Skye Hunter had no idea where Satoshi went off to. One moment, he was excitedly leaning over the fencing to gaze out at the ocean, then he was gone the next. Satoshi ran off to do Satoshi things all the time, so as long as he came back safe and sound, Skye didn't care.
Okay, he cared a lot, he hated it when Satoshi disappeared without warning. He was the guy that attracted trouble, so running around wasn't a good idea in the breeder's eyes. Thankfully, Satoshi always had his Pikachu with him, so hopefully, he would keep his trainer in check. Then again, Satoshi could have ran away to avoid having to help prepare lunch. Skye wouldn't put it past him if he was going to be honest.
Shigeru Okido was standing at the stove they had rented, making hotcakes for their lunch. Skye couldn't help the smirk that grew on his face as he spied the pink apron the taller brunet was wearing. He and Satoshi had gotten it for Shigeru as a joke, but Shigeru thought the best response to give them was to wear it whenever he cooked.
Can't let a lovely gift go to waste, he had told them after they saw him wearing it for the first time.
In an attempt to help make lunch, Skye had been given the task of tossing salad. Sure, Shigeru's Blacky could have done it, but he was going to do something, darnit! He actually wanted to make a hotcake for himself, but when he tried to do that, the stove nearly caught on fire.
A trio of shadows quickly zoomed past his line of sight. Skye tilted his head back to look skyward at the flying Pokémon overhead. Among the odd Comome, Bara, his Bohmander, chased after Satoshi's Lizardon and Mukubird in a game of tag.
The three of them had released all of their Pokémon so that they could get some fresh air while they prepared lunch. In the large sandpit to his far left, Shigeru's Tatetops was taking runs at Platinum, Skye's Bangiras', stomach, practising their Headbutt.
Close by, Skye's Pikachu, Pika, Shigeru's Blacky, and Satoshi's Fushigibana were placing down bowls along the outside of the sandpit for themselves and their fellow Pokémon. Skye had already prepared their food the night before.
As Skye returned to tossing the salad, his own Blacky padded up to him with plates and cutlery in his psychokinesis.
"Good boy, Moon." He praised, getting a smile in return. "Cin yae put aw dat oon da table fur me?" He pointed at the seats where he, Satoshi, and Shigeru were going to be seated. "Ah'm der, Satoshi's der, 'n Shigeru is sittin' ova here."
"Blacky!" The blue-ringed Blacky carefully put the three plates down first, then sat a fork and knife on top.
Shigeru looked up from the stove after flipping a hotcake over as Moon padded away. "Can you do, uhh, the thing to get Satoshi back here? I'm nearly done with the batter, so-" he gestured at Skye with the spatula. "please do it."
Skye looked out towards the stone stairs where he last saw their friend, then back at Shigeru. "Yae sure?"
The thing was a kind of shout that Skye had created by accident during his and Satoshi's time in Hoenn. Skye had been used to having others around whenever Satoshi ran off, but in Hoenn, it had only been him and Satoshi, so. . .he panicked and started screaming for him to come back. It worked, and it evolved into a call. Somehow, it always managed to echo, no matter where they were.
"Yes," he answered, covering his ears with his hands. "do it. Brace yourselves, everybody!"
The older brunet set down his wooden cutlery, twirled around, and walked up to the fencing in the direction he assumed Satoshi was. He stood with his feet apart, puffed out his chest, straightened his shoulders, cupped his hands around his mouth, took in a very deep breath, and bellowed, "OI, SATOSHI!" at the top of his lungs.
The extremely loud shout caused Satoshi and Shigeru's Kamex to pop their heads out of the water in alarm as many perched Comome scrambled to fly away. They stared wide-eyed as he waved for them to come out.
Then, somewhere in the distance, there was a shout that confirmed that Satoshi had heard him.
Skye turned back to see Shigeru giving him a baffled expression as he placed a newly made hotcake with the others he had already prepared. ". . .how do you do that?"
The breeder threw him a smug look. "Talent."
"Ugh, don't." The trainer groaned.
Skye snorted a laugh. He decided that the salad was tossed good enough and trotted over to the small fountain to wash his hands. Pika appeared beside him, leaning over the grate to wash her brown forepaws.
On the patch of grass close by, Shigeru's Windie and Rentoroar woke up from their dozing. In the tree beside them, his Gamale, Baggu, and Satoshi's Glion left the tree branch they had perched on to fly to the sandpit.
The sound of running footsteps brought Skye's attention to the stairs to see Satoshi shooting up them with Pikachu following close behind. He ran around the fountain, skidded to a hault, and started to drink from the top faucet. Pikachu jumped up to do the same.
"Careful-!" Skye squeaked. "Did yae see yir Kamex? Ah shouted fur 'em tae git up here fur der lunch."
"Yeah!" Satoshi wiped his mouth. "They were getting out of the water, so I think they're coming." As if on cue, the two large turtle-like Pokémon slowly sauntered up the stairs.
"Good timing, Satoshi. I just finished the batter." Shigeru placed the last hotcake onto the pile as Satoshi excitedly sat himself down at the picnic table.
The trainer almost looked ready to start drooling as he tore off his gloves and picked up his fork. "Thanks for the-" he reached out to take one of the hotcakes, only to be blocked by a pan.
"Hold it, did you wash your hands?" Shigeru asked in a voice that reminded Skye of his mother.
Satoshi stared at him, then nervously brought up his hands with a smile. "They're clean, see?"
From Shigeru's appalled reaction, they were far from clean. Satoshi turned his hands around to look at them and his lip quivered. Pikachu sighed.
Skye pressed his lips together to hold in a giggle as he left Pika to clean her paws to approach the table.
"Hurry up and get them washed," Shigeru told him, taking off his pink apron.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm going." The youngest of them whined, getting up to do just that. As he passed Skye, the brunet flicked water at him, making him flinch. "H-hey-!"
"How auld ir yae again? Ten?" Skye teased, getting a playful shove in response. One of the Kamex, most likely Satoshi's, started to snicker under his breath.
Skye looked at the table, feeling satisfied at what they assembled. It was the best looking lunch they've had in well over a fortnight.
They had gotten pointed towards this town after they aimlessly wandered around in the Sinnoh wilderness. Skye wished he could have spoken up to thank the trainer with the Elekible that Satoshi battled against that morning for pointing them in the town's direction.
Baggu fluttered over to his trainer, holding a bowl in his legs, reminding Skye to start bringing out the Pokémon's lunch. He loudly clapped to get everymon's attention. "Aw right, everywan! Start movin', it's lunch time!" Several happy voices rang out.
With Shigeru and Satoshi's help, Skye distributed the Pokéfood among all of their Pokémon.
As they watched their Pokémon tuck into their lunches, Satoshi brought his hands up to his stomach and quipped. "Watching them is making me hungry."
Shigeru rolled his eyes while Skye lightly shook his head. He smiled to himself as he saw Pika and Pikachu sitting next to each other, happily eating.
"All right, let's ea- huh?"
Hearing Satoshi cut himself off, Skye turned around. He was about to ask what the matter was, but the question died on his tongue. He saw spotted what silenced his friend. On their picnic table, there was a small Pokémon digging into their hotcakes.
Skye was surprised to see a Pokémon be so brazen. Pokémon weren't usually this happy to get so close to strangers, especially humans, but here they were. Were Shigeru's hotcakes really that tempting? He could almost laugh at that, but he knew he could be lying if he said that he hadn't been looking forward to eating one of them.
Although, as the three of them stepped up to the table, there was something about the little hotcake eater that seemed familiar, but he couldn't put his finger to why. The Pokémon was tiny, smaller than any of their Pokémon, and was caked in dirt.
"Our hotcakes!" Satoshi exclaimed. "What are you doing?!"
From behind them, Pikachu, Pika, and Blacky had left their bowls behind to approach the table also. Pikachu jumped up onto the tabletop, while Pika hopped onto one of the stump-like seats, and Blacky stood beside her.
Pikachu tilted his head to the side, confused. Pika stood up, leaning forward to grip the edge of the table. She squeaked something that sounded like a question towards the Pokémon, but she was ignored. The Pokémon continued on eating greedily.
Skye's eyebrow twitched. How rude.
Pika tried to speak again, but the dirt-covered Pokémon suddenly shook out their fur, creating a very large dust cloud. Everyone was quickly caught up in it, causing them to choke splutter. They waved their arms in attempt to make the cloud disperse. Skye assumed that the Pokémon had stirred up a defensive Sandstorm, but he couldn't feel sand blow against his skin.
In the dust cloud, Skye heard Pikachu letting out a grunt, and Satoshi yell and stumble backwards. The cloud had faded enough for Skye to see that the Pokémon had jumped onto Satoshi's face, gripping onto the lip of his hat.
Satoshi moved around like a Kentauros trying to buck a rider off their back until he threw his head a certain way, causing the Pokémon to lose their grip and fly into the stove. Shigeru grabbed the pan from the hob before the stove crashed to the ground, taking the Pokémon down with it.
The stove's broken hob sparked and thick smoke suddenly blasted out of it. Again, the group waved their arms, but the fumes started to disappear, seemingly into the Pokémon. Skye blinked.
They watched the small Pokémon start to glow, letting out a shrill cry as the light engulfed them. The air around him started to buzz with energy, causing Skye's stomach to drop. He realized that the Pokémon was quickly building up energy, and was preparing to release it.
He twirled around, snatching Pika up off the seat before letting out a yell. "Hit da deck!" The compressed energy released as he jumped away, the explosion throwing him several feet. He curled around his Pikachu, just barely managing to fall onto his side in time.
He hissed in pain, his heart in his mouth and his ears ringing. He was shocked at the sheer amount of power the blast had behind it. Whatever this Pokémon was, they were very powerful, despite their small size.
Pika wriggled out of his arms when he slowly regained his bearings. She placed a paw on his arm, her eyes filled with concern. He had fallen hard onto his right side, but it wasn't anything he couldn't shake off. He coughed, sitting up to see the fallout.
Satoshi had been blown up onto the table, and Pikachu had somehow gotten the bowl of salad on his head. Shigeru was out of sight on the other side of the table, and Blacky looked unfazed by it all as they tried to inspect their trainer from under the table.
Skye looked out towards their Pokémon. Most of them had started to recover from the attack, with the larger Pokémon already standing. They were tense as they stared at the unknown Pokémon.
"Is everyone all right?" Skye heard Shigeru groan out. Him and Satoshi replied with grunts of their own.
Shakily brushing off the dirt from his shirt and giving Pika a reassuring pet, Skye watched the little dirty Pokémon make an attempt to skitter away. They didn't make it far as they were quickly confronted by several of the group's Pokémon. They looked more than a little upset over their lunch being disrupted.
The Pokémon started to back away, the others advancing on them. They shook and made a frightened noise. Skye frowned, displeased by their Pokémon's behaviour. Ganging up one such a small monster, even if it was powerful, was a big no-no in his books.
The Pokémon clearly didn't wish to fight, so they must have reacted that way to protect themselves. Skye couldn't hold that against them, especially seeing that they meant no actual harm.
He used the table as a support to get onto his feet before stomping over. "Oi, chuck it!" He yelled, purposely putting himself in between his and his friend's Pokémon, and the dust ball. They lost their scowls as he glared at them before slowly knelling down in front of the shaking Pokémon.
Now that he was closer, the nagging feeling that he recognised this monster from somewhere was stronger than before.
The flowers on the side of their head reminded him of a flower that he was fond of, but he never was an expert on flora, so he wasn't sure if the flowers were the type he was thinking of.
"Be careful!" Shigeru warned him. "We don't know how dangerous that Pokémon is!"
Skye glanced over his shoulder, seeing Satoshi and Shigeru standing some metres away, watching him warily. He gestured with his hand, hoping to sway their fears. He would be fine. If the Pokémon decided to lash out again, he wouldn't be short on protection.
The dirty Pokémon shrunk back as he reached out to pick them up. "It's aw right," he cooed. "we're no gonnae hurt yae." He heard Bara, Platinum, and Lizardon grumble amongst themselves. He shot them a hard look. They turned away, not meeting his angry gaze.
The Pokémon looked unsure when he turned back to look at them. He smiled a little. He had seen that look on many, many other Pokémon's faces in his years as a Breeder. It was a look that he could greatly sympathize with. Being scared of new faces wasn't lost on him.
With a trained gentleness, he carefully lifted the small Pokémon and stood up. He eyed the fountain, deciding to give the Pokémon a needed wash. Cradling the dirty Pokémon to him, he walked over to the fountain. Satoshi, and Shigeru, along with all of their Pokémon, closely followed behind him.
Skye placed the Pokémon onto the grate, to which they looked up at him with worry in their little green eyes. "Close yir eyes, wee yin." He said, keeping his tone low and gentle. "Let's git yae washed." He turned the knob, letting the cool water run over the Pokémon.
He started to run his fingers through their fur, taking note that it was spiky and somewhat hard to the touch, like the bristles on a soft hair brush. He continued, feeling the fur along their sides and face. That fur was short and soft in comparison to the fur on their back, and the flowers felt delicate to the touch. His fingers worked against the dirt to reveal green, white, yellow, and pastel pink underneath.
Skye's eyes widened as memories of an old storybook flooded his mind. It had been a book he had as a child, one of many that his father would read to him before bed. On the cover of this certain book, however, was this Pokémon! A Pokémon that was called-!
"S-shaymin!" He blurted out.
"What?" Satoshi asked, leaning down to hear Skye's response.
"U-uh, towel!" The breeder answered, flustered all of a sudden. "Cin somewan git me a towel, p-please!" Pika nodded, taking up the task, quickly padding away to fetch one from his bags.
With the dirt washed away, Skye turned off the faucet. Pika returned with a light blue hand towel on her back, held there by her tail.
As he turned to take the towel, Shaymin stretched out their back and shook out their fur, much like before, showering him, and Pika, in cold water droplets. Satoshi and Shigeru had been fortunate enough to be able to step back to avoid most of the droplets.
Skye blinked the water out of his eyes, taking the towel and wrapping Shaymin in it. He started to rub them through it to dry the fur and warm them up after being doused in chilly water.
"Der we go, nice 'n clean." He sighed, standing up. Satoshi and Shigeru closed in, now curious about the Pokémon happily wrapped in their friend's arms. Satoshi gave him a worried look, to which Skye smirked at, as Shaymin leaned into his comforting motions with a smile.
Satoshi gave him a relieved grin, to which Skye answered with a smirk as Shaymin leaned into his comforting motions, smiling all the while.
See? He said silently. Ah'm aw right. A wee bit wet, but aw right.
"That felt good," a small, squeaky voice said between them. "but it was a bit cold."
Skye gazed downward, the smirk changing into an apologetic smile, oblivious to the exact origin of the voice. "Sorry 'boot dat. Ah shouldeh warned yae fir-" Wait.
He snapped his head up to meet eyes with Satoshi and Shigeru, who returned his surprised expression. Even though those expressions should have answered his unspoken question, he dumbly asked. "Uhh, guys. Y-yae heard dat, right. . ?"
"Sure did," Satoshi nodded.
"Yeah," Shigeru added. "that must've been telepathy."
Together, they looked back down at Shaymin. The little Pokémon simply stared back at them blankly, as if a Pokémon that could speak was an everyday occurrence.
Though, there was a part of him that supposed that they shouldn't be too shocked by Shaymin's ability to speak. It wasn't like they hadn't met other Pokémon that could do the same in the past, but none of them had been your average Pocket Monster either.
Satoshi was first to speak up. ". . .where did you come from? Why were you so dirty?"
"There." Shaymin sniffled, shifting their paws against the towel. Did this Pokémon have an attitude?
Satoshi frowned, an irritated wrinkle appearing between his eyebrows. "I don't know what you mean by 'there'."
"There is there." Shaymin said, as if the answer was very obvious. Yes, they do have an attitude. Ignoring Pika hadn't been a one off thing.
"I said, I don't know where 'there' is." The trainer replied, beginning to sound annoyed at Shaymin's curt answers.
Shaymin paused, then rested their head on their paws with their face starting to turn a shade of warm pink. "There is there is there are there is there-ere. . ." they trailed off into ineligible murmurers.
"That's strange," Shigeru commented.
Not understanding the sudden decline in energy, Skye gingerly placed a hand onto the Pokémon's forehead to find that they were burning up.
"D-dey've goat a fevuh!" He cried out, fear gripping him. "W-we hiv tae git dem tae da Pokémon Centre!"
"Yeah, let's go!" Satoshi agreed, fumbling around to grab the Pokéballs off his belt. He quickly returned his Pokémon one by one, then let Skye carefully hand over Shaymin to him so that he could do the same for his own.