“Ivy!” The call went up from outside as a car parked in front of the house, and nearly instantly Ivy was rushing out of the kitchen. I smiled at Mama as we both got up, and then the front yard was a scene that was very sweet.
Ivy and her Mama and Papa.
Funnily enough Ivy’s Mama didn’t have green hair, instead her deep blue almost black color sort of matched Ivy’s darker green hair compared to her Papa.
It was cute how you could see both parents in Ivy.
A few moments later, still clutching to Ivy, her mother looks up and smiles at Mama and I.
“It’s good to see you too Vicky.”
“Aunty Ami, nice to see you! Uncle Mori.” I greeted with a waved hand.
“Little Vicky, and Haruka thank you for watching after Ivy.” Uncle Mori offered and I smiled back.
“Come on in. Let’s get you all out of the cold.” Mama added and soon everyone was packed into our living room. Growlithe Puppies warming feet, or licking toes depending on how naughty they were feeling.
“I caught so many grass types!” Ivy was speaking with an exuberance she hadn’t shown to Mama before. “They are all so amazing, Daddy! You should see Petilil! She is so beautiful! And Fomantis! I caught an entire bushel of them!” She squealed happily. And Uncle Mori looked surprised and very pleased.
“I wasn’t sure I really wanted you to head out of the region, little flower, but it sounds like you made the most of it!”
“Mhmm!”
“And Sewaddle.” I added to her list. Noticing the missing member.
Ivy clammed up sending me a look. “Seedot as well.” She confirmed, but she was squirming trying to pretend Sewaddle hadn’t been brought up.
“Sewaddle?”
“It’s a Grass and Bug type. They are very sweet, love to sew little leaf clothes for other pokemon and themselves… Ivy’s is a little-”
“Fine! He is fine. Just needs some training! Yep! Just fine!” Ivy cut in, interrupting and throwing me a look.
“He sews leaves into everything, and has no concept of not destroying something for more material.” I added. Much to Ivy’s direct and fierce annoyance.
Hehe! Shouldn’t have mentioned my Riolu fist fight to Mama Ivy!
“Sounds like quite a pokemon.” Uncle Mori added, looking like he was desperately trying not to laugh. He adjusted his little round glasses to distract him, but it was obvious he was very amused.
“Ugh… He’s difficult so far. He ruined my tent! But it’ll be fine, I’ll figure out how to keep him from sewing everything in sight… Eventually.” She admitted bashfully, but her spine firmed as she spoke.
Then there was the sound of a car engine outside, and I perked up.
“Papa?” I asked rushing for the door only to skid to a stop once I was outside and into a frown.
That wasn’t Papa’s car.
No, that was a pair of nice black estate cars, which meant only one thing. “Sorry Dratini. Go into your pokeball for a while okay? We’ll have a chance to meet up soon.”
“Tini.” He whined but I was firm and returned him. Then I focused on the cars.
“Tsk.” I offered as I turned back inside to get Mama. The men in suits stepping out were League guys.
“Vicky? Oh I see.” Mama added frowning. She had obviously been hoping it was Papa too.
“Should we just close the door and pretend we didn’t see them?” I asked, earning a scoffed laughter from Mama but she shook her head.
“No dear, they are here because that’s the rules. You agreed to let them inspect your new pokemon didn’t you?”
“Yeah.” I grumbled but nodded as I turned around and faced the men walking up the path.
I recognized one of them.
“It’s cigarette guy.” I mumbled glaring.
“Who?” Mama asked, but before I could answer they walked up.
“Mrs. Ferrous, Ms. Ferrous. Thank you for reaching out to us so promptly. We had word of you entering Kanto Airspace.” The frumpled man greeted us, and I just glared at him. “I see that you remember me.”
“Yeah. Your team bothered my Milotic.”
“I guess they did. Just in case you don’t remember. I’m Chief of Ecology with the Association Richard Brushfire.” He introduced himself, with a hand offered to Mama which she took. “My associate is the newly instated chief of the Indigo region combined ecology.”
“I am Kisuke Fujimura. Thank you for going along with our new foreign pokemon introductions.” He greeted. The man was short, with little round glasses like Uncle Mori, but at least he looked more put together than Cigarette guy. Speaking of.
“Just so you know, I have an entire herd of Growlithe now, and they would love to light that Cigarette for you, but they aren’t well trained.” I explained plainly to the man that had a cigarette halfway to his mouth. Making sure to use my hands to make an explosion to tell him what I meant.
“I see.” He offered, but then Mama cut in.
“I called to inform the League that we would head over once everything settled in. I didn’t expect you.”
“I know. I apologize for our early arrival Mrs. Ferrous, but please understand. This is a rather unique circumstance in general. Your daughter has eyes on her from multiple agencies, and when we granted her leave to travel out of the region there was a lot of politics involved.” Kisuke replied with an apologetic air.
“And that explains your presence?” Mama asked her own voice not apologetic at all.
“The League has decided to ensure there was no chance of foul play… We are here to escort you and the Vinewood family to the inspection site… At your convenience of course.” Cigarette guy added.
Mama frowned and I could feel how close she was to telling them where they could take their escort. But instead she nodded, patting me on the shoulder.
“Then be welcome in my home. We are waiting on my husband still.”
“Of course.”
I headed in first and I could see Ivy’s family wondering what was going on.
“League guys showed up. They are here to escort us to the inspection site.” I explained and I could see Uncle Mori frown deeply before his face went calm.
“Thank you Vicky. Don’t worry. We’ll take care of everything.” He offered, and I threw him a smile. Uncle Mori was a cool guy. Unassuming, but if you see him around his starter Venusaur you understood the guy knew how to battle.
The two men followed Mama in, and I quickly gathered some extra chairs so everyone could sit.
Then the whole thing got awkward. The League men introduced themselves to Ivy’s family, but no one really wanted to talk with the strangers just sitting there.
The men to my surprise took it with good grace, thanking Mama for the tea she handed out, and seeming to do their best not to be a bother.
“Ms. Ferrous, Ms. Vinewood. The League is very happy you both returned unharmed. You definitely had us worried, being out of contact for so long, but you did mention it could be a while. The Kanto Association wants to make sure to mention how proud we are of your growth during your journey this year.” Mr. Fujimura offered and I nodded slowly, not really in the mood to be congratulated by some random guy, but Ivy looked pleased, so alright fine.
“Thanks.” I answered and he smiled and nodded back.
“If you don’t mind me asking, we are all very curious. How did this journey to distant Kitakami go? Did you find any of the rare pokemon you believed could be found?” Mr. Fujimura asked eagerly, his tone of voice casual, like he was just someone interested in such a rare trip, and not already interrogating us.
“We found a few.” I answered and then shrugged. “I think I count as a Dragon Master now? How many Dragon types does a trainer have to have before they count as a Mono type master?” I asked, and the two men blinked in shock at my random question, before Ivy just sighed and rolled her eyes.
“It doesn’t work like that Vicky, and now who's the Mono type trainer?”
“Still you!” I teased and Ivy glared at me as I laughed at her.
The sound of another car had me jumping out of my seat. “Papa!” I yelled happily as I raced out and this time I was right, Papa was stepping out of his car glaring at the two cars parked nearby while Gram Gram was also in the passenger seat.
“Trouble!” Papa called out and I slammed into him full tilt laughing in delight.
“Heh.” Gram Gram laughed at my full tilt tackle attack.
Papa picked me right up and swung me around then bear hugged the life right out of me! Papa was a Bewear!
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Finally he let me go and I could breath and Papa looked down at me and we both smiled.
“Welcome home Vicky.”
“I’m home!” I called out and laughed as Gram Gram walked over and grabbed a hug of her own.
“Glad you are back, Granddaughter of mine. You had all of us worried! Silly girl.” Gram Gram offered her hug tight.
“It was fun! But I’m glad to be home. I met lots of new friends! Oh and the League is already here.” I said the last part in a whisper and Gram Gram nodded.
“I expected. Were they pushy at all?”
“No actually, they weren’t.”
“Good. Perhaps they learned then.” She added as she side hugged me, as we walked.
Papa entered and Mama gave him a relieved smile and they took a moment to greet each other before Papa turned to the League officials, then he turned away from them.
“Mori.”
“Victor, you old dog.” Uncle Mori greeted back and both men sent each other smirks.
There might just be a battle between the two older men sometime soon.
“Mr. Ferrous. I’m Richard Brushfire, Chief of Ecology, and my associate is Kisuke Fujimura, Chief of Indigo combined Ecology.”
“A pleasure.” Kisuke greeted as both men had risen to their feet.
“Nice to meet you.” Papa said, surprising me because he didn’t sound all that hostile or angry with them. “I assume the League is eager to begin their inspection.”
“It is a priority. Normally we would have wanted Victoria and Ivy to head straight to an inspection site, but we understand that children coming back from such a far journey have their own needs.”
Papa exhaled through his nose before nodding. “I appreciate that you didn’t rush us. Let’s get everyone ready and head out?” Papa asked, looking at Uncle Mori before anything else.
“I’m not pleased with being rushed, but we have been given some leeway.” He replied and rose up. And then we all started moving.
Gram Gram split off for a moment to speak to Aunty Ami whispering something to her that had the woman nodding seriously, but then we were out the door.
“Guard the house.” Papa called out to the pack of Growlithe that were all watching the going on, and in a single movement they all rushed off, taking up guard positions around the house and orchard.
I smiled at how eager they all were despite a boring job ahead of them. Papa had done a lot of training with them, they all had wagging tails.
We clambered into the two vehicles, apparently the League was pretty firm on us going with them and not taking our own cars.
We all packed in. One car for my family, the other for Ivy’s. Our Driver was Mr. Fujimura who seemed affable as he even opened the door for Gram Gram.
Papa sat up front putting me in the back seat between Mama and Gram Gram. And then we were off. Heading through Viridian.
Gram Gram of course pretended Fujimura didn’t exist through the trip.
“Did you enjoy your trip?”
“Yeah! It was fun! The people in Kitakami weren’t very nice, but they weren’t mean either. Just not really sure what I was doing. But the pokemon! They were all so wild! We got attacked a couple of times by big packs of pokemon! But it was fine my team sent them running, but the pokemon were very wild.”
“Hmph. Sounds like this Kitakami needs to train better Rangers.” Gram Gram replied not sounding too happy at the fact I was attacked, but I shrugged.
“I think it’s okay. It means lots of strong pokemon live there, unbothered by humans. I’ll have to tell you about all the pokemon I met… Another time.” I added looking forward and seeing the tiny glasses of the man looking at me through the rear view mirror.
“Yes, when we have less ears, I want to hear all about it.”
“Apologies, I can’t help but listen in, since I’m here, but I do admit, traveling so far out of Kanto? To a region practically untouched by people? Heh. I did my journey and traveled through Johto for my second year, but I never traveled farther than that. It’s fascinating.” Fujimura offered not at all offended with our words.
I had to admit, that was something I hadn’t considered.
“Is it really that weird? Don’t lots of trainers leave Kanto after their journey to explore more?”
“Some sure. Most don’t go far overland though. It’s dangerous, so they are more likely to head out into the ocean and end up on the coast somewhere before needing to head back. It’s a common story. There is a Ranger Corps that all require three fully evolved flying types so they can handle long distance travel rescue.”
“Sounds fun.”
“Heh! I’m told it’s incredibly boring.”
“Still… It was a really interesting adventure, and I would definitely go again, or even go somewhere else someday.” I added for the man. Throwing him a bone.
He nodded in thanks to my added words. “Not too far now.” He mentioned turning off the road we were on, onto a smaller road leading into the forests just west of Viridian at the base of the mountains. There we came across a gated little set of buildings.
“This is a League inspection site… Well it is now. It used to be a watch post from what I understand. But repurposing old buildings for joint work between Kanto and Johto is the new interest between governments.”
“I was wondering why we were coming out here and not up the mountain.”
“Heh, they are gearing everything up for the League. Road restructuring. It would take hours to get anywhere up the mountain.”
We pulled into the little parking lot in front of the building and a few moments later, the second car did the same.
“Come on in.” Mr. Brushfire waved us to follow, the man already puffing on a cigarette as he walked, but he put it out before entering the entrance. Not that I wasn’t wrinkling my nose and holding my breath at the stink of it.
Inside was a pretty normal looking office space with a man dressed in a lab coat at the desk.
“Oh! Is this them?” He asked, rising to his feet in a rush.
“Victoria Ferrous, and Ivy Vinewood. Here to get their foreign caught pokemon inspected.” Brushfire offered and the scientist practically giggled in delight as he looked us over.
“Perfect! Excellent! I am Dr. Jima. Please follow me!” He gestured for us to follow and we did. As we walked another researcher joined us, and then a third, all of them looked excited.
We moved through the building and then into a large room. It was almost completely empty besides a single wooden desk with a computer, connected to what looked like a scanning device that hung over a metal framed… Bed? It looked like a hospital bed, except it was all steel below some padding. Heavy duty.
“Rated for up to a thousand pounds! Do let me know if any of the pokemon you brought with are heavier than that, or taller than the room?” The Dr. Asked and when Ivy and I both shook our heads he nodded almost looking disappointed.
“Alright, let’s split you up now to get this done.” He said and another researcher stepped forward, but I frowned.
“Can’t we just stay together? Our parents haven’t seen our new friends.” I asked, and I could see Aunt Ami nodding along with Papa.
“Oh well.. Sure! More inspections for me I guess!” He chuckled and his two colleagues both deflated.
“I’ll get the scanner setup then.” One offered and the other just sighed and walked over to the computer to turn it on.
“Alright then! How about we start. Go ahead and release one of the caught pokemon onto the scanner.”
“What if we have more than one of a species?” Ivy asked as we both looked at eachother.
“Oh! How delightful! Variance in information?” He said, looking eager. “Go ahead and release them all then! Haha!” He said with a loud chuckle.
This guy was a bit crazy.
“Not a good idea for me.” I muttered, the Goomy horde was still a thing. “Ivy, you want to start?”
“Sure.” She shrugged and then grabbed some pokeballs from her bag.
“Foo!” “Fomantis?” “Fo Fo!” The five Fomantis called out in surprise at their new surroundings as Ivy released them onto the bed. They were confused and their cries grew louder. Ivy instantly walked over and talked to them, touching leaves and comforting their confusion.
“This is inside a building, it’s nothing to be scared about. I know there isn’t much sunlight, but we have to do this and then I’ll take you home and there will be all the sunlight you could ever want!”
“Oh Ivy look at them!” Aunty Ami cooed as she came over to inspect her daughter's new pokemon.
“Fo?”
“Hello, I’m Ivy’s mother. You’re Fomantis?”
“Fo!” They all greeted cheering for her now that they knew she was related to Ivy.
Ivy’s Fomantis were very cute.
“How delightful!” Dr. Jima commented as he looked on, his hands writing notes. “Grass Bug types?”
“Pure Grass actually.” I said before I could think about it. Ivy was distracted smiling at her new friends and introducing them to her dad so she wasnt’ going to speak about them to the researcher. “They look like bug types, but aren’t. It’s purely camouflage.”
“Really? Are you sure?” He asked, looking surprised at my answer.
“Yep. Pure Grass type. It’s pretty common in Kitakami.”
“Interesting! I’ll have to test it myself, but that’s a rather unique evolutionary trait!” He looked very happy just in general waving at his colleagues, who began taking pictures.
“Can we get all humans just a step away from the table? Yes, thank you. Just a quick scan.” He assured us and then the arm of the machine was angled by one of the researchers, and a moment later they nodded.
“All done! Thank you!” He called out and we all relaxed, there wasn’t even an ominous noise or anything. “That’s all we need! Thank you. We see no immediate issues, so we look forward to welcoming the Fomantis line of pokemon to Kanto.” Dr. Jima said semi formally, but then relaxed. “Well mostly. Please keep in mind that politics is a different beast to science entirely. We send our approval, but that is only half of it.”
“That’s fine.” Uncle Mori offered. “I doubt the League would dare.” He said firmly with an ominous edge.
I guess as one of the prime Bulbasaur breeders in Kanto they had a bit of sway.
“Next pokemon?” Dr. Jima asked, and Ivy looked at me. “Your turn.” She said with a smile and I shrugged.
“Sure. Mimikyu has probably been sad, stuck in his pokeball all day.”
“Oh gosh.” Ivy whispered, and when I looked at her, she just sent me a sinister smile and waved me on.
I shrugged, and released Mimikyu.
“Kku? Kukuku!” he questioned, at the strange surroundings before seeing me. His neck crackled as he jerked his body to focus on me, the noise echoing through the room making it even louder than it had been before. “Kukuk!” He cheered out and leapt at me shadowy arms wide for a hug.
“Hehe!” I giggled back as he impacted my chest and I spun him around as I hugged him tight.
“Arceus!”
“Is that an attack!?” One of the researchers asked, hands reaching for a pokeball, but I ignored them all as I hugged my friend.
“Mimikyu! We did it! We are all the way in Kanto now! This is the inspection I told you about, remember?” I asked him as I finished spinning around for a bit.
“Kukkuku!” He agreed, pulling in his shadow arms and then climbing up onto my shoulder like he wanted.
“Agatha is going to be giddy.” Gram Gram said dryly, and I smiled at her.
“Good guess! Mimikyu is a Ghost, and Fairy type!” I told her, and it wasn’t Dr. Jima that spoke but one of the others.
“Fairy typing isn’t a thing! It’s just a normal type, with an ability.” He said almost snidely.
I looked at him, about to argue but Dr. Jima reached out and put a hand on the mans shoulder whispering something to him and the man reddened and looked like he was going to argue before Dr. Jim glanced at the door and the man huffed and stomped out.
“I apologize about that. Men of science sometimes have difficulty changing their viewpoints when facts begin changing, but concrete proof hasn’t been established.”
“So, Fairy type is real?” Mama asked, and I looked at her with a bit of hurt. I had told her that!
“We are moving more and more towards that conclusion. Too many factors matchup. We are still working it all out.” He confirmed. “There is a lot of data to collect, and it’s not easy to confirm without extensive testing. Jus the type matchups alone.” He shook his head.
“Fairy type is immune to Dragon type moves. They are weak to Poison and Steel, and resistant against Fighting, Bug, and Dark type. Fairy moves are strong against Fighting, Dragon, and Dark Types. Oh and Poison, Steel, and Fire are resistant against Fairy moves.”
My explanation was taken with shock, but I wasn’t even done!
“Jigglypuff and Clefairy are Fairy types here in Kanto. With a few others. Mr. Mime for example.” I added, and Dr. Jima looked at me with a very focused look.
“How do you know all of that?” He asked, eyes narrowed.
“I think it’s fairly obvious.” I said firmly, before walking over to the bed and placing Mimikyu on top of it.
“Hey buddy they are going to do some pictures and scans-” before I could even finish he was already bunching up his disguise around him. “I know. I know. Don’t worry I won’t let them peak.” I assured him soothing him as I reached out, and grabbed for his little shadow claw. Holding his hand.
“What’s this?” Dr. Jima asked at my words.
“Mimikyu, hide their true form under their disguise which they make themselves. Most of the time they copy Pikachu, because they want people to like them like everyone likes Pikachu.” I explained, but then I turned deadly serious. “Looking at a Mimikyu directly can result in death. I’m not sure the exact cause obviously. Whether it’s actually killing someone out of fright, or just some weird effect they have. Either way. Don’t peek under his disguise. Mimikyu is a very good boy and will do everything he can to assist you, but you can’t peek for your own safety.”
The room was silent, and I could see Mama and Papa giving me a look.
I very purposefully looked away from their worried look.
“Mimikyu is a sweetie though, and will do everything in his power to make sure that doesn’t happen.” I added, and Mimikyu was nice enough to agree, his head shaking up and down rapidly.
“KukuKku!” He offered. I just pretended not to see the way it made everyone in the room besides Ivy flinch.
“Hmm. I’ll have to check our requirements. I’m not sure we can accept a pokemon without a complete inspection.” Dr. Jima added, and I crossed my arms.
“Really! Really really! Don’t try to look under his disguise, it really is dangerous.” I confirmed, and Dr. Jima nodded
“Very well, Let’s finish our inspection as much as we can without it… That sound he made, is he alright?”
“Oh! The crackling noise? That’s just the sticks he uses to make the frame of his disguise! I’m going to take him to an arts and crafts store later and find all sorts of new things for him to improve his disguise with! He wears it all day everyday so it’s my responsibility to make it comforta- DON’T!” I screeched but it was too late.
Researcher number 2 had moved slowly while I was chatting and accidently distracted everyone.
He had pulled up Mimikyu’s disguise.
“Chansey!” I called out instantly because the guy had peeked under, Mimikyu had shrieked and then the man started foaming at the mouth, eyes rolling back into his head and falling to the floor twitching.
Mimikyu instantly started crying, and the adults were making noise, yelling, or calling for help.
Chansey was working on the researcher so he might survive.
But I focused on what was important.
I scooped up my little guy and held him close to my chest.
“It’ll be okay Mimikyu. It’ll be okay.”