- Asks
Q: hey I have a question: Does your Ninetales let you touch her tails? Mine always hisses and tries to bite me when I try, but recently I had to help him clean up a whole mess of string shot that tied them together and he let me. I guess I'm just wondering if I'm cursed now or something.
A: Nah, you're fine. If he let you help him he wouldn't curse you, and anyway from what I can tell, that's mostly a myth. Taron doesn't usually let me touch her tails unless she needs help cleaning, but one time while I was in the hospital she let me use them as a pillow. You just gotta have permission first- body autonomy counts for Pokemon too!
Q: What sort of Pokemon would be a good addition to a contest team consisting of a Lopunny and a Shieldon?
A: Without knowing the individual personalities of your Pokemon it's a bit hard to tell, but maybe you could try a Turtwig? Lopunny are usually solitary, but Shieldon move in herds; it might help your Shieldon to have another herd Pokemon around to sleep/eat/spar with. Plus Turtwig do real well in competitions that focus on strength and unconventional beauty.
Q: you stupid bitch who gives up a championship? this is what's wrong with your kind of trainers. you spend so much time focused on your pokemon being all lovey pidovey that you lose sight of your actual goals. pathetic.
A: I'm sorry I can't take you seriously, just. "Lovey pidovey"? You sound like my grandma yelling at the TV. What the heck dude.
Q: What do you think of the measures being passed in Unova right now to make the Championship and the Elite Four more like sports titles/figureheads than actual parts of the government?
A: I don't live in Unova and I've never been there, but I just looked up what you're talking about (Article 59? I think?) and I'm a little leery. On one hand, having actual elected officials take charge of natural resources and Pokemon habitats might help, because maybe they're more qualified than some kid who becomes Champion. But at the same time, the Elite Four and the Championship (especially with, like in my case, the Elite Four, who are always proven trainers/breeders, doing most of the work) are in charge of Pokemon and trainer affairs for a reason. Having people who've never been serious trainers, or who in some cases have never trained Pokemon at all, legislating on how we should treat Pokemon and what they need and how much habitat they need? That sounds like a recipe for disaster to me.
If you'll think back to what happened when local government bypassed their gym leader and tried to log parts of Hoenn's Petalburg Woods, you'll see what I mean. Higher leveled wild Pokemon started attacking towns, lower level ones started moving into Petalburg City because their habitats were destroyed, a young trainer got killed by a pack of Breloom who had been sent into a rage... It was a bad time. Having gym leaders, Champions, and the Elite Four to mediate with the Pokemon world whenever things like that come up is essential- that's why a lot of regions have them or equivalents to them traditionally.
"Oh, hey!" Aurelia tilted her laptop down to show Taron the screen, and the Ninetales studied it intently. "There's a listing for some temp research stuff in New Bark Town from Professor Elm, experienced trainers preferred. Thoughts?" There was dirt in the keyboard; Taron huffed on it to blow it off, then nudged part of the screen.
"Taaales." Aurelia pulled the laptop back up and looked at where Taron had pointed to. Oh. "It would take a month?" She wasn't going to stay in the 'New Trainers 'R' Us' part of Johto for that long. Every random kid with a Cyndaquil or a Pidgey kept trying to challenge her when she walked by them. She'd had to keep Bellamy out walking beside her just to ward them off; the sight of a Mawile with a dripping maw and murder in her eyes was usually enough to deter any would-be challengers.
Usually. Earlier she'd had to battle some hothead with a Rattata that had been taken out with one Cut from Percy. That had been embarrassing for everyone involved.
And then the kid had tried to give her his number, which had turned the whole thing from awkward to weird. A note for new trainers: no one wants to hear about how much you love your shorts.
Aurelia adjusted the blanket under her and glanced back at the edge of the water, where her other Pokemon were splashing and play-fighting in the shallows. Bellamy was contentedly chewing on a log she'd managed to fish up, wearing her old teeth down so the new ones behind them could grow in properly. Aurelia thought about all the shed teeth she'd be stepping on for the next week and grimaced. They were worse than Legos.
"Can we stay here a month?" she asked Taron. "It's not like we have anywhere to be, exactly, it's just..." Ugh. It was just that she didn't like staying in one place too long. It made her feel antsy- made her feel restless, like she had back when she'd still been under her parents' thumbs. "I don't want to."
"Ninetales. Tales, tales nine." We may not have a choice, if you want to live off money from odd jobs and save what's left of your Champion pay.
"We could just use battle money." Except the only trainers who battled for money here were, like, twelve...
"Niiiiinetales." Steal scraps from new cubs, yes, so strong/honorable. Aurelia was consistently amazed with how much could fit into a short sentence in PokeSpeech.
"But I don't want to," Aurelia groaned. "It'll probably be super boring. I'm not traveling the world to do things that are boring."
Taron gave a low, inquiring growl- research is good/interesting/adventurous- and Aurelia sighed. There was no point arguing with this, was there.
"All right, fine. But once we've spent a whole week sitting in the woods and looking for Wooper or whatever, I think you'll change your mind."
Percy bounded over to them, another trainer's Vaporeon on his heels, and sprayed them both with water as he scampered past, laughing. Taron recoiled and hissed in disgusted betrayal, fur steaming, and snarled, Stupid pup, watch where you're going!
Aurelia snickered. "That's what I'm saying! Imagine going through that with every Wooper we found."
The Ninetales growled and curled her tails around herself so she could groom them dry. Most of PokeSpeech was body language, so even as she was licking herself she said, I'll turn to cooked meat any that tries, ugh, I can't believe Percy was so inconsiderate...
"Aw, he's just messing around." Aurelia bit her lip. "You really think we should apply? What if it is boring?" What if it required her to interact with a ton of people? She was always up for a chat with whoever, but humans usually found her kind of weird. Feral, maybe. One of those trainers who spends too much time with their Pokemon and not enough time in polite society.
Polite society could take their weird unspoken social rules and shove them somewhere unpleasant. Aurelia hadn't been put on this planet to hobnob with the gentry.
Taron yawned, showing a mouthful of pearly white fangs. "Tales." Do it or regret it. A much more complicated saying when it wasn't being translated to Hoennese. Aurelia did the smart thing and acquiesced.
Professor Elm blinked at Aurelia and Taron over his glasses; there were dark smudges under his eyes from lack of sleep, and Aurelia actually felt a little tired in sympathy. Pokemon researchers, no matter how prestigious, had one thing in common: none of them had an OFF switch. Anyone who wanted to research Pokemon went all in, or didn't go in at all. It made Aurelia glad she'd never gone into a STEM field. "Aurelia Newbold, you said? That name sounds familiar."
Behind him, a pair of Chikorita sparred with a Cyndaquil; one corner of the lab was already charred and smoldering. Aurelia dragged her attention away from the play fight and volunteered, "I was Hoenn Champion for a while." Taron wrapped her tails around her paws and raised her chin as if to say, and that means I can devour you if I please, Professor. "I'm traveling and taking odd jobs now, though. I resigned six months ago."
"After a Houndoom attack, right?" Professor Elm caught himself and said, "My apologies, it's just that it was on the news..."
"Nah, it's fine. Nothing I haven't heard before." Aurelia bounced her leg up and down and wondered how to put the professor at ease. She hadn't meant to make this so awkward. "Wanna see the scars? They're super gnarly."
"No, thank you," the professor said quickly. Oops, that was a misstep. Shit. "So you're applying for the temporary research position?"
Aurelia tried a sheepish smile. "You did say you wanted an experienced trainer."
Professor Elm sighed. "At the time, I'll admit I was hoping more for someone with at least a few badges and more than two Pokemon. But you'll do just as well! I think, Trainer Aurelia, that I'll give you the job."
A rush of relief hit her. That was money taken care of, if she played her cards right. Or rather, if she didn't irreversibly screw this up. "Thank you, Professor. I won't let you down. But, um, what is it that I'm actually doing? Will it really take a month?"
Professor Elm scratched his head. "Well, no, hopefully not. That's just the longest amount of time I'll be able to afford to pay someone to try to fix it, since I'm paying by the hour. If it's fixed in a short amount of time, though, I'll just pay you a lump sum," he assured her, "so there's no need to worry about being too successful, haha... I just need this problem to resolve itself or at least be explained, soon."
Aurelia looked at him expectantly, completely missing her cue to reenter the conversation, and after a moment Elm continued, "The problem is this: recently, a large number of higher-leveled Pokemon- most noticeably a flock of Pidgeotto, led by a rather formidable Pidgeot- has moved into the forests on Route 29 and has been causing trouble for beginning trainers just starting out from my lab here in New Bark. They don't usually live this close to humans, and they definitely don't attack this often, so my task for you would be figuring out... why, exactly, they're doing this. A young girl has already been attacked, and if it weren't for the heroism of a passing trainer, I suspect that she would have been killed."
Aurelia straightened up. "So it's not just a research problem but a public safety problem. Why haven't you called in any gym leaders?"
"The closest thing that New Bark Town has to a gym leader is me, Trainer Aurelia. And the situation hasn't escalated enough for me to justify calling in some other city's leader for the problem."
"Well, now you've got a former Champion," Aurelia pointed out with an apologetic grin. "I'll just have to be enough."
Route 29 was ranked the number one route for new trainers to practice and battle with each other, mostly because everyone who got a lab starter had to go through it to reach Cherrygrove City. The trail was well-maintained, trimmed low and tramped down where hundreds of trainers had passed through it, and the wilder grass on either side of it barely reached up to Aurelia's knees. Occasional burnt patches were the only mar on the landscape- almost definitely from newbie Cyndaquil trying themselves out in actual battle.
The average age of the trainers Aurelia saw was about twelve. She had Taron and Percy flank her to ward off any ill-advised challenges and wandered down the path to find a good way into the Route 29 wilds. As they went further into the side routes, people became less and less common.
"How do we even attract a bunch of Pidgeotto?" Aurelia asked her companions on their second day camping out on Route 29. Percy perked up his ears and looked up from where he'd been grooming his paws. It took a lot of effort to keep them that flawlessly white. "Do we battle one and yell a bunch? Maybe we should look vulnerable and new, will they attack us then? There's gotta be something." Imagine battling a horde of Pidgeotto! They worked so well in flocks, and they were much more touchy than skittish Pidgey.
"Syl sylvee," Percy chastised. Don't be so bloodthirsty! There are other ways.
Taron snorted and nipped at his tail. No bloodthirst, says the Sylveon. You once threatened to eat a Hydreigon's hands.
"Yeah, but he totally deserved it," Aurelia cut in. Percy chirped in cheerful agreement.
Don't tolerate/care for bullies! He bared his teeth. And I make certain they can't tolerate me. Oooh, we've got a badass over here.
"Well, if you don't want me to bully answers out of the Pidgey, what's your solution, exactly?" Aurelia asked. She was interrupted before she could answer.
"'Scuse me!" someone said behind her. Aurelia turned on a hair, hand hovering over her Pokeballs, and relaxed. Just some kid. Some worried kid, she noticed. Was something wrong?
"Yeah?" A Pokeball in the kid's hand, and another one at her belt. Her short blond hair barely fell past her ears. A new trainer, and worried? Wow, bad sign. Or she could just be out of potions. "What's up?"
The kid bit her lip and fidgeted. "You were talking to your Pokemon," she said quietly. "Can you, um. Can you understand them? Like in general?"
"Uh, yeah," Aurelia said, taken off guard. This wasn't actually that weird, though- people asked her for help translating all the time. "You need me to translate something?"
The young trainer nodded. "My Chikorita's been acting weird since I got him. Right now he's hidden under a bush. I was wondering if you could tell me what's wrong with him."
"Sure, take me to him." Aurelia shrugged her backpack on and followed the new trainer to a bush and, sure enough, there was a Chikorita hiding under it. The new trainer kneeled and started talking to it- to him- in a low voice, and the Chikorita inched out, leaf quivering. "He came from Professor Elm?"
The trainer shook her head. "From a breeder. My brother got him for my birthday. He's always been fine at home, but now that we've started our journey..." She trailed off. "I just don't know what's wrong with him."
Aurelia crouched low to the ground and motioned Percy and Taron to stand back; the last thing this little dude needed was a big carnivorous Fire-type looming over him like something out of a nightmare. "Can you tell me what's wrong, Chikorita?" she asked softly. "I'm Aurelia, I'm a trainer. I can also understand what you say, so if there's something you need to tell your trainer, you can tell me and I'll just pass it along."
The Chikorita wavered and said in a pitiful, childish voice, "Chik chikree." Don't know where I am.
Aurelia schooled her face away from a frown. "You're on Route 29, a few miles out from New Bark Town."
"Rii riita!" Not that, stupid! In the wilds, yes, where, no. Too bright/wrong/unfamiliar.
Oh. "Would you mind coming out for us? I just want to check something." The Chikorita inched out from under the bush and waddled in her general direction. "Right here," Aurelia said, suspicions all but confirmed, and the Chikorita corrected himself. "I'm just gonna look at your eyes." The Chikorita held still as Aurelia shifted his leaf to the side to see his face. Good patient, best Chikorita.
Ha. Whoever the disgrace of a breeder who raised this Chikorita was, Aurelia hoped they lost their license. The Chikorita's eyes, in the light, were shades lighter than the red they were supposed to be- more of a cloudy, pale orange-and almost completely unfocused. The pupils shrank in response to the sunlight, but they didn't follow the movement of Aurelia's finger. The new trainer frowned and looked over Aurelia's shoulder as she asked, "Hey, Chikorita, how many fingers am I holding up?"
"Rita?" What? Okay, that confirmed that.
"Right, next question. What does your trainer look like?"
The Chikorita scuffed the dirt with one foot and huffed. Sweat/quiet/vanilla. Smell, sound, smell. At least Chikorita had a good sense of smell. Otherwise, Aurelia thought, life would be a lot harder for this little guy.
"Welp. I know why he was freaking out now." Aurelia turned to the new trainer. "Did he leave the house a lot, when he was little? Before your journey?" The new trainer shook her head.
"He stayed in our yard most of the time. He likes lounging in the garden, stuff like that." She paused. "Is... something wrong with his eyes? We didn't battle hardly anyone except a couple of Pidgeys earlier, and all the damage from that was fixed with Potions."
"No Pokemon Centers?" A Nurse Joy would definitely have caught this.
"No. He's never been hurt enough to need one."
Aurelia sat back and let the new trainer collect her Chikorita and pet him. "Okay." Damn trainer education cuts. "Well, he's pretty much legally blind. From what I can tell, he's mostly been operating by scent and hearing, and maybe with some light perception. He was probably just used to your house so you didn't notice, but traveling threw him off."
"Oh." The new trainer gaped. "Oh, that makes so much sense! He always used to run into things when he was little. We just thought he was clumsy."
"Yeah, no, he's just blind." Aurelia shrugged. "I'd say if you still wanna battle, you'll have to get a lot of extra training in so you can avoid injuries other Pokemon would be able to avoid. Maybe train more with voice stuff, help direct him around the field, or do double battles with a second Pokemon who can cover his weak points."
"I guess that makes sense. So you've just been winging it this whole, time, huh?" she addressed her Chikorita. "That makes us two of a kind." She looked back up at Aurelia with a blinding (ha!) smile. "Thank you. Really, you've been super helpful. Is there anything I can do to return the favor?"
Aurelia opened her mouth to say no, it's cool, but Percy chirped and she changed her mind. "If you have any food for bird Pokemon," she said, knowing Percy had scented it out in the trainers' bag, "I'd appreciate if I could have some. I need to attract a bunch of Pidgey."
Aurelia released Hoshi and told her other Pokemon (Bellamy, Percy, and Taron, since Sage and Zarzu were too large to easily hide out in the woods) to range out and see what they could learn. Her Medicham hummed and touched palms with Aurelia, and she felt psychic fingers pry into her brain. Relax, she reminded herself. Otherwise it's harder to read the proper thoughts. The memories of the meeting with Professor Elm, and of the time she'd spent traveling down Route 29 in the past few days, flicked up behind her eyes like a photo album. How strange, Hoshi said directly into her head. Her voice was husky and sounded like a young woman's. I wonder what we could be missing here, that so many trainers are still on the route.
"They don't even stop traveling in typhoon conditions, sometimes. Why would a couple of wild Pokemon stop them?" Aurelia pulled back and shook her head roughly. "Ugh. Little more warning next time, please."
"Cham," Hoshi said diffidently. She crossed her legs and sat in a meditation position on the blanket that Aurelia had set out in the grass. Aurelia shrugged, then pulled out the bird feed she'd been gifted and scattered a bunch of it in the grass. Then she dug through her bag, took out a few Oran berries, and passed one to Hoshi. The Medicham took a bite of the fruit and threw it among the bird seed. Aurelia wished she could do the same, but Oran berries were only safe for humans to eat after they were cooked. She sighed and dug her thumbs into the berry, squishing blue juice down her arms, then tossed it into the seed as well.
Oran berries had a sharp blueberry-citrus smell, strong with Vitamin C and all the nutrients that gave Pokemon second winds and healed their wounds. Aurelia licked a bit of the juice off her fingers- a little bit was okay- then sat back to wait. The air smelled like fruit and food and bounty; with any luck, wild Pokemon would think the same.
Their first visitor was a scruffy little Rattata, who scampered up to the berries and took half an Oran berry in her jaws. She looked young, barely hatched if anything, and her fur was still soft with baby fluff. Hoshi called after her, but the Rattata took off as soon as she moved and disappeared back into the tall grass. Awww, such a little baby. Well-fed like that, her mother must have been nearby to watch her. It was probably better that they hadn't tried to start anything- angry Raticate were vicious.
Their second visitor, a Pidgey with a curious gleam in his eyes, was more talkative. "Pidge," he said, pecking at the bird seed. Pidgeotto? Can't say I know much. He spoke slowly, like he had to think out every word before he let it pass his beak, and shared random anecdotes about the Pokemon in the forest- none of which were relevant at all. Aurelia suspected he was drawing it out to get more food. "Pidge pidgey." You'd do best to ask someone else. He flew off, having eaten his fill, and Aurelia flopped down on the ground and groaned.
After a while, she left Hoshi to hold court with the occasional Pokemon visitors, most of whom only knew that Pidgeotto had been coming into the area and making trouble, but not why they were actually there. Aurelia dozed off, anticipating that she'd be there all night, again, so why not take a quick Delcatty nap?
She woke up to enraged shrieking and flapping, and to Hoshi's pinkish aura floating around her like a shield. "Whoa, what the hell!" Aurelia gasped, scrambling to her feet. Hoshi was holding off a screaming Pidgeotto and not even bothering trying to reason with it. With her, Aurelia amended as she started to understand what the Pidgeotto was saying.
Interloper! The Pidgeotto was screaming with her body language: puffed-up feathers, making her larger and more threatening, eyes gone sharp and cold. This is mine, it's mine, I'll kill you!
"Unnecessary!" Aurelia called out. The Pidgeotto hovered in midair and glared, whistling through her beak. "That's unnecessary. We're just passing through, not settling. And you should just be passing through as well. What made you come so close to the route?"
"Geeeeotto," the Pidgeotto shrieked. Nothing, tell you nothing, this is my turf get away!
Aurelia paused and looked over at Hoshi. The Medicham hummed and nodded, dropping the shields around Aurelia and moving in front of her. Hoshi rose to balance on one leg and pressed her palms together. "We'll fight you for the information," Aurelia said. A lot of older wild Pokemon wouldn't respect humans unless they were beaten in battle. "And then we'll leave your territory. How's that?"
The Pidgeotto flew closer to them, until she was flapping right above the ground. She paused, waited a moment- that was agreement, then, Aurelia could tell- then screeched and sent out a Gust that almost knocked Aurelia off her feet. Hoshi turned to the side to minimize air resistance and planted her feet.
Haha, yes! Now, the arena wasn't just the clearing but the sky above it, and the Pidgeotto was a Flying-type... "Hoshi, use Psychic!" Hoshi nodded and started to hum, focusing her power to her forehead, then spread her arms in a sudden motion and threw out a wall of Psychic force. The Pidgeotto's wing caught in it before she could dodge and she shrieked, twisting in pain and finally jerking away from the move. She whistled menacingly and flew higher into the air, circling the clearing. Hoshi tried to climb a tree to get to her level and was knocked down by another Gust.
Hoshi glanced back at Aurelia and sent a telepathic question mark. Aurelia squinted against the sun at the circling Pidgeotto and said under her breath, "Her left wing's a little injured. Get up higher and try to hit that one again, paralyze it with Psychic or something? Take her down to the ground and keep her there."
"Chaaaam." Hoshi hopped back and stood in the middle of the clearing, raising up one leg and tucking it against her hip. She closed her eyes and seemed to settle, going relaxed and quiet like she was nearly asleep. Typical Psychic-type: she was using Calm Mind, not just to calm herself but to draw the Pidgeotto closer. Opponent sitting still, not bothering to attack? That was enough to draw any Pokemon closer.
The Pidgeotto started circling lower, shrieking insults and pelting Hoshi with Gusts; Aurelia moved back so she was sheltered by a tree and called, "Hoshi, get ready!"
The bird Pokemon chirruped contemptuously and flicked out her wings, then started swooping down, wings lighting up. Wing Attack? Holy crap, why wasn't this Pidgeotto evolved? Maybe that was why she was already on edge.
Hoshi opened her eyes just as the Pidgeotto was bearing down and dodged to the side, hand glowing, and slammed her palm against the Pidgeotto's left wing.
The Pidgeotto snapped back and shrieked, falling fluttering to the ground and pulling upright with a murderous look in her eyes. Hardly fluttering, not trying to fly. Hoshi sighed, "Medicham," and waited a moment.
"Okay," Aurelia said. "Do you yield?" The Pidgeotto clicked her beak and glared. "Okay, then. Let's finish this. Hoshi, use Brick Break!"
The Pidgeotto went down like a pile of bricks. Aurelia grinned at Hoshi. "Good job. You've always been a quicker thinker than me, you know."
Telepath, Hoshi reminded her. Aurelia grinned and went digging in her bag for a Revive and a Full Restore.
"Let's heal her and see what's up," she suggested; her Medicham was already floating the supplies out of her hands.
They sprayed the Revive on the Pidgeotto's face and waited for her to wake up. When she did, she tugged herself up and fluttered to her feet, gazing at Aurelia with something approaching respect. "Geotto?" All right. What do you want to know?
