DISCLAIMER:
The author is by no means a professional baker or anything remotely close to it, just a humble appreciator of the art. Therefore any content related to it in this fic should be taken with a grain of salt.


The door of the establishment opened, with it came a short but high-pitched creak from the rusty metal and the hollow sound from the wood belonging to it. If that wasn't enough to demonstrate the state of disuse the place had gone through, the smell penetrating my nostrils sure was. It was like a visit to the attic, one that had remained unopened for over a decade, if not more.

"It's impressive how fast things can deteriorate after just a few years without simple care," Monty said.

Following Monty, I moved into the shop first, then it was me, and following behind was Chansey, who probably had the impression I had if her expression is anything to go by.

The place was dark, and the sunlight was the only light source that guided our first steps into the room because we kept the door open, otherwise, we probably would've tripped on something.

I called them 'something' but the truth is I can tell very well what the objects in the room were. They were big enough to consider furniture, so there is that. Although I could only see faint silhouettes with the little light available.

Monty walked to the other side of the room with ease, without tripping on any of the furniture scattered all over the place. A clicking sound was heard once he stopped his steps.

A dim white light flickered for a second before embracing the entire room, and so everything became visible.

Just as one could expect, the place was covered with dust. a thick layer of it. So thick that your footsteps left a print in the ground after taking a step, no matter how careful you were.

Particles of dust could be seen floating in the air, due to our presence after setting foot into the place and years without use. Also, accidentally breathing was easy so I waved my hand a bit to avoid inhaling it.

And the big objects scattered around the place were indeed furniture. Most of them were small tables and chairs, while others seemed to be some sort of display furniture, items commonly seen in stores for the customers to pick or choose a product before buying. But all of this begs the question.

What is this place exactly? It has to be some type of shop, or at least it used to be one.

It has to be some sort of shop, one that hasn't seen much action in a while.

"So, what do you think?" Monty asked soon after, interrupting my thought process.

"Huh, about what?" I asked without much care. I was distracted watching my steps.

"This place," he replied opening both his arms, in a welcoming manner, "It has seen better days, but a good clean up, and it'll feel like new once again," he said before covering his mouth and letting out a dry cough, probably caused the surrounding dust in the air.

I imagine this isn't what he meant when he mentioned a 'job' for me, no, it probably is something else. I better ask.

"I guess so," I replied, "but what does that have to do with me? Don't tell me this is what you meant by having a job for me." I said with little hesitation.

"Right, I should've known this would be confusing," he said before closing in the distance between us. "To put it bluntly. I'm the owner of this shop, or well, what is left of it; and I would like you to work for me, help me restore it."

"What?"

Now, my expectations regarding a possible job were simple, nothing too fancy just physical work for the most part, but working for Monty never crossed my mind once. Isn't it suspicious though? Someone offers shelter to a homeless man and has a job prepared for him the very next day. It raises some questions.

However, would it be something for me to get worked up about? I'm in a world which I considered mere fantasy no more than 24 hours ago. Add to that the fact that I've no way to sustain myself, no ID or money; and to top it off, I'm fairly sure I died in a car accident. So yeah, my options are close to none for me to get picky.

Monty turned his gaze to me, leaving its previous playfulness behind. "I know, this is unexpected and perhaps suspicious. But believe me when I tell I have a good reason for this and the best of intentions too."

Silence followed suit as I thought of a proper answer. I don't' want to sound ungrateful, but the whole situation is a little sketchy, at least. so I want to keep a degree of doubt. But at the same time, this is an opportunity I don't see myself getting any time soon.

"I have little reason not to trust you," I finally said. "However I'm hesitant to accept a job from a person I just met. It sounds too good to be true, but at the same time, I have nowhere else to go or do to keep myself alive in this...land. So regardless of it all, I think that accepting it is my best option here, but not before listening do are your plans exactly, I'm in the dark here."

After hearing my answer Monty nodded twice, relaxing his expression in the process. "And that's fine. I would've been surprised if you accepted so easily."

"So what's the deal here, do you want me to clean this place up?" I asked giving another quick look at my surroundings. The place indeed needed a bit of a dust off to look at least presentable. "I shouldn't be too hard for me."

"Chansey!" Chansey added from the back. She had remained silent the entire time I had almost forgotten she was here.

A small smile made its way to my face after hearing her hearty reply. "And Chansey's help too," I said.

Monty's lips curved into a smile as well, albeit less subtle than mine. "I'm glad to hear she is in as well because what I have in mind is more than a simple cleaning job. Not only do I want you to help me restore it, but also to run it and bring it back into the business."

I made no effort to hide my surprise after hearing that last part. Helping him run it, for real?

"I think you might be overestimating my abilities a little too much here," I replied mildly confused. "I was indeed a business student back at home, but I'm far from ready to run a shop, I didn't even get to chance to have an internship. Not to mention I don't know what kind of store this is."

"Bakery, this place used to be a bakery," Monty replied with all the calm in the world.

"Right. I don't know how that works. I can barely cook for myself."

Monty waved his hand effortlessly, from left to right, at my response. "Don't worry about that, it is not as hard as you think, it becomes easy once you get the hang of it. I'll teach you how to do it."

"So you'll be helping me? That sounds better, someone with expertise could…" My words died down after seeing Monty's expression, turn grim, sad. His good mood seemed to be suddenly darkened for some reason.

"I won't be doing that, no. That kind of help isn't what I have in mind. I'll teach you the basics, but the rest you must figure out on your own," he said.

He walked towards the counter again and placed one hand over the dusty furniture, slowly rubbing it without a care for the dirt on top of it. His movements were slow but precise; his fingers traverse every part of the wooden surface they were able to reach without him moving from his current spot. It looked to me like he was trying to reach something that was no longer there.

He was reminiscing.

"This place is more than just a bakery," he began, his voice felt heavy and rasp. "To me, it has an indescribable value, I wouldn't be able to fit it in one word no matter how hard I tried."

He half-turned his head back to me, but his hand remained on the counter, and after seeing my clueless face, he kept going. "This is probably coming as confusing, I'll try to get to the point," he affirmed still with the same tone as before. "The reason this shop holds a special value to me is because of my wife. She and I used to work here. For over 25 years we worked together with our pokemon. Those were joyful days."

Ah, I think I understand now. The tone in his voice, the mood, and now the mention of his wife. This story doesn't have a happy ending, does it?

Monty dryly scoffed, "It is exactly as you think," Monty said after noticing my shift in expressions, "My wife is no longer with us. She passed ten yea-, no, eleven years ago." Regret could be sensed in his voice.

"I'm sorry to hear that," I replied, an almost automatic response on my part in this type of scenario.

"Don't be, it has been over a decade. She was never one for accepting others' pity anyway" he said before clearing his throat, trying to recover his normal tone of voice. "What I'm trying to say is, I can help with minor stuff, but I don't plan on spending any significant time on this bakery. The memory of my wife makes it… difficult for me to be here. I know it's hard to understand, but I can't change that little trait of mine. That's why this property has remained without use since she left me."

Haunting memories of loved ones, I'm not a stranger to that.

I can understand to a degree the why of his actions. Sometimes it's hard to move on with life with memories holding you back, which he tried to solve by leaving this place behind. Not the healthiest solution, but it works.

"If you don't mind me asking, why didn't you sell the shop or perhaps rent it?" I asked trying to bring the topic back to its origin.

"I thought about it." he was quick to reply, "but in the end, I was unable to. Every time I was close to deciding on it, something within my mind stopped me from going further. It was an odd sensation, like a subtle ringing in your head."

Monty's explanation left me wondering if he ever saw a psychologist about this 'problem'. I'm aware the departure of a loved one can cause a variety of emotional side-effects, but these should go away with time.

"Then why, why are you offering this to me? What makes me different?" I asked out, raising my voice unintentionally.

"Chansey chan," the ovaloid pokemon echoed in a doubtful tone, sharing the same curiosity as I.

"That," he pointed at me, "is a good question. Give me a second." Monty went around the counter, reaching the opposite side, his hands reached for one of the drawers on the lower side of it.

Sound of small objects being moved around each time he pulled open a drawer or closed one were the only sounds we heard for a solid minute, till he finally found what he was looking for.

"Here," he said before even showing what he had. He stood up and approached the counter, carefully placing the object he retrieved on top of it. It was a picture. The frames were dusty but the picture itself was given a quick rub to make it visible. "This is me and my wife, Lea; and our pokemon. This picture was taken almost… 30 years ago I think. Time sure flies." he said with a nostalgic undertone.

I approached the counter to get a better look at it, and Chansey followed. The picture had a man and a woman next to each other with big grins on their faces. I could easily tell the man was Monty, with more hair and fewer wrinkles but overall the same. The woman was a head shorter, and sporter a brunette hair, fair skin, and a slim body; any other detail was lost on me, she looked pretty overall.

"You look much younger here, how old were you?"

Monty whistled in response and rolled his eyes. "Hard to tell exactly. Somewhere around my early thirties, the same goes for my Lea. I was older than her by one year."

Nodding at his answer, I kept looking at the photo, this time focusing on the 4 pokemon next to them. Two of them I had never seen in my life before, and the other half I kind of recognized, but I could put a name to their faces.

Seeing how I was squinting my eyes at the pokemon in the photo, Monty stepped in. "If you're wondering about the pokemon in the picture, they belonged to us and helped in the bakery. Albeit, some were more helpful than others," he laughed.

Make sense. While my memories of the anime are scarce, I'm sure it was common for pokemon to give a hand in a variety of jobs. Helping in a store should be one of them.

"I think I recognize this one. It is a... Zoroark, right?"

"Yes, that's Ury, he was very polite for a Zoroark," Monty said while pointing with his finger at the pokemon in the photo from the other side of the counter. "There is also Sera and Calico, the Hatreena and Indeede. When it came to personality, they were the complete opposite of each other. One was a prankster and the other kept a serious demeanor at all times, yet they somehow became best friends. Amazing, really," Monty said with an air of nostalgia.

"What about this one?" I pointed at the pokemon he had yet to name, "I've seen this one before I think, but I can't remember the name."

It was a pink, bipedal pokemon that somewhat resembled a sheep, or at least I believe that was the intention. It must be from the early generations for to me recognize it.

"Ah," Monty reacted, nearly sighing, "That's a Flaaffy, and that was also her name. My wife never gave her one. I believe she enjoyed calling her Flaaffy so it stuck."

I couldn't help but notice that his eyes stayed on Flaaffy slightly longer than the others, there is a story here, perhaps.

There is also the fact that I have seen none of this pokemon on his house, and I get the feeling I know why. A grim topic to be sure, but I imagine there is a reason he is telling me all of this.

And just on time before I asked he continued. "There is a reason I'm showing you this. You see, Flaaffy was my wife pokemon just as much as Chansey is yours," he said, causing me to turn to Chansey he stood there with an expression of combined confusion and contentment.

"I don't believe I follow. But what exactly do you mean by this?"

"Remember I told you you were not the first person in your situation I encounter?"

And that's when the dots finally connected in my head, everything falling into place.

"Wait, so your wife-"

"Exactly," he interrupted my mumbled speech. "My wife was the same as you. From a world where pokemon didn't exist. She came from a war-ravaged land was what she told us. Countries fought for mere pieces of land not caring who many they had to sacrifice. She was only a civilian, a child when it all happened."

I couldn't tell what exactly was going on through the old man's mind at this point, but his thousand-yard stare while telling me about his wife's origin could only make me speculate.

"She showed at the edges of the town one day, with the only object of value on her being a pokeball with a flaaffy on it," he continued, raising his eyes to see if I was listening. "I didn't think much of her at the time, she was only a lost kid and I was a teenager with short attention spam-like many others my age," he said letting out a chuckle. "To cut things short, we eventually married and opened this bakery, that's how it came to be."

A young couple opening a bakery, almost sounds like fiction. But seeing the world I am in right now, I'm in no position to question what is fiction or reality anymore. I still think there is a possibility this might be a dream-induced coma.

"Is that why you want me to work here? Because my situation is similar to your wife's," I asked with genuine curiosity as I placed the picture in my hands on the counter.

"Yes," Monty answered, without raising his eyes from the photo I had placed on the counter a second ago, picking it up in the process. "There was a weird aura about you when I saw you wandering about yesterday, it was almost familiar. It wasn't until you told me about your origins that I was able to piece it together. I thought this was the best way I could help you, yet I'll understand if you don't want to take it. it is not an easy jo-"

"I'll do it."

Didn't take much for Monty to erase the surprise of his face, and change it for a pleased grin.

"And something tells me you won't be alone on it," he said, looking behind me.

"Chansey chan!" was heard right after. It looks like she doesn't mind sticking around, not that I expected her to leave me, but it is still surprising.

Regardless of the small amount of time after we've met, Chansey seems to like me for some reason. I'm not sure if this is common behavior for pokemon or maybe a special case seeing how she popped up into this world with me. Whatever the case, having her around can't hurt and I can't deny her good mood is contagious.

"Well, you have both of us it seems." I gave Chansey a look from the corner of my eye to confirm, and indeed she looked eager to help with both of her little arms raised as if she was trying to make a fist.

It took a second or two for Monty to process my, no, our response. "Excellent," he chirped before putting the photo of his wife away, and away around the counter to the other side. "I promise you it won't a bad decision. I'll help you every step of the way."

Took me a moment to realize that Monty had his hand extended to me, expecting.

I didn't make him wait and reached for it, giving it a firm shake. I was taught that a good handshake was firm but not crushing, and a symbol of respect and trust.

"Okay, so where do I start?" I asked somewhat eagerly, once our handshake was over.

Monty gave out a short laugh at my question, which got a raised eyebrow from me. "Right now? Well, first we have to take care of the basics," he said while reaching for his pocket and pulling a leather wallet. "You're going shopping."

"Huh?"


The early morning breeze caressed my cheeks and the sun basked me lightly with an enjoyable temperature. All the while I stared dumbfounded at my current situation, sitting on a bench in a nearby park, 2 blocks away from the bakery.

My eyes were glued to the object held by my left hand, slightly raised over knee level, in perfect range to my eyesight. The object in question was a green and black card, which had the words 'Macro Cosmos Debit' on the upper side of it.

I understand trusting a stranger based on past experiences, but… this is a whole other level.

"How am I supposed to go about this?" I asked out loud while raising the card, reflecting the sunshine on it.

"Chan?" Inquired a voice next to me. Chansey had taken a seat to my side while I was thinking about what to do next.

I glanced at her after hearing her speak. Chansey is the only one around that I can bounce my thoughts with, even if I don't fully understand her answers.

I remember folks talking to their pokemon all the time in the anime, having an almost normal conversation, and understanding each other in the anime. Can't hurt to give it a try.

"What do you think? Is it okay for us to accept his generosity just like that?" I asked at first, only to continue right away with an argument to counter my previous point. "But he already told us his intentions, so it shouldn't be all that suspicious, right?"

Chansey didn't answer, only tilted her head to the side.

"Yet you know, I can't shake this feeling of guilt. As if we're taking advantage of an elderly person to get free stuff." I rebuked myself yet again.

This time she did reply, yet it wasn't quite what I expected. "Chansey, chan chan. Chansey!" She said with an oddly serious tone, one I hadn't heard coming from her before.

Of course, a pokemon repeating its name in different tones or ways is not the same as human communication, but there is something special that I can't quite place. I feel lost and at the same time, I can almost understand her. It's all too surreal.

Nevertheless, it relies on me on how I interpret her reply.

"Are you sure this doesn't count as taking advantage of him?" I asked Chansey this time, instead of myself. "I never had someone borrow me his credit card, let alone a person I met yesterday."

"Chaaan" she said, with complete confidence.

I scoffed, she doesn't seem to think much of it all. I can roll with that.

"Very well then," I affirmed, standing up from the old bench. "If you're so convinced, then I guess there is no other," I joked.

She replied with an eager nod and a smile, doing little to hide her enthusiasm.

Now, where was the shopping district again? I remember we passed it on our way here.

Without spending much time pondering where it's located, we walked back to the bakery from the park we found ourselves in, and from there another block to reach (I think) the shopping district I saw earlier.

On our way there, I began a mental note of all the things I could need in the next days.

"Get yourself whatever you need. I trust you won't overdo it." Those were Monty's words. It'll be pretty hard to follow when I don't even know how much the currency is worth in this world.

I guess I can put those worries to the side for the time being. Unless what I need is overly priced, it shouldn't be much of a problem.

Now, what exactly do I need?

Instantly, two things come to mind. A phone and new underwear.

The phone is self-explanatory. Making someone survive their day-to-day without a phone is almost a capital crime, and I'm sure the same applies here, in the pokemon world.

As for the underwear, well, I've been wearing the same for more than 2 days. And while I was lent clothes, there is no way in hell I'm using someone's else underwear, not even if you pay me. So yeah, new underwear is high on the priority list and I suppose more clothes too.

Okay so we can add clothes to the list, what else could I need?

Assuming I'll stay with Monty for the unforeseeable future, I won't need to expend anything on home appliances or food, so that's out of the way. But wait, maybe I should buy food for Chansey. I know he can always share the ones he has at home with her but maybe she needs a specific type of food. I'll keep it in mind.

In the short time we spent walking, not much else came to mind. I'm a man lost in another world, my priority right now is to survive. Luxury items and any other commodity aren't on my mind for now. Perhaps that will change, only time will tell.

In the end, it seems I won't be buying much.

I felt someone pulling my sleeve, taking me out of my current thought process. It was Chansey giving me an 'are you okay?' type of look.

"What happened?"

She doesn't say a thing and only points forward, making me look in that direction. We already arrived and I hadn't even noticed.

"Sorry about that. I was busy thinking about what we should get without going crazy on expenses."

"Chan?" she asked, tilting her head.

"I got a couple of things on mind, it isn't much," I said, assuming she was asking about it. "First I'll get a phone, that is priority number one, then we'll get the rest. But we can do some window shopping on the way, surely we'll find something interesting."

With Chansey's nod, we venture into the shipping district for our little shopping spree.

The place hadn't changed all that much from a few hours ago. The only difference being a slight increase in people (and pokemon). However, moving around wasn't difficult.

As we walked I couldn't avoid but glance at every pokemon we passed. By now I have seen my fair share of pokemon but there are so many here, and more than half I have never seen in my life before. It is almost impossible not to throw a small glance at them. They have some sort of combination between cartoonish and realistic looks, leaning more towards the latter.

I'm going to have to learn the names of each pokemon eventually. That might take a while.

Pokemon aside, the people around here were also worth a glance or two. It seems green and purple are common hair colors here because it's either that or folks like to dye their hair a lot. Just another thing I need to get used to.

When not paying attention to the pokemon or people around me, my focus was on the nearby shops. The shopping district was humble, it didn't sport tall buildings or flashy signs like many modern cities but had houses no bigger than 3 stories with simple designs. Most of the buildings I had seen so far had the same small-town atmosphere, scenic and simple.

We both walked down the sidewalk, keeping an eye open for any interesting store. Most stores were surprisingly normal, at least from the outside, maybe entering one would provide a different perspective but that will have to wait. My aim right now was focused on getting a cellphone.

After touring around the place for a while, I decided to enter one of the malls, seeing how I had yet to find any of those Apple-ish-looking stores where normally people buy phones and the like.

And as soon as I set foot on it, boom there it was. A store with a plain but sleek design on the outside, and with its walls painted white. The name of the store 'Cosmos Tech' was highlighted by a neon green light, on top of the doors.

"Cosmos Tech? Catchy name," I read out loud as we stood in front of the store. "Looks like this is it," I announce to Chansey who had been dutifully following me for the past ten minutes.

I and Chansey stepped inside, finding the store to be almost empty so we were rushed by the nearest employee with the classic 'How can I help you?'.

Luckily for us, our stay in the store went smoothly. I picked a fairly average phone since I wasn't interested in the most expensive ones which offered almost the same characteristic. I didn't find it worth the price. Although what did confuse me was when the employee helping me asked if I was a trainer or not, before showing the catalog. Perhaps they have some sort of discount going on.

They were also able to give me phone service in the same store, which made things convenient, probably saving me a lot of time.

The price gave me a small heart attack at first, being in the 4 digit range, but it seems that was the usual price after comparing it with the other phones. So the currency here is not the same as home. Makes sense, but I didn't see it coming for some reason.

After no more than an hour I was out, walking with a brand new phone and a pair of cheap headphones I'll change later.

"Phew, that was quick, wasn't it?" I asked Chansey who I was afraid was going to bore to death while I checked all the different smartphones available.

"Chan chansey!" She carelessly replied to me with a smile on her face, raising one of her arms.

"Good to know you're always in good spirits. God knows I need some of those too," I joked as we walked away from the store. "Anyway, now comes the good part. I think I saw some stores that were more or less my style on the way here. They shouldn't be far."

It didn't take more than a four-minute walk for us to reach the store I had in mind. The showcase looked that they mainly sell casual sportswear, which is exactly what I have been looking for. I've always found the bagging sensation of those types of clothes liberating.

However, before we could enter the store my eyes drifted towards a small bird-like pokemon wearing a bright orange scarf, waiting by the side of the door. It looked familiar, taking me a second or two before its name came to mind. 'I think it was called a Starly, I'm 80% sure of it.'

"Hey bud, what are you doing out here?" I said with a spark of curiosity, this pokemon clearly had an owner and he was just standing there, alone.

The Starly looked up, he had a bored expression plastered on his face, even a few visible bags beneath his eyes. After analyzing me, he slowly raised one of his wings, pointing to a red sign I missed above him.

'No non-Trainer Pokemon allowed' read the sign.

"Ah, that explains it," I said, looking back at the Starly whose only reply was a slow nod. "You are having a rough time aren't you?" I sympathize with him, waiting while others do their shopping isn't a fun position to be in.

He lets out a deep chirp in return, bringing back his gaze towards the door. Hopefully, his owner wouldn't take too long.

Chansey approached the little bird pokemon and began giving him small pets on its head. "Chansey chaan. Chansey" was all she said, on an enthusiastic tone, which the Starly replied with another dead-toned chirp.

"Well, I'm not sure what exactly defines a trainer here but something tells me I don't qualify as one, which means…" I reached for my left pocket where I kept my only poke ball. "You're going into the poke ball Chansey, I don't want you waiting outside like this poor fellow. Although I probably won't take too long in there. I rather not risk it. You don't mind, right?"

Chansey stopped petting the, now indifferent to our presence, bird pokemon and looked at me. "Chan!" she exclaimed raising one of her arms while keeping her usual friendly smile. As expected, she doesn't mind.

Without letting the poke ball go, I pointed it towards Chansey and pressed the button in the middle. Not long after she was wrapped by the classic red energy and went into the poke ball the next second. "Don't worry, I'll make it snappy," I said as I placed the poke ball back into my pocket.

The inside of the store was nothing of out the ordinary, leaning on the smaller side but had for than enough for me to pick.

I had one of the employees(which by the way, was pretty cute) greet me and ask if I needed any help to which I declined telling her that I could handle it on my own. I headed for the men's section and inspected their stock, always reminding myself not to take too long on it.

After no more than thirty minutes I already had everything I was looking for, which includes the so desired underwear. It was oddly expensive for some reason. It will take me some time to get used to the brands in this world.

Seeing as both my hands were full with all I had planned on purchasing, I directed towards the cashier carefully to avoid dropping everything, which I had already done two minutes ago. Balancing the clothes wasn't hard, but it was the box of shoes I had on top of one of my arms that made it difficult.

Thank God there was no line in front of the cashier, allowing me to clumsily place everything in there without regard for any other customers.

The person in charge was a cute girl different from the one that saluted me on my way in. He kindly asked me if that was everything, and then proceeded after seeing my nod over the bundle of clothes stacked in front of her.

Sweat pants, three shirts, a variety of socks and briefs which quantity I won't disclose, a light jacket and a pair of running shoes. This should be enough for me to hold on for a while before making money on my own.

While the cashier was handling the clothes for payment, my eyes wandered to the nearby shelves in the meantime. Mindlessly checking whatever they had on display while whistling a random tune. I didn't expect anything to catch my eye, but something managed to stand out.

Sitting on a corner were displayed bundle of beanies of many colors. That alone wouldn't catch my attention but what did was the design those beanies were. It was identical to the one Dawn wore if my memory serves me right. There were even a few who had the same color as hers, pink and white.

"Sir, will this be all?" I heard the cashier asking behind me.

"No, I'd like to add something else," I said as I approached the stack of beanies.

Once everything was set and done, I was already in the entrance, holding three plastic bags in my arms, and a new hat I wasn't all that shameful to wear.

The colors are different but I like the style.

They probably sold this hat back on Earth but I never really bothered to buy one, I wasn't the biggest pokemon fan out there after all. But the chance presented itself here and I couldn't ignore it.

As I exited the store I encountered the same poor Starly staring into nothingness right where I left him thirty minutes ago. The poor little guy must be bored to death, waiting for someone else to finish their shopping can be a drag. I can relate.

"Still here huh, buddy?" I asked the pokemon, as I reached for my pocket remembering there was another pokemon waiting.

The bird pokemon didn't say a thing, but nodded at me, acknowledging my presence, and kept staring at the sky.

Before wasting more time, I let Chansey out throwing the poke ball slightly into the air. With a quick red flash, Chansey was back outside and she let it be known with a cheerful 'Chan!'

"Hopefully that didn't feel long. I took longer than expect and bought, well, more than expected. But it was all needed, I think," I explained Chansey. For some reason, I felt the urge to justify my expenses, even though I'm sure she doesn't care.

Chansey only gave me a nod and walked towards the Starly, to pet him. I don't know, I guess she likes to do that.

"Anyway, I guess that was all I had planned. Let's go back to the bakery. We promised to him there once we were finished," I told Chansey as I try to figure out the way back, looking at both sides of the road.

Recognizing one of the stores I saw on our way here, I decide which direction to follow. "This way. Now that I'm done with the shopping, we better return. We'll have to explore later," I indicate to Chansey who was still petting the starly.

'Chaaan!' was her reply before following me.

With my shopping done, I took the opportunity to appreciate the shops around us without a hurry. As I noticed before, they ranged from restaurants and coffee shops to tailor and barbershops plus a great variety of pokemon both known and unknown to me. Overall, it was a diverse shopping district and I'd like to visit another time when I have my own money to spend on it.

Although I couldn't help but think something was missing, after all, there is a well-known store that is present in every mainline Pokemon game that I've yet to encounter. And the curious child within me wanted to at least take a peek.

Perhaps it's located in another part of the city, I'm sure I'll run into it eventually.

Luckily for me, that very same store showed up not more than two blocks down the road, on the other side of the street. Its appearance was slightly different but I knew it was one.

A Poké Mart.

I couldn't help but stand where I was and stare at it, memories of simpler times came to mind where a younger me rushed towards the mart to buy a bunch of Hyper Potions.

Those were the good times.

"Chansey?"

I was snapped out by memory by a worried Chansey who was slightly pulling my shirt to get my attention.

"Oh I, eh, I was just looking at something," I mumbled, trying to excuse my sudden stop but then an idea popped into my head. "Say Chansey, I'm already done with my shopping but is there anything you want?" I asked as I pointed toward the Poké Mart.

"Chan?" She asked, tilting her head.

"I'm sure we can find something you like." Plus my I'll satisfy my curiosity in the process.

We crossed the street and then went into the Poke Mart. It has been a long time since I last played a Pokemon game so any memory on its content was severely lacking, to say the least. I expected the Poke Mart to sell poke balls, potions, and other related things but I was completely blown away by the arrangement of products available. To put it simply, it was like a pet store on steroids.

The store was rather small but spacious enough for people and (most) pokemon to wander through the halls without a problem. Two employees were at sight, one working as the cashier and the other one restocking one of the shelves.

"Okay so this is the deal," I said after turning to Chansey, "you go and pick something for you, while I do some digging around. Sounds good? Everything is good as long as it's not too expensive."

Chansey gave me what looked like a thumbs up then walked towards the nearest hall.

Wait, can Chansey tell when is a price considered expensive? I should've given her a defined sum instead of keeping it vague.

Ignoring that small slip of mine, I walked towards one of the shelves to satiate my curiosity. I was welcomed with an incredible display of poke balls, from the classic red and white to colors I don't remember ever seeing before. An entire shelf was dedicated entirely to them unsurprisingly enough.

"Now, would you look at that?" I asked out loud, "Was there always that many types of poke balls or is this just my inexperience showing?" I approached the shelf and read the tags on it, reading the different names, Some I recognize, others not so much.

The rest of the shelves contained a different variety of items like food, vitamins, proteins, clothes, combs, shampoo, and even beds; and most of those were divided into sections depending on the type of pokemon, size, and other characteristics I didn't even bother reading.

There was also another section targeted mostly for humans, mostly conformed by accessories like belts to hold the poke balls, rope, backpacks, tents, etc. Camping equipment, like the tents and bags, had its area (although rather small) in one of the corners of the store. It was the only part I had items I could mostly recognize. That goes to show how out of place I am in this world.

I can see myself spending a solid hour or two looking through the entire stock, that's how impressive this world is. I can only imagine how a diehard Pokemon fan would feel right now, they would probably lose their shit. I mean, I'm excited and I barely played a few of the games.

I picked up a large comb from of the shelves, 'Fire Resistant Comb' it read on the side. "Man, this place has everything. I almost feel bad I don't have anything to buy," I whispered to myself.

At that moment I felt something pulling the back of my shirt. I turned back to stumble with Chansey, who held a shiny, yellow package in her hands.

"Found what you were looking for?" I asked, even though I already suspected she did.

She gave me an energetic nod and handed me that package she was holding.

I took the package from her hands and inspected it. It was not big than a bag of Cheetos, but its content felt heavier. 'P-Snacks: Magost Berry flavored. Give your pokemon all the sweet they want in the healthiest way!'

"S, a snack?" I asked with a smile, for some reason I found it funny but not surprising, "Sure, why not. I've to admit I'm curious about this too."

"Chaan!" she reassured me.

She is adorable.

We walked towards the cashier to get on with our purchase, but just like the rest of the store, I couldn't help to stare at the items being displayed nearby. Most of them I had already spotted somewhere in the store before, but what caught my eye was the evolution stones being displayed under a protection glass. Their bright colors made them hard to ignore.

The kid working behind the counter didn't take long to register our only purchase, which then proceeded to ask me if that was all.

Technically it was, but a sense of self-indulgent got ahold of me. "Eh, no, there is one more thing." I reached for one of the many poke balls being displayed nearby. Yes, they had those things near the cashier too, mostly the common red and white type.

The cashier, not batting an eye at my mumbled answer, passed the poke ball through the register. "Your total would be 480," he said in a monotonous tone.

I handed him the debit card which he took but have an odd look not a second later.

"Eh sir, could you give me your Trainer ID as well, please?"

Trainer ID, what?

"I'm sorry? I don't have one." I said, unsure if should even have one in the first place. This is new terrain for me.

The cashier's eyes opened slightly at my answer. "Oh right, sorry. I thought you were a trainer," he said as he gave Chansey a quick look. "In that case, your total would be around 624."

"Wait, what? Does the trainer ID give you some sort of discount?" I asked somewhat baffled.

The cashier's first reaction was to give me a look; squinted eyes and a tilted head, he didn't even bother hiding it. "Before you ask, yes, I'm not from around this parts, so if you explain it to me I'd gladly appreciate it."

It took him a second to respond and break his surprised expression. "Huh, well, according to League regulations and partnerships, we have a 30% discount for trainers on most items in the store. Normally the ones related to battles," he said.

A discount for trainers? I should've known that was a thing. I don't remember the games having anything like that, but if you think about it from a realistic perspective then it makes a lot of sense.

"That, that makes sense,"

Without trying to make my position even more awkward, I hastily paid for the items and left the store. Hopefully, the guy won't think much of it.

This does make me wonder the degree of secrecy I should have about my origins.

Regardless, I'll be more careful about what kind of information I share with others, even if it's not intentional.

With my curiosity satisfied and Chansey happy with her snacks, with walked back to the bakery without taking any detours. There were still many stores I'd like to check but I suppose I'll have time to do so later.

As soon as the bakery was in sight, I spotted Monty waiting by the corner of the street.

"Hey," he greeted us, "bought everything you needed?" he asked after seeing the bags I was holding.

"Yes, I did. But I have to say I don't' feel comfortable using someone else's money."

He laughed, "Don't worry about it, I knew you needed it and I can tell you didn't spend much."

"I guess, the prices in this… world still confused me a little," I said as I handed him his wallet.

"You'll get used to them with time, but now we can prepare towards the next step in our plan," he said with clear excitement in his voice.

"Ah, and what would that be?"

There was a brief moment of silence before his reply, although that didn't erase the smile from Monty's face.

"How good are you at cleaning?"


A brand new day, my second day here. Actually, no. It technically is my third day, but it doesn't feel like it. I guess it makes sense, a lot of things don't feel normal anymore after all. We can add a disturbed perception of time to the list.

Chansey and I stand in front of the abandoned bakery, with the first of sunshine sprouting already.

Of course, we aren't here for the joy of it, not really. We have a mission.

"Chansey, are you ready?"

"Chansey!" She firmly replied.

"Excellent, but double-check our gear just in case."

Chansey turned around to review once again the contents of the tool caddy where our supplies were stored to be safe we weren't missing anything.

The bag contained mostly cleaning products alongside masks, gloves, and the like. Crucial ingredients for today's task. I consider having that many to be an exaggeration but it wasn't I how bought them. It was all Monty's plan.

That's right, we have been told to clean the bakery. But it's not as simple as one might think. We have to clean both the outside and inside, which includes the kitchen and every other room used for the bakery business.

No wonder this is going to take more than a day, especially if there are only two of us.

This is the next stage in Monty's, and I quote, 'Grand Bakery Revival Project'.

I have as much experience cleaning as your average person, which is mostly reduced to sweeping my room and mopping the kitchen now and then. So this is kind of a step-up.

How hard can cleaning an entire bakery be anyway? Either way, I'm sure we'll get the hang of it as we go along.

"Chansey, Chan!" Chansey said acknowledging we have the necessary materials.

"Everything in order? Great." I said, eyes locked on the bakery and mind wondering where should we begin.

I fully turned towards Chansey and explained the plan I just came up with, "Okay Chansey I'm not sure how to approach this so we'll begin with the outside first and then slowly make our way inside and whatever rooms come after. How that's that sounds to you?"

"Chan!" she affirmed with an energetic nod.

"Good, let's get this over with."


As I said, we began with the outside, which is mostly the storefront. We focused on windows and the entrance door first since that seemed the easy thing to do.

Before that, we took on a ladder stored in one of the backrooms, on the way I could further inspect the inside of the bakery. It's not as bad as I expected, but some heavy sweeping is due for sure.

While Chansey was busy grabbing the right supplies, I placed the ladder in front of the windows. It was a bit rusty, but it looked stable.

Or so I thought.

Not more than 3 steps and the ladder was already staggering to the left, making my body freeze in time, only to later jump off of it.

"Oh no," I said to myself, "there is no way I'm working like this." I had my fair share of experience with this type of ladders in the past, some more painful than others. I know how it works.

"Chansey?"

Ah, my savior. "Chansey, could you do me a favor? I need you to hold the ladder while standing on top of it. I wasn't planning on it, but I rather not risk it."

She seemed pensive for a moment. "Chan, chansey chan," she replied with both arms raised high. I got the sensation there was more of a meaning to her words than a simple confirmation.

So I took a somewhat wild guess before answering back.

"No, I'll do it. I can reach higher after all."

"Chaaan," she said with vague disappointment.

Aha, nailed it. I think I'm beginning to understand this whole pokemon communication thingy. I imagine is a matter of getting the hang of it.

Chansey gave me a pouty face in response but accepted. First time I have ever seen her react like that.

With Chansey holding the ladder I climbed it up as high as I could (it wasn't too big) to get a better feeling of the situation above. It wasn't particularly different. A layer of dust that had been washed over by the weather and turned into a mud-like consistency. A few birds (Pokemon?) droppings as well.

Some of these are rather recent, ugh.

I climbed down and grabbed the necessary materials to clean that mess. "We'll begin up there and then move to the windows and door. I'll make it quick."

Chansey nodded, still holding the ladder for me.

Thank God the overhang is stored, otherwise, this would be even worse.

True to my word, and with questionable results, I finished cleaning the upper part of the storefront, at least to the point where I felt safe without Chansey holding the ladder. So she was free to help in other areas.

Removing the dirt from the wood frame on it brought an odd feeling of satisfaction. It's hard to describe, maybe it's the sense of accomplishment. I'm unsure.

With dust mostly removed, we began cleaning the windows, Chansey seems to enjoy that one especially, and she is adept it at too. Interesting. Can't say the same for me though.

Perhaps we should've used warm water.

"Excuse me?"

Hearing a voice coming from the left, I turned my head in that direction.

A woman, in her early to mid-thirties based on looks, with a pokemon at her side, because why not. The pokemon in question looked pretty much like a bear standing on its hinder legs. Ursaring I think it was called.

"Yes ma'am, how can I help you?"

"Are you the new owner?" She asked.

Oh God, please lady don't tell me you're here to give me trouble. Do Karens transcend time and space?

I took a deep, mental sigh before saying anything. "No ma'am, I'm just tasked with taking care of it for now?"

"So is it going to open again soon?"

My ears perked up, I was expecting some sort of reproach. "That's the current plan, yes."

"Mister Graham plans on reopening the bakery? That's great! I never thought it would happen. I've to tell everyone."

Graham? Ah right, that's Monty's last name. I nearly forgot.

Before I could come up with something, she had already walked with a spring in her step.

What just happened?

"Chan?"

"I don't know either."


The main room or customer area was a pain in the ass to clean, even before starting. The amount of furniture around made it hard for us to proceed smoothly.

The idea was the same as the outside, start from the top, the ceiling in this case, and then go up with the rest. The ladder wasn't used in this case since I just stood in one of the chairs.

Once that was done, the walls were next. The amount of dust stuck on them wasn't considered but still didn't make it any less annoying. Even with masks on we breathe some on it. Although Chansey didn't have as much of a hard time with it as me. Pokemon are tougher I guess.

Sweeping was easy, yet it didn't wasn't as thorough as I would've liked it to be. Luckily for us, we should have a tool at your disposal for this.

"Chansey," I called her out, "there is a vacuum in the kitchen, could you get it for me please? Do be careful, I've yet to see the kitchen."

Chansey put her broom away and nodded at me with a smile on her face.

She is happy to lend a hand in any way or form and while I do appreciate her help I can't avoid wondering why she is so eager to comply. She has been friendly right from the get-go but where exactly did she come from? I should ask Monty about it.

I prepared to vacuum the floor by moving a few of the chairs and tables to the left side of the room. They were not heavy, but accommodating them was nothing short of a hassle.

Shortly after, Chansey arrived with an old vacuum in her hands and plugged it in right away.

The vacuum was almost silent the first two seconds but later made a loud, rough noise. A signal of its old age.

Chansey didn't pay much attention to it and began to vacuum the nearby floor.

"Okay, I'll be sweeping behind the counter. You got this, right?"

She gave me a thumbs up. Or at least I think she did.

With some luck, we should be done with this area by the end of the day.


We were not done with it by the end of the day.

Turns out the vacuum barely worked and was mostly a noise generator machine rather than anything else. Too bad we didn't notice early and we spent a solid hour and a half trying to make it work.

We managed to sweep the rest with no vacuum but it took more time than expected and we didn't get enough to fully clean the kitchen the way I wanted to.

Now here we are, again early in the morning on our second day.

This time we brought a vacuum that works. Although there isn't much left to vacuum, it's better than using a broom.

Chansey offered herself to do the sweeping in the customer area while I investigated the kitchen. I saw it yesterday but I didn't get the chance to inspect the machinery or utensils. I know nothing about how bakeries work so this is bound to happen at some point.

Some I did recognize, the oven for example, while different from the ones you see in your average kitchen, you can still tell it is an oven. Then the rest I had mostly no clue what they were, I think one of them was a mixer of sorts. I mean, it makes sense.

There was also a walk-in freezer and fridge, albeit rather small compared to others I've seen. Luckily for me, this one looked clean enough. Good, because I can't begin to imagine where to start on them if I had to do it myself.

While walking around the kitchen I stumbled upon a small, vinyl-covered book on top of a shelf. Its thick edges made it easy to spot.

It seemed a bit out of place, most documents or the like were stored beneath the counter. So having it caught my attention.

Perhaps a guide of regulations for kitchen safety?

But it wasn't, instead, it proved to be much more interesting than anything I could expect.

It was a list detailing all of the products the store used to sell (and bake) back in the day, some even had pictures. And boy, was it a long list.

It had a bit of everything, the variety was nothing short of impressive. It had the classic brown and white bread, buns, fruit cakes, muffins, and a couple of extremely detailed cakes. Some of them had pokemon-themed decorations. I could spot a pikachu or two in those.

Not only that but there was also food I had never heard of before. Scones, crumpets, bannock, etc. Were these a thing in my world? I honestly can't tell.

If Monty expects me to make any of these without proper training, he is going to be sorely disappointed. Actually, no. Even with training, I doubt I can handle this on my own.

"God, what have I gotten myself into…"

The kitchen door opened in the middle of my inner lamentation, it was Chansey waving her arm at me, asking me to come over.

"What's the matter Chansey," I asked as I walked towards her.

"Chansey." She pointed towards the door. There was standing in front of it, with two little girls behind him.

"Another curious soul? This is the fourth one today."

"Chaan."

"I'll get it, don't worry, I'll join you in a minute. We still need to get to the office and storage anyway."


By the end of the day, we were almost done. Only missing a thorough cleaning on the storage room and a few corners of the kitchen where I spotted some mold that I decided to leave for last. Those fuckers can be hard to kill and are likely to return.

Also scrubbing, we're going to be doing a lot of that too.

And so the next day came, and just like the previous two, we were there by the morning. Not as early as yesterday though.

Chansey wasn't a heavy sleeper, but you could tell she takes some time to fully wake up in the mornings, like an hour or two. I was thinking coffee might do the trick for her, but I don't know if it's good for pokemon. I'll look it up later.

Regardless, we should be done today. I won't have it any other way.

We went to the kitchen as soon as we entered the bakery. Normally we used the customer's entrance but we used the employee's entrance in the back. We should've done it like that from the beginning, but I kind of forgot.

Pulling out the usual kitchen cleaning supplies, we began with the equipment. First the heavy ones, then the small ones.

Luckily, it didn't take long. The equipment was left in good shape and making it shine again wasn't particularly hard, the dust didn't stick to it as much as other parts of the bakery.

"Looks like they took good care of them, even before closing. I wonder how it went,"

I said out loud.

"Chan?" Chansey asked from the other side of the kitchen, as she soaked a used cloth.

"It just seems odd to me, that's all."

"Chansey."

I and Chansey have that kind of small interaction during the day fairly often. Sticking to cleaning alone is boring, and I don't mind her at all, in fact, I like her being around. She is more or less in the same situation as I. Sure, she is a pokemon, but that doesn't mean she knows the world, as well as a native, would. At least I don't think so.

Plus there is also the fact that she showed up here with me. I won't abandon her.

With the equipment cleaned, we moved towards other smaller, but annoying matters.

I gave Chansey a few minor tasks, nothing too significant, like taking out the trash and putting the furniture back in place. Meanwhile, I worked in removing the pesky traces of mold from the kitchen.

Here is where the scrubbing began, it was harder than expected but at least the area covered by mold was relatively small.

Our work continued uninterrupted, we didn't hear anyone knocking on the door, unlike yesterday. It looked like all curious passersby had already shown up.

This bakery was pretty well-known back in the day if all the people asking about it are a good guess to go by. It has a history of at least 30 years in this town, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was more than that. Monty didn't give me the full backstory.

If I'm going to be working here, I better get more answers out of him. Politely, of course.

After a bit over half an hour, Chansey show up, an indication she was done with the tasks I gave her.

"You're done? I'm almost done myself. The mold wasn't as big of a deal as I thought it would be."

"Chansey." She nodded.

"Great. Here," I gently threw a bundle of keys I had in my pocket. "Go to the backside of the store and turn the main shut-off valve on. That yellow one we saw yesterday, that one. Then open the sink to see if it works."

"Chan?" She asked, tilting her head.

I assumed she was asking about me. Most of my interactions and responses with her are based on assumptions and so far it has been working out. I guess.

"I'll be off to check the freezer and fridge after this, and then we'll be officially done."

Eager to keep helping, Chansey left swiftly.

I finished cleaning what little mold remained and went to check on the freezer and refrigerator. I had already checked them out on the inside, I only have to turn them on, to make sure they still get power. Monty told me there is a chance they might since it's been a while.

"Okay, how does this work?" I asked myself. I guess I have to plug it in first.

The cord was neatly wrapped on the right side of the fridge, I removed it and plugged it on a nearby wall socket.

No sound came from the machine after plugging it in. "Ah right, turn on the main unit power." I reminded myself.

I switched one of the buttons on the front side, and not long after that, the machine began producing a slow humming sound, soft and barely noticeable if one were not to pay attention.

"I guess that checks out as 'functional'."

And with that our job here is done.

I let out a sigh, a mix of satisfaction and relief. The sign of a job well done.

The place is clear of dust and dirt after so many years and layers of detergent and soap to make the bakery shine, even if only for a moment. Some might it's a mediocre job but it was the best I could provide and I'm happy with it

That, unless Monty thinks it isn't enough. Although I don't think he will, he should know neither Chansey nor I are professionals.

Speaking of which, where is Chansey? She should be back by now.

At that moment one of the doors leading to the back of the store opened up, it was Chansey but she wasn't alone.

"Not bad at all, you have surpassed my expectations," announced Monty as he entered the kitchen looking at his surroundings. "Maybe I underestimated the task." Behind him was Chansey wearing her usual smile.

"Oh no, don't tell me you're going to make us clean the second floor as well," I answered back.

He gave out a hearty laugh. "No, I'm not here for that. I wanted to check up on you, you said you were going to finish today and I wanted to see the results. You did a good job."

"Thanks, I wouldn't have been able to do it without Chansey."

"Chan!" She beamed in the back.

"Heh, of course, of course. But there is also one more thing I wanted to do today. And I think we have the time on our side."

"Is it related to that bag Chansey is carrying by any chance?" I asked as I recently noticed Chansey was holding a multi-colored cloth bag in her hands.

"Yes, and I hope you two are ready. I'm going to teach the basics on how to make bread."


I promise, Monty ending a scene is not something I plan on doing often.

It's been a while since my last update, sorry about that. I tend to... get distracted easily. This chapter might've come off as slow, and that's fine for me, I need to take my time with the intro for it to feel natural. Things will be sped up in the next chapters, I assure you.

I also wanted to thank you all for the follows and favs, I was not expecting this type of fic to gather this much attention. I'll do my best to keep it interesting. But if you have any feedback, I'll gladly take it.

Chifle out.