A few hours later, at a prime six o’clock in the morning, Ethan was cleaning up the mess left from the night's surprise arrival. To say that he’d slept peacefully would have been a lie, and the bags under his eyes from tossing and turning and waking every thirty minutes in worry and expectation hadn’t been helpful.
Some of the worry was about the health of Skiddo. In his adrenaline fueled/half-asleep state late in the night, Ethan hadn’t registered that the professor had told him that Skiddo should have hatched later in the week. The problems the small goat had with walking might not have been that of a baby pokemon growing accustomed to its body, but that of a developmental problem.
Professor Elm was probably the most qualified person in the world when it came to baby pokemon, going by his research of breeding. For him to make a mistake, even at a casual inspection of the egg, was unlikely.
Before he’d even started cleaning up, Ethan whipped out the Healing Machine Joyce had given him, plugged it in, and placed Skiddo’s pokeball inside to check on the pokemon’s health on the screen provided.
The details provided by the older machine had been somewhat comforting—An all clear and normal bill of health. What he didn’t expect to see, was the extra information added in. Skiddo was a girl, just like Tinkatink if the professor's use of pronouns last night wasn’t wrong, and the little goat had three moves; Tackle, Growth, and Milk Drink.
Out of curiosity, Ethan placed Tinkatink’s pokeball inside next. Again, receiving a clean bill of health and confirming that she was a girl. Tinkatink also had three moves; Fury Attack, Astonish, and Fairy Wind.
Satisfied with his worries for now, Ethan went back to cleaning up the kitchen. Once the last of the mess had been taken care of, he pulled out a chair and sat down roughly at his kitchen table. With a small bowl of Oran berries to the side, Ethan released Skiddo from her pokeball and watched as the small goat materialized onto the table, lying down on all fours and curled into a small ball, asleep.
“Skiddo, time to eat” Ethan whispered and ran a hand down the baby-goat’s back. He’d ridden Gogoat in the past, but it was still a wonder how the green leafy mane and back of these goat-like pokemon felt like actual leaves. It felt like running a hand down a thick shrub.
Skiddo mumbled as she gently bristled, slowly opening her bleary eyes and taking in Ethan’s form. He gave the baby pokemon a smile and slid the small wooden bowl of Oran berries into view. The rounded off and stacked bowl filled with brilliant, juicy blue-berries was a suitable distraction, drawing the pokemons gaze away from him and onto the offered food.
Ethan plucked a berry out of the bowl and held it outwards in his palm. Skiddo sniffed the berry, then gave it a lick, before chomping down and slowly grinding the berry flesh between her molars.
“Skiiii!” With a happy cry, Skiddo awkwardly clambered up onto all fours, looking like a baby deer with her awkward movements, then scrambled forward to the bowl. She ate merrily, getting blue-berry juice all over her face as she shoved her whole head into the bowl at once.
With Skiddo eating her breakfast, Ethan decided it was time to release the trouble maker. He patted Skiddo as she ate, then got up and released Tinkatink onto the floor. The small pink humanoid pokemon appeared on her back, one hand holding her hammer while the other reached up to scratch the weird plate of metal attached to her chest like she was itching her belly. She murmured as she slept, her tiny mouth leaking drool out the corner and through the square ridge in her lips.
Seeing no better opportunity, Ethan hurriedly scrambled back into his room, grabbing his phone to use the PocketDex. Opening his phone, he had three notifications. Two from his website, and one from Joyce.
Deciding to read them after his scan, Ethan swapped to the PocketDex and took a snapshot of the sleeping Tinkatink.
Tinkatink - The Metalsmith Pokemon: Tinkatink collects scraps of metal it finds in its environment, using its small but sturdy hammer to shape them into tools and weapons. It has a knack for crafting, and its hammer is both a tool and a means of defense. Tinkatink is known to be mischievous, often sneaking into human settlements to scavenge shiny objects. Though small, it’s remarkably strong and fiercely protective of its crafted treasures. Its signature hammer is often sought after by metal eating pokemon, causing Tinkatink to craft their hammers over and over again. Tinkatink can and will reforge its hammer until they are satisfied.
Seeing as he knew little to nothing about Tinkatink, he decided to click on the attachments on the PocketDex to bring up her evolution. Since this was the first pokemon he’d gotten that’s capable of evolutions other than Teddiursa and Ursaring, more information was needed.
Tinkatink’s evolution was called Tinkatuff, a slightly larger pink humanoid with a much bigger hammer, the size of its body, and a ponytail instead of a top-knot. Going by the picture, it looked like a teenager form rather than a baby.
Tinkatuff - The Hammer Pokemon: Tinkatuff has refined its crafting skills, wielding a larger and more powerful hammer than before. It roams the wilderness in search of sturdy metals, often clashing with wild Bisharp and Pawniard to gather steel for its weapon. Fiercely competitive, Tinkatuff takes pride in its hammer and is known to aggressively defend its territory and its trainer, using its hammer to ward off any threat. This pokemon’s bold nature and resourcefulness make it a formidable presence in the wild—Be careful."
Ethan raised an eyebrow at the mention of ‘clashing’ with Bisharp and Pawniards for metal. He was vaguely familiar with those pokemon, and from what he could remember, Bisharps were formidable pokemon to go up against. It seems that he had a future headstrong pokemon in his midst. Also, the ‘be careful’ was pretty ominous.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Once again, a link to another evolution appeared at the end of the entry, the final evolution of Tinkatink, a Tinkaton. Tapping it brought up a picture of another pink pokemon, the adult form of the baby and teenager. Its hair was fully grown out, creating two long twintails running down its head to the ground. It was actually a little difficult to make out, as the majority of the frame contained the absolutely monstrous hammer the pokemon wielded. It had to be six to seven times larger than the pokemon itself.
Tinkaton - The Hammer Pokemon: Tinkaton wields a massive hammer forged from metals it has scavenged, including scrap from defeated Bisharp and Pawniard. It wield its enormous hammer with ease, showcasing its deceptively monstrous strength.This Pokemon is incredibly clever, often setting traps or ambushes to gather more resources for its hammer. Despite its playful appearance, Tinkaton is a fierce and brutal fighter, known to knock rocks into the sky to knock down flying prey or down distant Corviknight. It takes great pride in its hammer and will relentlessly pursue anything it deems a worthy challenge.
Pokemon League Advisory: Caution for Trainers with Steel-Type Pokemon in Tinkaton Habitats: Attention, Trainers! Wild Tinkaton are highly aggressive toward Steel-type Pokemon, viewing them as potential sources of metal for their powerful hammers. For the safety of your team, the Pokemon League strongly advises against releasing Steel-type Pokémon, such as Pawniard, Bisharp, and especially Corviknight, while traveling in known Tinkaton territories. These Pokemon are known for their strategic ambushes, targeting Steel-types specifically. Please exercise caution, remain vigilant, and avoid approaching wild Tinkaton to prevent incidents.
“Jesus Christ…” Ethan murmured as he slid his eyes toward the slowly twitching and sleeping form of Tinkatink. This pokemon was a battler, and he wasn’t sure if she’d be happy on his ranch. He’d either need to train her, stepping out of his comfort zone, or find someone more suitable for her to be with.
Pachirisu and Chatot both liked to battle, often getting into little spars here and there… Maybe he should create a team of battlers, just in case. He wasn’t good at battling, but he supposed that nobody was at the start. Even if he ended up being middling, it was better than being useless.
He wouldn’t like it, he was sure. But, for his pokemon and his ranch, it was probably best to learn and make those who wanted to battle happy.
Looking down at the sleeping and belly scratching Tinkatink, Ethan nudged her with his foot. Immediately, and without warning, the hand grasping her hammer surged with inhuman speed, slamming into his foot as she grumbled.
Ethan hopped back as white hot pain surged through his limb, feeling like he stubbed his toe with a full forced kick onto a corner. He groaned, trying his best to not shout as he balled his hands into shaking fists as he fought through the sudden pain.
Baby pokemon or not, they could hurt people. He knelt down, rubbing his foot and making sure nothing was broken. Nothing felt broken, but it was most definitely going to swell and bruise.
A great start to the day.
Hobbling over into the kitchen, Ethan prepared another bowl of berries. After placing it on the floor near Tinkatink, he spoke instead of nudging. “Tinkatink, wake up. It’s time to eat.”
With half asleep sniffs, Tinkatink rolled over, crawling with still closed eyes toward the bowl of Oran berries. Once she arrived, she flopped down. With her face planted into the bowl, she munched slowly, still half asleep.
Ethan limped to the chair he sat in previously, then sighed as he rubbed his foot. “When you’re both done eating, you can meet the other pokemon.”
Skiddo was at least awake and aware, she finished off her bowl of berries then tried to awkwardly climb over his shoulder. He picked up the little goat, placing her in his lap as she settled herself down for a small rest, belly full and content.
Tinkatink… he was still unsure if the pokemon was asleep or not, but she ate her berries slowly but surely.
As he waited for her to finish, he brought up his missed messages. First and foremost was the message from Joyce.
Joyce Joy: Ethan! Hope everything’s going well at the ranch! <3 I’ve got a favor to ask. One of the younger Joys in the family is training to become a full Nurse Joy, and we’re hoping to find her a place where she can really learn and make a difference. I had the thought of setting up a small pokemon healing area right there on your ranch! It’s such a welcoming space, and being a bit removed from the usual Pokemon Centers, it could be a real help to Trainers coming through Eterna Forest.
Would you be open to hosting her and allowing the Joy Clan to set up a little healing area? It wouldn’t be a full Pokemon Center, but it would still have the facilities to care for Pokémon and Trainers passing by. Plus, it could bring some new faces to your ranch! She’ll also pitch in with ranch work—no freeloaders here! Just let me know what you think.
That… sounded good? He wasn’t actually sure. On one hand, having people around on his ranch made everything a little bit livelier. It also would be a good way to get random passersby to stop by his ranch and see what he has to offer and maybe sell some goods in the future. Joyce was a joy to be around, and he was curious if others in her family were the same. On the other hand, he didn’t want a giant building on his ranch. This was his place, and he wasn’t going to have random buildings pop up and create a small town. As long as it was lowkey and not some hyper advanced thing that was going to take precedence over his ranch, he was tentatively okay with it.
He told her that in his reply, letting her know that he’d need some more information and about his concerns, but he was tentatively okay with it.
Moving onto the other two messages, one was expected. Tobias had sent in a request for tutoring his Pyroar to learn Heatwave and ‘maybe other pokemon’. As Ethan was nearly broke, he couldn’t turn down the chance for money. He responded, asking for seventy-five thousand pokedollars for the tutoring and his willingness to potentially tutor some of his other pokemon with prices ranging depending on the move.
Moving onto the final message, his stomach dropped. While it wasn’t Ash Ketchum signing up for tutoring, it was basically the same thing. Brock—the Gym Leader Brock from Kanto, traveling companion of Ash and Dawn, wanted to stop by the ranch to see and learn more about pokemon breeding.
Thinking back, Brock was a pokemon breeder? He couldn’t remember if that ever happened or not. It wasn’t going to be for any pay, it was just a notification that he would like to stop by and see his ranch during his travels with his ‘friends’ as they made their way to Eterna City. Ethan remembered seeing videos of him teaching at his gym, so he thought that he’d still be the Gym Leader, having not joined Ash in his travels.
It appeared that he was wrong.
D-Day was upon him. It was time to prepare.