The First Step To A "New Life"

The early morning sunshine gives way to a completely snow-covered Castelia City. Everything is blanketed in a nice, fresh coat of pure white, fluffy snow. For most people and Pokemon, this is nothing more than a pain in the butt. The snow slows them down and forces them to clear a path from their home to where they have to go depending on which parts of the city they're in, and for those that have to drive in it, the risk of slipping and crashing is always there. With the storm that also came through, along with it was a powerful cold front that dropped the temperatures down quite a bit. A morning like this is frigid at a nice 4 degrees Fahrenheit , cold enough for water to freeze in a matter of minutes if left outside for a short while.

Mornings like this would make most people and Pokemon stay in their beds, even if they have clothing, fur, or skin that keeps them warm in such freezing temps. For Mint, if he were to step outside right now, he wouldn't be bothered by it, but it would eventually catch up to him. However, Mint isn't even awake right now, instead, he still sleeps, not knowing that a certain electric squirrel had fallen asleep next to him and during the night, shifted position to now have her head and part of her body resting against his own. A cute sight, but it won't last for long. Mint stirs and opens his eyes. The bright white glow of the sun coming from the window makes him squint and he looks away. He feels something on his stomach and where his scarf is and looks down to see Fai, asleep and resting herself on his body. He's never been in a situation like this before and his cheeks become an alarmingly deep red in no time flat.

"W-what do I d-do? I-I can't just t-touch her, s-she'll get mad at m-me…" he thinks to himself as drops of sweat form on his head. He lifts his right paw and goes to try and gently push her off, but he doesn't want to and he starts to shake a little. "T-this is b-bad… I h-have to get her off, b-but how?" He tries to think of a way that he could push her off without waking her up but anything that comes to mind sounds like it'll still wake her up anyway.

He sits there waiting. He can only hope that she wakes up soon, otherwise this extremely awkward situation will cause him to freak out, as if he isn't close to freaking out already. He can feel the heat in his cheeks has built to a feverishly high level, he's as embarrassed as physically possible, and a little bit ashamed as well. He gives a small frown to all of this, all he wants to do is get up and go outside to see the snow that had supposedly fallen last night since snow always makes him happy. He can't though, because Fai prevents him from getting up off the couch. To make it worse, in her sleep, she nuzzles her head into his scarf more and seems to sink more of her body weight into him, and although she's light, he can feel it a little. Even though he's at peak embarrassment, his cheeks become redder and his whole face begins to turn that same color. He can't stand it anymore and even though he might get yelled at her, he decides to take the risk and grabs her hands, preparing to push her off.

Fai opens her eyes a little in response to feeling her hands being grabbed and she looks up at him. None of them say anything to each other and they both look into each other's eyes for a few seconds. Fai's cheeks turn a little red and she lets loose a small chuckle while Mint's entire face is redder than a tamato berry. She speaks softly due to just waking up. "...what are you doing…?"

He jerks back slightly in response and lets her hands go, quickly putting his paws behind his back and looking around quickly. She looks at where she ended up and then realizes what's going on. She yawns and then talks. "...oh… I must've fallen asleep on the couch with you last night. I guess at some point I shifted position or something and ended up on or next to you." she then thinks about what he was doing for a moment. "Oh, were you trying to push me off so you could get up?"

He's shaking ever so slightly due to how nervous he is but he manages to nod 'yes' quickly. She stands up off of him and takes a few steps back before sitting down, still facing him. She yawns again and stretches out before speaking. "You know… your fur is really warm and comfy. I'm surprised you don't have other Pokemon swarming around you when it's cold out. I envy you, such warm fur would make mornings like this much more tolerable."

Mint sighs deeply, his face slowly begins to return to its normal color and he stands up off the couch, then goes over to the window on the right side of the room and takes a look outside. Just as it was predicted, there's snow all over the place, on the ground, the street, the cars, and even some of the buildings too. He smiles at this, snow always makes him happy. Fai comes over to see the snow as well and when she sees that everything is covered, she groans lowly, annoyed that she'll have to shovel it to clear a path to her apartment. "Another snowstorm, another hour of shoveling snow for me… well, the winter is pretty much here so I'm not gonna complain." she looks at him. "I don't know how well you love or hate the snow, but I would appreciate having some help clearing it away from the apartment."

Mint nods. "S-sure… I love the s-snow anyway." he's still very nervous over the whole situation from before and she can clearly see this.

Fai puts up her right hand and pinches his nose for a split second. "You need to loosen up! I told you yesterday, if you can't speak in proper sentences with me, I'm gonna zap you! That situation we got in a few minutes ago is completely innocent, so c'mon, don't worry about it anymore!" she then starts walking towards the front door. "Don't stay in for too long, I'm gonna start soon." She then opens the door and the cold air rushes in, causing her to shiver a little. "Woooo! Now that's fucking cold!" she walks outside and closes the door behind her.

Mint continues to look outside for a few more minutes, thinking about Fai and how she's done quite a lot for him already. "She's done so much for me already, and she said she's gonna help me out as much as she can… This isn't fair, I have to do something for her… shoveling snow isn't gonna cut it, but what could I do to repay her for all that she's done?" he thinks to himself. He wants to give back, he doesn't want to seem like he's using her, that'd be not just wrong, but extremely selfish as well and that's not the Pokemon he was raised to be. The thought of how he was raised makes him remember his parents and he shudders. Once again, he's reminded of the life he left behind and it bites him yet again.

He walks away from the window and goes over to the front door, placing his left paw on the knob and turning it to open the passage into the outside world blanketed with snow. Fai is standing on the overhang due to the snow making her feet cold. She brushed some of it away but there's still a lot left over. He closes the door behind him and she calls out to him. "Hey Mint! Up here!"

He looks up at the overhang and sees her. "I tried to clear as much snow as I could but it's soo cold out here and my feet got cold much faster than I thought they would. I don't want to burden you, but could you see if you can clear some of it away? I'll join up with you once my feet aren't cold anymore."

He nods and walks down the steps leading to her apartment and jumps off the 4th step from the top and lands in the snow. It almost comes up to his scarf, which would measure in at about a foot of snow in total. This is nothing to him, he smirks and prepares to do one of the few things he's a master at doing: clearing snow away. He's done it countless times before and developed a technique that will enable him to clear all of it away with little to no effort. He turns his head to look at Fai. "W-watch this!" he then turns back to the snow.

Fai watches, curious as to what he's about to do. Mint puts his paws out and positions his feet to be roughly perpendicular to where his shoulders would be. He then takes a deep breath and while using the move 'Tail Slap' he begins to spin around rapidly. The snow around him is whipped up into the air and interestingly, it begins to revolve around him as he spins. He moves forwards and a massive snow cloud is formed. He uses the fluffs on his head as a means of creating a sort of vacuum and his tail disturbs the snow and further develops this vacuum, throwing the snow into the air as he spins rapidly. He's spinning so fast in fact that he looks like a blur and nothing more. The giant vortex of snow wraps around him and as he moves forward, the entire path to Fai's apartment begins to become crystal clear. A few minutes of this snow vortex and the entire path is open, but Mint still has to deposit the snow somewhere and as he ends up on the sidewalk, he stops spinning and all the snow that wrapped around him loses lift and falls on top of him. Fai can't believe what she just saw, he turned into a tornado of snow and completely cleared it all in record time. Her eyes are wide in disbelief and shock, she's never seen anyone do anything like that in her life before.

Mint jumps out of the snow and comes back to her. He puts his paws on his sides. "I-I bet you've never seen anyone clean snow that f-fast before!"

"I sure haven't! That was awesome! How the hell did you learn to do that?" she says, jumping down from the overhang.

"W-well, it's something I learned a while ago. I figured out t-that if I used my 'Tail Slap' attack i-instead of trying to shovel, I could move more snow… I then l-learned that if I spun really fast, the snow would get caught in my f-fur and stuff…"

Her eyes are sparkling a little, she's extremely impressed with it. "It clearly does more than I could do with a shovel. You gotta teach me that someday!"

He chuckles and rubs the back of his head with his right paw. "W-well… you need to learn 'Tail Slap' f-first…"

Her enthusiasm drops like a rock. Emolga aren't able to learn this move, and even worse, it's exclusive to the Minccino-Cinccino species meaning that Mint would never be able to teach her how to use the attack. Her ears droop a bit knowing this. "Yeah… I don't think I can learn that… I think only Minccino and Cinccino are able to learn that move."

He shrugs and then remembers something from earlier. "O-oh y-yeah!"

Her attention is placed back on him. "What's up?"

He taps his paws together anxiously. "W-well, I was w-wondering if there's anything I-I could do for you since… since you've been h-helping me since I c-came here…"

"What're you talking about? You're already helping me! The moment you stepped through the door of my apartment you started helping me!" she says.

He's confused by what she means. "I… I have?"

She nods. "Yeah, silly! The fact that you're here right now has already helped me in a few ways. First of all, you're someone I can talk to and that also means you're keeping me company as well! Two in one shot. You also just cleared all that snow away from my home too, that's another thing. Lastly, I know you might think it's embarrassing, but the fact that you didn't throw me off of you when you woke up and found me resting on you earlier. You don't have to do anything, just keep doing what you've been doing!"

He's a bit surprised to hear this. He's been helping her without even doing anything, at least, that's what it feels like to him. She can tell that he seemed ready to help out. "Hey, don't be upset. I don't care if you give back to me at all. Nobody ever gives back what I put out to them in this city besides Scott and you so it's fine."

He shakes his head. "N-no… I don't… I-I don't wanna seem selfish."

She understands. "You're not selfish. I don't see you inside right now eating all my food and demanding for more now, are you?"

He shakes his head 'no'. Her point is proven. "See? That's my point. You haven't even asked me for anything yet."

She jumps over him, flies a short distance, and then lands on the sidewalk that's covered in snow from what Mint did earlier. "C'mon! Now that the apartment is clear, I can get to where I work and see if maybe they'll have something that you can do in the meantime until you find yourself an actual job. Any cash income is better than not having any at all!"

He walks over to her and they both start walking down the sidewalk. Unlike yesterday, there's very few cars and buses on the road, as a matter of fact there's almost nobody out at this moment in time. The streets are rather quiet and while a few horn honks and voices of people in the distance are heard, the city is quieter than usual thanks to the snow. Seems like most people and Pokemon decided to take it easy today and stay at home.

Fai takes Mint to "Cast Square" as her job is in a small business that's located there. Once again, all the "in your face" billboards, ads, neon signs, and other things enamor Mint but this time, he's a bit more prepared and is able to take it all in without going into a trance. It's still a breathtaking sight for sure, but he's able to handle it much better this time around. Unlike last time, Fai takes Mint down the sidewalk on the right hand side and after a couple blocks, she stops and points at what looks like a cozy looking restaurant. "We're here! This is where I work!"

He looks at the sign on the door. Apparently the place is called "Cafe Amour" and the neon sign in the window says "Open for business!". Mint finds this odd. "Y-you work here? D-don't humans…"

She nods. "Mhm! I serve not just humans, but Pokemon as well! I'm a waitress but with a catch: I can fly and deliver food and drink super quick." she opens the door and a little bell rings upon doing so. "Come inside, I'll show you what I mean."

Mint follows her inside and for the first time in his life, he gets to see what a cafe is like. He's heard about them from stories of travelers that've come from Castelia, but never has he ever seen one himself. It's exactly how the stories described. The place is on the smaller side but has many tables and chairs. A few tables and chairs are up against the front windows, which are the only windows the place has since it was built into a giant cluster of buildings. In the back of the room is the counter where food is ordered and the waiters and waitresses take the food and deliver it to the tables. The walls and floor are painted in a checkerboard pattern of black and white, but it looks very nice regardless. The chairs and tables are all red, which go along nicely with the aesthetic the cafe has going for it. Finally, the lighting is rather chill here, a few lamps hanging off the ceiling over some of the tables to provide a soft but tranquil atmosphere.

There's only a few humans and Pokemon here right now surprisingly. At least Mint won't have to worry about someone going up to him to try and talk. As of right now, he has no choice but to stick around with Fai while she works if this is why she brought him here. The two walk all the way to the counter and they step on the raised ground that's partially under the counter so small Pokemon can place an order. The human behind the counter turns to them and immediately recognizes her. "Fai, welcome! Another day of work for you or what?"

She puts her hand up and shakes her head. "Today's an off day. However, I wouldn't mind giving some customers their orders if they're ready."

He wipes his hands with a towel. "Well, we just finished a few orders, and even though you're not on shift, you'd be willing to hand them out? You never do that on your off days. Is there a reason…?" he then notices that Mint's there. "Oh shoot! Sorry, I didn't see you there little one…"

Mint shrugs it off, he's used to going unnoticed by others. Fai introduces him. "Okay, Tony, this is Mint, Mint, this is Tony."

Tony reaches out with his right hand to shake with Mint. While he doesn't want to come off rude, he reluctantly reaches out with his right paw to shake and they do so. It's a bit awkward but luckily, Tony doesn't comment on it. He looks back at Fai. "So, is he that one special Pokemon you're always wishing you had in your life?"

This makes Mint avert his gaze elsewhere far away from them, he pretends to ignore what he said. Fai giggles a bit. "Nah, he's really nice and stuff, but he's a Castelia newbie! I'm just helping him out until he's got himself situated comfortably somewhere. Speaking of that…" she taps him on the shoulder and he turns to look at her. "I'm gonna show you what I do for about 5 days a week. Pay attention, because if they need more help, you might be doing something similar and since it pays well, I suggest taking it."

She then goes back to Tony. "Bring out the platters and tell me which tables are waiting for their orders and what they ordered!"

Tony places the towel around his waist and goes into the back. A few seconds later he comes out with two platters that seem way too big and heavy for Fai to be able to carry. He puts them down on the counter and reads off a piece of paper. "Alright. Tables 2 and 3 ordered the coffees, while tables 5, 7, and 11 ordered the breakfast special. Go get em' girl!"

She fits her hands under the platters and lifts them with ease and carefully balances them on her shoulders. She looks at Mint. "See? This is the easiest part… the hard part is remembering the orders and where they go but that's easy for me because I've been doing this for so long." she then hops up into the air and flies over to the tables that are waiting for their orders. It takes her just under a minute to complete the delivery and she flies back over to the counter. "Done and Done! I even got a tip!" she then holds out a 500 Poke coin. She hands it over to Tony who seems pleased with her work, he also takes the platters away and places them under the counter.

"You never fail to impress me! Now, you said your friend of yours is looking for a job?" he says.

She nods. "Yep, although I don't know how well he's gonna do if I'm going to be truthful with you."

He shrugs. "We all start somewhere. So, Mint was it?" he says while looking at him.

Mint nods. Tony pulls out a piece of paper and a pencil from his back pockets. "Real quick. You have no current residence in Castelia, correct?"

He nods again. Tony continues. "What about work experience? Ever worked as a cafe waiter or a waiter for that matter?"

"N-no sir… I-I've never had a-a job b-before…" he says meekly.

Tony writes this down. "Interesting. I do need someone that could help out with running the counter on the frontend, and that would mean taking customer orders, counting money when they pay for the food and drink. I could also use someone who would be able to wipe down the tables and pick up the little garbage that customers sometimes leave behind, as well as mopping the floors and junk. I hear Cinccino folk do an extremely good job at cleaning up, so I have high expectations for you if you decide to take the job. Of course, since this is your first, I expect you to be a bit slow and stuff, so I won't expect much in that department." he then places the paper in his pocket. "Well, what do you say? Will you take it?"

Mint thinks about it for a second. While this place seems nice enough, he's never worked before in his life and doing something like this sounds like a very tall order. The cleaning bit is something he's a master at thankfully, but everything else makes him a bit nervous. He'll have to face customers eye-to-eye and be confident. Self-confidence… Something he doesn't have much of. However, if he's gonna be living here, he's gotta make money like Fai said. "It's not like I really have too much of a choice. I don't know if there's any other job in this city that would be easily offered to me like this, and this place seems quiet enough…" he thinks.

He looks Tony in the eye and nods. "I-I'll take it… I'll t-try my best sir…" he says lowly.

Tony laughs for a couple of seconds then holds his hand out again. "Welcome aboard then!"

Mint extends his right paw again, not as nervous as before, but still quite nervous. "T-thank y-you…" he barely mutters out as they shake with each other.

Fai is pleased with this. "Wow, that's awesome, Mint! You've got a job now and soon enough, you'll be able to get your own place with your own things and stuff!" she turns to tony and speaks with a happy tone. "Thanks again Tony, I'll see you tomorrow!"

"See you tomorrow Fai!" he then turns back to Mint. "By the way, you'll be starting tomorrow since Fai has her shift. Since you two seem to be pretty good with each other, I'd rather you have someone who you're comfortable with working alongside you rather than you being alone. Something just tells me you're a tad bit more anxious than the average newcomer that walks through my door."

Mint stays silent, he's a bit embarrassed to hear this. "A-am I really t-that nervous and anxious? H-how does he know all of this…?" he thinks to himself as he nods in agreement to what he'll be doing tomorrow.

He waves goodbye to Tony, and him and Fai leave the cafe together. She's quite excited for him to have a job so quickly, and not only that, to be working in the same place she works in too. Talk about being lucky. This is only the first step towards his "New Life" that he's had pictured in his head for all this time, but once again, even as good things happen to him en masse, he can't help but have that doubtful feeling creeping up behind him with every event. He still can't understand why this feeling appears and as they walk back to Fai's apartment, Mint tries his best to focus more on what would happen tomorrow. He finally got a job and pretty soon like she said, he'll be able to have his own place, yet, that doubtful feeling...

PD: ALLLRIGHT! Mint's got a job now, and he's working alongside his partner in crime (hehe) Fai! What could possibly go wrong now!? Absolutely nothing I hope... But for real, that doubtful feeling... something's still off despite all of the wonderful things that's happening to him yet he can't figure out why... Keep reading and eventually you'll find out! In the meantime, feedback is appreciated. Don't be shy to leave your thoughts, but nothing overtly critical please! Anyway, seeya in the next chapter!