“Um… Ethan. Why are we still standing here?” Jocelyn broke the awkward silence as their now much smaller group stared listlessly into the forest—The exit to his ranch.

“Because everything is going too smoothly and I am waiting for Arceus to play his prank.” Ethan instantly responded, eyes still staring out into the forest ahead. It’d been three minutes since Ash, Brock, and Dawn had left and he’d said nothing the entire time. Cynthia, Joyce, and Jocelyn had some small conversation, but he had tuned them out.

Feeling a pressure on his shoulder, he turned his head to find Joyce’s hand giving him some comfort. “It’s alright, Ethan. You know, the world isn’t out to get you.”

Ethan snorted and rolled his eyes. “Well, it literally got me once, but you're right, it's not out to get me—it’s just passive-aggressively sabotaging me. The other shoe is about to drop, just you wait."

He wasn’t a betting man, but if he were, he’d bet that Ash and company didn’t just wander about a ranch for an hour or two, have a good time, then leave with nothing spectacular happening. That just wasn’t in the playbook, and he was prepared for anything today—He’d made plans.

“Pachirisu! Come over here for a second!” Ethan shouted over his shoulder, his head not turning away from the depths of the forest beyond.

With nary a sound, Pachirisu climbed up his back and coiled his tail around Ethan’s neck like a thick scarf. “Pach?”

“Do me a favor? Do a circle around the ranch and ask the wild pokemon if anything weird has happened or is happening. I have a bad feeling…” He trailed off, and his tone of voice or weird anti-empath shenanigans must have alerted his first friend into how he was truly feeling, as Pachirisu nodded, gave a salute, then used him as a springboard to launch himself into the forest.

“Pikachu, why don’t you go help out Pachirisu? I’m sure he’d appreciate it.” Joyce called out, and Ethan managed to catch a glimpse of a yellow rodent dart into the forest in the corner of his eye.

“Are we going to stand here all day? Ethan, nothing bad is going to happen.” Cynthia tried to be confident and reassuring, but everything was still going smoothly—Too smoothly with everything that was involved.

“Emol-mol-mol-mol-mol-mol-mol-mol—” The hyperactive and obviously zoomied voice of Emolga rang out from inside his pocket.

With a red face, Ethan quickly took out his phone and stopped the personalized ringtone he and Emolga had made this morning, much to the chagrin of everyone else. Once Emolga had discovered that his phone could play back her voice, she spent the early mornings listening to herself talk.

“That was so cute…” Jocelyn muttered loud enough for everyone to hear.

Ignoring them, he turned, stepped away, and answered the phone. “Hello? Ethan, speaking.”

“Hey! I saw your website and just had some questions about the whole thing…” A cheerful female voice sprang to life on the opposite end, and the stone that had settled on his chest lost a few pounds at the very innocuous call.

“Oh? Sure thing! I’ll be happy to help! Ask away!” Ethan replied, and noticed the obvious eavesdropping of Joyce as she slithered her way to his side.

“So firstly, I am kinda confused about the location listed? Your business is inside Eterna Forest?”

That was very much an understandable concern. “That’s correct. If you take Route 205 from Eterna City, it’s a two-day walk to the new offshoot that leads directly to my ranch. It’s pretty deep into the forest, so make sure your pokemon are strong enough to make the trek if you do decide to come by.”

“Hmmm… Okay, that makes sense. It was just a little confusing, ya know? With you not having a proper address and all that. Next question, I didn’t see a list of moves offered? Is that something we have to talk about in person? The last Move Tutor I saw specialized in specific moves...”

Ethan spared a glance toward the obviously interested Joyce, going by her wry smile, but turned his body away to block her and protectively cupped the phone to his ear. “I am pretty generalized. I’ve tutored a pretty wide array of moves already. Swift, Work Up, Low Kick, Sunny Day, Rain Dance, Sucker Punch, and a few others. Were you looking for a specific move?”

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

“I have been meaning to have one of my pokemon learn Temper Flare. Do you think that’s doable?”

Temper Flare? Ethan thought, confused by the move he’d never heard before. It would be hard to teach a move he didn’t even know about. “One second, please.”

Ethan lowered the phone and shot the now hovering Joyce a glare. “Have you ever heard of the move Temper Flare?”

“I have.” Cynthia responded in Joyce’s place, earning a dirty look from the Nurse in question. “It’s a fairly new move, powerful in the right circumstances.”

She must have caught on to what the conversation was about, as she continued. “I believe that you can do it.” Joyce nodded along with her assessment.

While confident that he could teach the vast majority of moves with a little bit of practice, instruction, and lots of help from his memories, teaching a move he was completely unfamiliar with wasn’t something he was comfortable with. It wasn’t like he was ever trained in teaching pokemon, or even had any relation with pokemon a little more than a year ago. He was stumbling his way through his work, and he felt that Joyce and Cynthia both knew that as well. But, if they still thought he could do it, then maybe he could. They weren’t the type to lie to him straight to his face.

Still, he was waiting for the day where he wasn’t able to do what others wanted. One day, he would fail in teaching a move and he didn’t want that stain to go on his record. It was bound to happen, as even the best of the best failed every once in a while.

Every once in a while wasn’t going to be anytime soon for him, though.

“Sorry about that, I am unfamiliar with that move and don’t feel comfortable with tutoring your pokemon in learning it.” Ethan said into the phone, earning slight frowns from both Joyce and Cynthia. Jocelyn still stood about, not comfortable enough to join in on the conversation. Happy, her Happiny, was gurgling and babbling in her arms, trying to get her attention with the smooth stone she held in her pouch.

“Oh. Okay then. How about Acrobatics?”

Ethan smiled. “I can do Acrobatics. I’ve been meaning to teach one of my own pokemon that move and I think it’s about time they get into learning some more. A flying type move and a fire type move… Is your pokemon of the Charizard line? Talonflame?”

After a short laugh on the opposite end of the line, they responded. “No, no, no. Not a flying type. Still, the move is good in many situations. I’ll go ahead and fill out the form and get all the paperwork squared away.” After a short pause, they finished with, “See you soon, Mr. Reed.” and hung up.

Click

Ethan looked at his phone in some confusion. “I didn’t even get their name.”

“You’re pretty knowledgeable about pokemon, Mr. Ree—-Ethan. Naming pokemon based on their types like that.” Jocelyn said, breaking the silence with her attempt to be a part of the group. She most likely felt a little out of place, and he couldn’t blame her. In due time, they would grow to be friends… he hoped. It would just take some time, they had just met.

“Not as knowledgeable as some, but I think I do pretty well for myself. I think the only other fire and flying types are Oricorio, which is from Alola, and some legendaries. While people that own legendary pokemon exist…” Ethan slid his eyes towards Tobias, who was cooking himself a meal over a newly built campfire with the help of his Pyroar. “I think not listing them as potentials is better for my health.”

Ethan then focused on the babbling baby in her arms once again. “Maybe I can teach your Happiny a move or two when they get a little older? Surely when they evolve.”

Jocelyn smiled and hefted the Happiny onto her hip. She sorted through her pocket and pulled out a small bell to dangle over the pokemon like a toy. Ethan wasn’t the greatest of battlers back on Earth, but he knew his pokemon items! The bell in question was a Soothe Bell! He’d used them many times leveling up pokemon to evolve so that he could breed them again. It looked identical to the icon shown in his games.

“A Soothe Bell? Why, I thought everyone didn’t know about friendship evolutions. Starting early are we?” Ethan remarked with a teasing jab toward Cynthia, but both Joyce and Jocelyn froze with stilted smiles.

Ethan wasn’t alone in his observation of the Joy’s, as Cynthia took in their sudden change in demeanor with a hawkish glare. “It appears that I alone was unaware… along with the rest of the world outside the Joy’s.”

“Frick…” Joyce grimaced and held up a calming hand to the now panicking Jocelyn. “It’s okay, Jocelyn. This wasn’t your fault. Ethan… knows things.”

“Uhhh… Sorry?” Ethan apologized questionably. “I didn’t know it was a secret. I just thought nobody knew.”

“Yes. I thought so as well.” Cynthia said. Ethan couldn’t tell if she was disappointed or frustrated, but she definitely wasn’t happy.

Ethan cleared his throat to break up the building tension. “Well, most baby pokemon evolve by friendship—Happiny included.” Ethan shot Joyce a knowing look, and she narrowed her eyes in his direction, picking up on the fact that he obviously knew more. He was lying for them. He hoped that was enough to bail them out of the predicament he just put them in, as he was pretty sure that they were worried about their Chansey and Blissey monopoly. After all, Chansey evolved into Blissey by friendship, and they were very rare, even among the Joys. He would be surprised if they didn’t know how Chansey evolved if they knew about Happiny and the smooth stone she carried in her pouch.

Still, the awkward atmosphere remained. Seeing as his little deflection didn’t seem to do the trick, he changed topics. “I’d ask for a Soothe Bell as well, but I don’t think I want a Snorlax anytime soon. I don’t even know how the bell works! How does a little bell increase your bond with your pokemon?”

Joyce ignored him and looked Cynthia in the eyes. “We’ll talk about this later.”

“Yes, we will.” Cynthia stared back, unflinchingly with the look of an unhappy champion.

Ethan looked at the two leaders, then to the nervous Jocelyn, and clapped his hands with fake cheer. “Let’s go eat a late lunch?”