put off at the information. “I understand… Thank you very much for coming and helping with this.”

With a quick nod of the brim from her ranger beret, she tossed out a pokeball, releasing Skarmory. The steel-clad pokemon looked bored, but its razor sharp feathers made the sound of a knife being sharpened as it bristled, showcasing its fearsome power. Elise deftly climbed aboard her flying pokemon with a swinging hop and swiftly took off toward… wherever she was stationed.

Ethan sighed and readied himself to turn around to face the fidgeting trainers behind him. After a few seconds of gathering himself, he twisted around and looked balefully at them all. “That is what will happen if any of you choose to follow in her foolish footsteps. While this day has been a terrible one so far, I will still tutor your pokemon later on. First, I need to deal with Ursaring and her two children. Do not come near while I am talking with her. I really hope I don’t need to explain my reasoning for that.”

Ethan walked back toward the Oddish’s resting spot, finding Ursaring gently cradling her two cubs. Once she heard his footsteps, her head swiveled. Ethan froze for a second, locked into place by her fierce, blood chilling eyes. Once she registered who it was, all hostility faded. She went back to consoling her cubs.

Ethan walked forward and sat down beside her. “She’s gone now. She won’t come back. I’m sorry this happened…”

He didn’t get any kind of response from Ursaring, but she was listening. “Did you know that it’s common knowledge not to come between an Ursaring and her Teddiursa?”

She let out a mocking huff of air as if what he said was obvious. “Teddiursa is one of the most adorable pokemon. That alone makes them prized partners for many trainers, but another reason is that once they evolve, they’re powerhouses for a pokemon battler…”

Ethan whipped out his phone and quickly looked up information on Ursaring as a species. He wasn’t a hundred percent sure, but he did vaguely recall them being able to evolve in some of the later games—the ones he never played. He quickly found a page full of information, mostly regarding wild Ursaring and to under no circumstances get close to them or their cubs. But, he did find what he was looking for.

He flipped his phone around, angling the screen toward the interested Ursaring. “Look at this. You can evolve again.”

That caught her attention, but only by a bit. She peeked over, inspecting the image of an Ursaluna in a gym battle.

“It requires an item, but I can probably get it for you. I don’t know of any other way to apologize…” Ethan lowered his phone sullenly. He felt horrible about the whole situation. It took her first visit for the worse case scenario to happen.

Ursaring met his eyes with a calculating gaze. Ethan did his best to meet them, but he felt awful about everything that occurred, even though it wasn't all his responsibility. Joanna was the true culprit, but he enabled the actions. Willingly or not.

Her gaze slid down to his belt, and her eyes rested on his partner's pokeballs. She raised a claw, then gently poked one of them, then her cubs.

Ethan sadly shook his head. “I don’t have any more pokeballs with me. Even if I did, I wouldn’t want to tear your family apart. If I caught them, I would have to register them to me. They would be mine…”

A lightbulb went off in Ethan’s head and a sly smile grew on his upturned lips. “But… What if I caught them, registered them, then sent them off with you? Nobody else could catch them with a pokeball, because they’d be ‘mine’” Ethan air quoted, something Ursaring had no concept of, given her stare. “What do you think? I’d have to take them to Eterna City to be registered. So, you’d be separated for about a week if I walked…”

Usraring looked at her cubs, Ethan’s pokeballs, and Ethan’s eyes. Then, with a slow nod, she agreed. Ethan gave her a nod of confidence as he stood and felt around for his wallet. “I may not have a pokeball, but I know of some people who probably do.”