Blastoise and Ariados

A man walked out onto the rooftop of the Sunshine Skyscraper. Not the Rooftop Observatory; no, that was a couple of floors below. This was the actual rooftop with the satellite and radio tower. This was a utility area that most people would never see. But he had good reason to be there. He was the leader of the window washing team.

He pulled the two Pokeballs off his belt and released the Blastoise and Ariados. These two were specially commissioned and trained for this job, although they, like their battling peers, considered this more of a game than a job. Eager to begin, they cheered loudly.

"Hang on, boys," the leader said with a smile. "We have to get you prepared, or else we aren't doing anything."

First, he put a harness with three small buckets around the body of his Ariados. The buckets had plastic flaps that ensured the cloths inside stayed inside. Then, he secured a blue hat on the Ariados' head that matched his own. It was marked with the company name 'Tal-tal Washers' in big letters, with the slogan 'We wash tall-tall buildings' in smaller letters below.

His uniform now on, the Ariados crawled under the safety fence and onto the skyscraper's outer wall. With the natural clinginess of his suction cup feet, he had no fear of falling. But his leader and partner would be in trouble if they fell, so he went to a hidden compartment to call out the washer's platform. There was another switch on the safety fence, but he preferred to use this one. It would be a little bit for the other two to be ready, so he spent a moment cleaning the tips of his feet.

The Blaistoise had a more complex hookup to do. The human leader put his hat on, then opened up the gate to the platform that the Ariados had brought out. On the left side were two hoses that connected to the building's water supply. The leader attached those to the valves on the tortoise's back after they were on the platform. These valves weren't natural, but had been humanely attached when he was only a Squirtle. His kind were able to summon up water in nearly any environment, but in order to make sure he had enough to do the job, this backup was necessary.

Then, on his left waterspout, the leader attached a container of concentrated cleaning solution. While he did that, the Ariados came back over and looped a strand of webbing around the human's waist. Once the spider attached a non-sticky length to the platform's rails, the leader was safe from any accidental falls. The leader then checked to ascertain that the system was secure and clean, then locked the platform shut and started their descent.

Sunshine Skyscraper's windows didn't start until below the Observatory, so they passed that level by. When they had windows to clean, they went to work. The Blastoise started by spraying the windows down with his left spout, sending cleaning solution over every inch. Then he sprayed the soaked window with his right spout. The clean water rinsed off the cleaning solution. Then the leader took a squeegee and wiped off all of the water. Next, it was onto another window.

Behind them, the Ariados scuttled over the cleaned window. As meticulous as the spider was about being clean himself, he left no trace on the glass. His job now was to inspect and look for any missed spots. Like this smear; it looked like a silly Pidgey had smacked itself into the glass. He took a soapy cloth out of one bucket and wiped it down, then rinsed it off with the watery cloth out of the other. Out of the third, he took an absorbent cloth and wiped it dry.

And so they went, window by window, floor by floor down the Sunshine Skyscraper. Other people might call it tedious work, or mind-numbing. But the three of them enjoyed their work. The human and Ariados were both meticulous in cleaning by nature, so it pleased them to leave sparkling clean windows behind. As for the Blastoise, well, he pretty much enjoyed having unlimited amounts of water to spray at things. It didn't matter if it was windows, cars, or Pidgies he was targeting. Although, he'd been trained strictly enough that he only fired on the job now.

Every ten floors on this building, there was an architectural flourish, a fancy molding that went around the whole building. That took some more work to clean, as there were more areas for dirt to get stuck. The initial washing went the same, but then the platform waited as the Ariados inspected. His small cloths weren't suitable for cleaning this material, so if he found a spot, he would tap it, then scramble away so the Blastoise could blast it again.

When noon came, they stopped the platform and brought out lunch: a roast beef sandwich for the human, a reed and fish salad for the Blastoise, and a tin of prepared food for the Ariados. When the human pulled off the lid for it, the spider perked up, tilting his head to chirp.

"You really love this stuff, don't you?" the human asked, handing the tin over.

The Blastoise scrunched his nose up at the sight (and smell) of the Bug food.

"There's much more disgusting foods out there, trust me," he told he larger Pokemon.

The Aridos hung himself from the molding above them to relax and eat. In the wild, he would eat smaller bugs, but in human society, he ate a grub and berry mish-mash called 'Buggy Mixx'. It was extremely popular with Bug Pokemon, although the commercial jingle was one of those catchy tunes that stuck in one's head for days.

Sitting far above the streets of the big city, too high to hear the noisy chaos of the lunch hour below, it was an awe inspiring sight. The Pokemon had magnificent powers, true, but only humans had the guts to build their own environment, orderly and clean. True, the Pokemon might win in short-term power, but over the long-term, humans had prevailed. If not for their human leader, the two skyscraper cleaning Pokemon would still be in the wild, still following their ancestral ways.

Yes, the cleaning platform was a wonderful place to sit and think, the human reflected. Especially so high up. He could consider all the mysteries of life and the world. Although he rarely came up with full answers, he liked the mental exercise. Any of those burning questions of life were up for the taking. Any, like...

"I wonder, if the League Challenge is as hard as they say it is, why do we keep hearing of ten-year-olds besting everyone to become Champion?" the leader wondered aloud. "And how are they keeping control of Pokemon powerful enough to do that?"

The Ariados tilted his head and clicked his mandibles, showing that he didn't entirely understand the question. The Blastoise just shrugged, as he always did to the human's lunchtime musings.

The leader's watch beeped. "All well, no time for that now. Let's get back to work."

The other two cheered at the announcement and went back to their places.

…

Blastoise Emerald entry: The waterspouts that protrude from its shell are highly accurate. Their bullets of water can precisely nail tin cans from a distance of over 160 feet.

Ruby/Sapphire entry: Ariados's feet are tipped with tiny hooked claws that enable it to scuttle on ceilings and vertical walls. This Pokemon constricts the foe with thin and strong silk webbing.

I love entries like that Blastoise one!