xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Rarest Level Ranch, 3:25 p.m. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Still hunched over with his hands on his face in his thinking pose was Keats, Pineco and Timburr next to him and imitating him as best they could as they attempted to contemplate what to do. After a few hours had passed since Keats walked into the woods, he quickly stood up and took his hands off his face as Pineco and Timburr looked at their trainer to see what he was going to suggest.
"Pineco?" Pineco said in a curious tone.
"Timbtimb?" Timburr said with a similar voice.
"...Nah." Keats muttered before going back into his thinking pose.
"Piiine..." Pineco sighed with annoyance.
"Timburr..." Timburr said with a similar tone as he and Pineco proceeded to close their eyes and bent forward slightly.
Meanwhile, back towards the ranch, Marie's Lopunny was holding a mop in her hands as she was using it to clean the top of Marie's recently returned Steelix's head as their trainer looked upward at them.
"Loplop!" Lopunny said with a smile as she cleaned Steelix.
"Steeeel." Steelix muttered.
"Everything good Steelix?" Marie said, loud enough for Steelix to hear.
"Steelixix." Steelix said while shifting his eyes towards Marie with a positive sounding voice.
"Looks like he's all good..." Marie thought with a content expression on her face as she looked over towards her Sableye, playing with a ball in the shape of a round bell towards a small group of Rattata, Ledyba, Caterpie and Adam's Charcadet.
"Sableye!" Sableye said as he bumped the ball towards Charcadet with both hands in a manner similar to a volleyball player, the ball making ringing noises from the hit.
"Charca!" Charcadet exclaimed as he proceeded to punch the ball with his small right fist in the direction of one of the Caterpie, causing the ball to smack the Bug type in the head.
"Caterpie!" Caterpie shouted in sudden pain as the green worm-like Pokémon fell over. "Piepie!" It said as Sableye walked over to check on it and Charcadet made an embarrassed expression.
"Charca!?" Charcadet muttered in shock.
"Sableyeeye." Sableye said as he helped up Caterpie and Charcadet proceeded to slump his shoulders in a saddened manner.
"Charca..." Charcadet said as flaming tears started to well up on his face, Sableye approaching the Fire type Pokémon to calm him down as the Ghost and Dark type noticed how upset he had become.
"Sabsab." Sableye said, attempting to comfort Charcadet as he rubbed the top of Charcadet's knight helm-like head.
"Still acting like a baby but that's nothing new for a recently hatched Pokémon. At least Sableye is playing with him..." Marie said as she rubbed the back of her neck as Adam opened the door to the backyard.
"Hey, Marie?" Adam said as his wife turned in the direction of her husband. "You're going to wanna see this." He said as he motioned for Marie to come inside.
"What now?" Marie said as she walked into the ranch house.
Walking through the living room and passing the front counter, Adam stopped near the window as he moved the shades slightly to look outside. Confused, Marie raised an eyebrow as Adam motioned for to come over.
"What?" Marie said as she looked out the window at a peculiar sight.
In front of the door that led into her ranch was an unfamiliar woman with glasses and messy blonde hair with burgundy red highlights tied in an equally messy ponytail. Dressed in a horizontal striped white and grey sweater with a long white skirt that reached to down to her ankles, she wore tight black pants that were tucked into black boots and a string necklace that had a Moon Stone tied in it around her neck.
"Okay... Just go inside, Anik..." Anik said to herself in a nervous manner, her right arm extended towards the handle to the door but not clutching it. "Just grab the door... And say "hello."' She continued.
"...Adam?" Marie quietly questioned towards her husband.
"If you're about to ask how long she's been in front of our door, it's got to be a full twenty minutes..." Adam said as he rubbed his bald head.
"I can't believe I'm getting cold feet right now! Ugh, this is so embarrassing!" Anik said as she took her glasses off and wiped her face on her sleeve.
Suddenly, as she put her glasses back on, Anik noticed the door had opened as Marie and Adam looked at her with confusion over her loitering in front of their home and business.
"Hello?" Marie said towards Anik.
"Can we help you?" Adam questioned as Anik slowly opened her mouth.
"Uh... Um..." Anik mumbled.
"Are you here to pick up a Pokémon?" Marie asked before Adam inched towards his wife's ear to whisper.
"She doesn't look like a client." Adam said quietly.
"Are you here to give us a Pokémon to look after?" Marie questioned as Anik was still unable to speak.
"Crap, crap, crap! I'm Shellder-ing up!" Anik thought as her body shivered in nervousness. "I-I-I'm An-ni-nik!" She exclaimed in a loud and nervous tone.
"Come again?" Adam said in response as Marie raised an eyebrow.
"So-sorry. I'm... I'm... Guh!" Anik muttered before smacking her facial cheeks with both hands, surprising Adam and Marie. "Hello... I'm Anik." She said, calming herself down finally as she extended her hand for a handshake as Marie reached out her hand.
"Well, least we got a name-... Hold on. "Anik?"' Marie thought as she shook hands with Anik until hearing her name.
"You said your name is "Anik?"' Adam said, also questioning her name.
"Yes?" Anik replied as Marie pulled her hand back from the handshake and turned towards her husband.
"...As in the astronomer woman from Alola?" Adam questioned quietly towards his wife.
"The one Rotom said helped Keats?" Marie whispered towards her husband as they both looked at each other before looking at Anik again.
"Is now a good time? Because I can come back in a little bit..." Anik said as she clutched at the strap of her handbag with both hands. "And take a moment to clear my head!" She thought, frantically.
"No! No! Come on in!" Marie said with her hands up.
"Yeah! Make yourself at home!" Adam said as he pointed inside, both him and Marie sporting wide smiles.
"Th-thank you..." Anik said as she walked into the ranch house, passing by Adam and Marie as the pair dropped their smiles and looked at each other with expressions of disbelief.
"That's her?" Marie quietly said with a surprised tone as they both looked over at Anik walking into their living room.
"Rotom didn't have a photo of her but jeez... Keats was right, she does have a cute look to her." Adam said as he looked over at the astronomy enthusiast as she looked at Marie's trophies on the mantle above their fireplace.
"Hey..." Marie said with a displeased tone as Adam scratched his face in embarrassment before closing the front door, the former champion walking over to the living room and her husband walking into the kitchen.
"Would you like a drink? Coffee? Tea? Water?" Adam said, offering a beverage to Anik as she turned around with Marie approaching.
"Oh, uh... Coffee would be nice." Anik said before turning towards Marie.
"You're from Kalos, right? Do you want a cappuccino? Because I can do that." Adam said as he started to prep the coffee maker.
"Ye-yeah, actually. I love cappuccinos." Anik said with a smile. "Keats or Rotom must have mentioned where I'm from when they got here." She thought.
"Ah, good, good." Marie said with a nod. "Note to self; teach Keats to make cappuccinos." She thought. "So, you know my brother?" Marie questioned as Anik made a bothered expression.
"Ye-yeah, somewhat... Can I put my bag down?" Anik said with a nervous tone as walked over towards the couch. "They know who you are, Anik... But how well of a story did he tell them?... Oh no, the last time I saw him, he was definitely bothered by me not helping against Imani Snagem... Are they already judging me?" She thought with worry growing in her mind.
"Go right ahead." Marie said with a smile as Adam looked over at his wife.
"Don't embarrass the girl!" Adam thought while staring at his wife with a judgmental expression.
"I'm not embarrassing her; I'm just extracting info!" Marie thought while biting her lip and glaring at her husband. "Soooo... You both met in Alola, eh? And you helped my brother and Rotom while they were there?" She asked.
"Well, more like your brother helped me out a bunch." Anik said as she interlocked her fingers and tried to avoid eye contact with Marie.
"Oh? He helped you?" Marie said as she folded her arms as Adam looked over as he finished making the cappuccino, walking over to the girls. "That's a rare phrase. My brother hates the tropics; this girl might have been the only decent thing he encountered over there aside from what he caught so he didn't want to look bad in front of her." She thought, curious.
"Here." Adam said as Anik took the cappuccino.
"Thank you." Anik said with a nervous tone. "I'm grateful for it but I'm getting too nerve wracked to drink it!" She thought while anxiously holding her cup but not drinking it.
"So... Before someone here feels like putting a lamp over your head." Adam said as he looked at Marie as she locked eyes with her husband with an annoyed look on her face. "May I ask why you're here? Alola is pretty far from Johto." He questioned as Anik looked at him and then at Marie.
"Yeah, I probably should have said that first." Anik thought. "Well, I came to see Keats. For starters, he hasn't been answering my text messages." She said as Adam and Marie looked at each other.
"You've been texting him? Wow, this is a very different scenario than what I am used to." Marie commented as Adam raised an eyebrow at his wife. "Better not have been sending this girl weird stuff he found on the internet..." She thought.
"And you came all the way out to Ecruteak City?" Adam said. "She came all this way from another region to see him, I don't know anyone who's ever done that before." He thought.
"Figured it was the best way to get an answer then just waiting..." Anik said as she turned towards Adam. "And I figured I'd give him some updates in person while I was at it." She continued.
"That was nice of you..." Marie said as she looked at Anik.
"I walked around town a bit before I came here, met some people with some stories of Keats." Anik said as she scratched the back of her neck. "Not particularly pleasant ones, mind you..." She thought as she recalled what Eusine said to her.
"...Okay..." Adam said as Marie squinted her eyes at Anik as the astronomy enthusiast grew more and more nervous from the former champion's judgmental gaze.
"...And has that changed anything?" Marie said as Anik made a confused expression.
"About?" Anik replied. "Am I getting interrogated!?" She thought.
"Your opinion of Keats?" Adam said as they both looked at Anik, who quickly drank down her cappuccino before speaking.
"...I mean... Not completely? Some of the stuff I heard actually got a chuckle out of me. But I don't know... I can't say my opinion of him is all that different than what I formed of it from back in Alola." Anik said with an honest tone.
Upon hearing her answer, Adam took the cup from her hands and him and Marie gave each other a quick look.
'"She's a keeper."' Marie and Adam thought simultaneously as Anik's eyes darted back and forth between the Dibiase couple.
"I'm going to check on some of the Pokémon and then I'll head over to Keats' trailer and tell him you're here." Adam said with a smile on his face. "You two can chat some more if you want. Nice meeting you by the way." He said as he put down the coffee cup on a nearby table and walked away towards the backyard.
"Uh..." Anik muttered as she turned towards Marie as the former champion put her hand on Anik's shoulder.
"Sorry for the suspicious way I was talking to you. Here, have a seat." Marie said, offering Anik a spot on the living room couch.
"Th-thank you." Anik said with a tone of surprise. "Wow, complete turnaround in vibe..." She thought as she sat down with Marie sitting next to her.
"Rotom said you're writing a book?" Marie said as Anik's eyes widened.
"Ye-yeah! It's a compendium of the constellations in the sky. Want to see?" Anik said with a smile forming on her face, excited to talk about her work.
"Sure, I got time." Marie said with a smile as Anik eagerly reached into her handbag and pulled out the stack of papers that comprised her knowledge of the stars.
Outside of the house, Adam approached Keats' trailer, knocking on the side of the home. Floating out a slight gap in one of the windows was Rotom as the phone Pokémon approached Adam.
"Keatzzzz seriously needs to stop leaving the windows open." Rotom said with an annoyed expression on its screen.
"Told him many times not to do it, never remembers." Adam said with a headshake. "Keats still in the woods?" He asked.
"Correct, zzzzt." Rotom said. "I'm still following what Marie told me to do and that's to give him some space before asking about what he's going to do about Sinnoh and this weird "Birdclaw" person." The phone Pokémon said.
"Well, he'll be back soon so we'll try and figure out something then. Come inside, we need to chat." Adam said.
"Zzzzomething happen?" Rotom questioned.
"A friend of yours and, more notably, Keats is here." Adam said with a smirk on his face.
"Keatzzzz always says he has no friends." Rotom said with a perplexed look on its screen.
"Blonde with highlights? Glasses? Cute yet frumpy fashion sense?" Adam said as Rotom recognized who he was describing, motioning for the floating phone to follow him back inside.
As they left the area around Keats' trailer, still in the woods, Keats was still stuck in his thinking pose but now Druddigon, Stunky and Cloyster were out of their Pokéballs, joining Pineco and Timburr, with the Dragon type mimicking Keats' pose, the Poison and Dark type laying down on the ground with his butt-like face in his claws and the Water and Ice type with her shell closed.
"Ah!" Keats exclaimed as he suddenly jerked up right and all of his Pokémon opened their eyes to look at him. "...No, no, no..." He said as he thought what had come up with wasn't a good enough suggestion and proceeded to go back into his pose.
'"Grughgheurg..."' The collective of Keats' Pokémon groaned in frustration as they all proceeded to go back into similar thinking poses.
Entering the ranch house, Adam and Rotom looked as they saw Anik talking to Marie as she was showing her the extent of her research on constellations, standing in front of her while looking at her notes and speaking while moving her arms around.
"So, there's this nebula called the "Cufant Trunk Nebula" and it's called that because it's a concentration of interstellar gas and dust in the shape of the trunk of a Cufant! This nebula is located within the constellation for Seaking. When I originally examined the constellation, researchers said that the constellation is supposed to be for a "kingly" Pokémon and people assumed it's for a Nidoking or a Kingdra but based on the shape formed by the stars, I have reason to believe it's for a Seaking!" Anik said, ranting.
"...But Seakings don't have trunks." Marie said, slightly confused by Anik's logic.
"I know, right?!" Anik exclaimed in an excited tone. "The "Cufant Trunk Nebula" is inside it, but I don't understand as to how they correlate!" She continued as Adam and Rotom looked at her.
"...Wait, doesn't Cufant evolve?" Marie asked.
"Yeah, into a Pokémon called Copperajah." Anik replied.
"Wouldn't you say a "Copperajah" is a rather "kingly" Pokémon?" Marie said as Anik looked at her with her jaw slightly open. "I've heard they have some golden trim to their bodies and can be quite prideful and regal." She said as Anik looked at her notes for a moment.
"Uh-I... Irhg!" Anik muttered until groaning in frustration. "That makes too much sense! How could I have missed that possibility!? You might be onto something!" She said as she hurried to pull out a pen and proceeded to cross stuff out on her notes and write new things to examine. "Forget owing favors to Keats, I'm going to soon owe favors to his whole family at this rate!" Anik thought as she scribbled more words onto her paper.
"God, I love being right." Marie thought while sitting back on the couch with a level of smugness.
"The heck is going on here?" Adam thought as Rotom floated over to Anik.
"Anik, zzzzt!" Rotom said as Anik smiled seeing upon seeing the artificial Pokémon again.
"Rotom!" Anik said with a happy tone. "How you been?!" She said towards the floating phone.
"Been fine for the mozzzzt part. Why are you here? I thought you had your internship at the Hokulani Observatory to focus on?" Rotom asked.
"Yeah, been meaning to ask that." Marie said.
"Oh, uhh... Well..." Anik said with a bashful tone that was struggling to get out what she wanted to say. "It's embarrassing to say but... I'll just say it..." She thought before sighing. "I asked my bosses at the observatory to allow me to handle some field work." Anik said to the confusion of Marie and Adam.
"Huh?" Adam muttered.
'"Field work?" Oh, you mean like examining the zzzztarzzzz from the other regions outside of Alola?" Rotom questioned.
"In a sense... But... Ummm... There's another reason I decided to start my star examinations here in Johto first..." Anik said. "I felt like "killing two bird Pokémon with one stone" so to speak and decided to come help." She continued to the confusion of everyone.
"What do you mean by that?" Marie questioned.
"I owe your brother a few favors." Anik said as she adjusted her glasses in a troubled manner. "He... Actually, really did a lot for me in Alola and I kind of... Did him dirty." She continued as Marie and Adam looked at each other, not sure by what she meant.
''What did Keats do to you?"' Marie and Adam asked, assuming the worst.
"Ah! No, no, no! He didn't do anything bad!" Anik said in Keats' defense.
"I haven't had a moment to explain the full detailzzzz but in Alola, Keats saved her from nearly falling down a waterfall and helped fix her telescope." Rotom explained before floating close to Anik to whisper into her ear. "Are you here for that other thing too?" The phone Pokémon questioned in a low volume towards the now red-faced astronomy enthusiast.
"I'm trying to make up for leaving you guys high and dry in Alola but please keep your mouth shut on that other thing..." Anik whispered with a bothered tone.
"Oh, that reminds me. We need the lawn mower fixed after Keats accidently turned it on while it was still on the floor of the shed. Blades were completely ruined because of the concrete floor." Adam said as he remembered a chore that needed to be done.
"Oh, so... He actually did something good?" Marie said, slightly surprised.
"Yeah, and I kind of thanked him by... Leaving him to go see Rayquaza in the observatory telescope I'm interning at while he fought that Imani girl by himself when he really could have used my help..." Anik said with a regretful tone in her voice.
"I mentioned how poorly the battle went, right, zzzzt?" Rotom said.
"...Ohhhhh... I think I'm getting it." Adam said as he looked at Marie as she nodded. "And you came here to make it up to him." He said as he turned towards Anik.
"I'm just going to leave out the part about the date..." Anik thought with embarrassment. "So, where is he?" She asked as she looked around.
"Did he come back yet?" Marie asked towards Rotom.
"Not yet, zzzzt." Rotom replied.
"Well... It's getting close to dinner time and knowing Keats, he'll probably be coming back to his trailer soon so, want to join us while we wait for him?" Marie said, offering a meal to Anik.
"Oh? Well, I don't mean to impose." Anik said with her hands up.
"No, it's fine. It's very rare Keats has a friend, so we'll treat you." Adam said as he walked over to the kitchen.
"Wow, thanks." Anik said with a sincere smile. "His family is so nice..." She thought as Marie motioned for her and Rotom to come to the dinner table.
As the sun started to go down and the evening came, Keats and now the entirety of his remaining Pokémon; Dragalge, Raichu, Sizzlipede, Venonat, Swalot and Porygon, had joined in the group thinking session. Dragalge laying on the ground with his head face down, Raichu floating in the air on his tail with his paws over his face, Sizzlipede coiled up with her eyes closed, Venonat facing a tree away from everyone, Swalot laying on his back with his eyes closed and Porygon blankly staring at the sky, the latter being the only one with their eyes open.
"Okay!" Keats said, jerking upright a third time.
"Pineco?!" Pineco said as she and all of Keats' collective Pokémon looked at him.
"...Sweet potato fries!" Keats said as he pointed both of his hands at everyone as they all made unimpressed expressions before he made a face of annoyance. "Okay, fine. We've been out here for like, four hours and I've got no idea what the heck we're going to do about going to Sinnoh..." He said with a disgruntled tone.
"Timburr-timbtimb." Timburr said.
"Drudd." Druddigon said as he scratched his spiky head.
"Swaaaaaa..." Swalot yawned while opening his eyes.
"...Want to get groceries?" Keats suggested to all of his Pokémon as some of them shrugged as Keats started to take out their Pokéballs and recalled them. "I'll head back to my trailer, leave behind some of the balls and take a team with me while I buy sweet potato fries... And linguini... And stuffed peppers... And green beans... And pies and pastries and bike chains and lithium batteries and-" He thought as his mind started to just list random objects before finally walking back home.
Reaching his trailer, Keats walked inside as he placed some of his Pokéballs on the countertop next to his sink, taking the balls for Timburr, Stunky, Sizzlipede, Dragalge and Swalot with him. Stepping outside and closing the door, Keats briefly looked at the ranch house where his sister and brother-in-law was and winced before walking away towards the fence.
"Think I'll make a detour towards that one street where all the abandoned houses are." Keats thought as he scratched his beard.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Ecruteak City, 7:11 p.m. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Holding a paper bag filled with groceries and munching on a chocolate bar filled with nougat, peanuts and caramel, Keats walked back home after making a purchase that left him even worse monetarily. Casually strolling through the street that consisted of largely abandoned homes, he looked at the various houses of various designs with curiosity.
"I wonder if anyone would care if I went into one of these places since they have no one living in them and I just looked around for stuff to take home? That wouldn't be proper vandalism, it'd just-" Keats thought as he munched on his chocolate bar until he suddenly felt a surge of pain from his mouth. "Ah! Urgh, my tooth!" He grunted in annoyance as he dropped his groceries on the ground and put both of his hands on the cheek where his pain was. "Urgh, ow... Great, now I might need a trip to the dentist..." Keats muttered.
Shaking off the agitated feeling in his mouth, he picked up the groceries that fell out of the paper bag and then put away the chocolate bar he was eating into it. While still on the way home, he stopped as Keats made a confused expression at the unfamiliar figure he saw under a streetlight.
"Hmmm?" Keats grunted.
Under a streetlight a few steps away from Keats was a little girl with straight long brown hair tied back behind her head wearing a red hat, a red zipped up coat, black leggings, red boots and sporting black sunglasses at night. Holding the handle of a long cane that had a loop around it that was predominantly white with a red tip, Keats recognized a familiar mustelid-like Pokémon next to her.
"Furret?" Furret muttered as it looked at Keats as he shifted his head around.
"Something the matter?" The little girl said towards Furret without looking at the Pokémon.
"Why is there a little girl wearing sunglasses at night and holding a stick next to a Furret?" Keats thought with confusion.
"Because I'm blind." The little girl said while not facing Keats.
"Huh?" Keats mumbled.
"That's what you were thinking, wasn't it? First time seeing a blind person?" The little girl said as she smirked.
"Th-that's not what I was thinking?! I was thinking about... Tap water..." Keats said defensively. "Good thinking Keats! Well, Anik could barely see without her glasses, does that count?" He thought, mentally patting himself on the back before remembering a person that he knew.
"People with bad eyesight is not the same as fully blind people. Also, your name is Keats? Strange name." The little girl said as Keats grew wide-eyed.
"My name is not weird! It's a shortened version of "Keaton!"' Keats said angrily as he dropped his groceries again. "I bet her name isn't that great!" He thought.
"My name is Tamara." Tamara said, introducing herself as Furret made a smug expression as it looked at Keats.
"...Okay, that is a cool name..." Keats thought, feeling like he lost a fight. "You know, a child late at night-" He said before being cut off.
"I'm not alone late at night, I'm waiting on a friend of mine in there." Tamara said as she pointed a finger at a nearby house, prompting Keats to look.
"One of the abandoned houses?" Keats thought as he raised an eyebrow. "You know, most of the homes on this street are-" He said before getting cut off again.
'"Abandoned?" Yes, I'm aware." Tamara said.
"Furfurfur." Furret laughed.
"Hey, don't laugh at me!" Keats angrily exclaimed as he pointed at the Normal type. "You should take better care of your Pokémon!" He said, chastising Tamara.
"It's not mine." Tamara replied. "It belongs to my friend in there." She said.
"Your friend lives in the abandoned house?" Keats questioned. "Well, I got my trailer from an abandoned trailer park so I'm one to talk..." He thought.
"Pfff! My friend is inside but he doesn't live in there, "Mr. Trailer."' Tamara laughed.
"Okay, what is up with you and how do you know I live in a trailer?! Have you been stealing my mail?!" Keats exclaimed, growing more and more frustrated as Furret walked forward to keep Keats from getting close to Tamara.
"Furrrrr..." Furret muttered in angry tone as Keats looked at the Normal type with a slightly frightened expression.
"Calm down, he's not going to do anything. I'm a bit of a mind reader... Or "psychic," if you want to get "comic booky."' Tamara said with a smirk on her face as Furret turned back to look at her.
"...Was that some kind of joke?" Keats questioned. "Psychic people exist? I thought it was only Pokémon?" He thought.
"Nope. Dead serious." Tamara replied.
"Okay then, little miss "ESP," prove it." Keats said with a confrontational tone.
"Put your hands behind your back and I bet I'll figure out how many fingers you are holding up when you raise them." Tamara said as she shifted her body to be facing the direction of where Keats was speaking from.
"Okay..." Keats said as he followed her directions with a skeptical expression. "Five fingers then if she guesses correctly, I'll quickly switch to two." He thought.
"Five then two." Tamara said with a smile as Keats made a shocked expression.
"I didn't even put my fingers up yet!" Keats screamed in surprise.
"Was I right or was I right?" Tamara said as Furret looked at the blind psychic.
"Sh-shut up!" Keats said in an embarrassed tone. "Okay, that was an easy guess! Here's something more challenging." He said. "Okay think, what can I do to beat her guessing?" Keats thought, frantically.
"I'm not guessing, I'm hearing your thoughts." Tamara said as Keats started to scratch his head violently with his left hand.
"Ugh! You're really starting to frustrate me kid, you know that?!" Keats exclaimed.
"Yes, hehe." Tamara said with the same smug tone she's had since meeting Keats. "I like this guy, he's funny." She thought.
"Your friend in the house over here know you're an obnoxious psychic?" Keats asked.
"Minus the obnoxious part, that is correct. I'm kind of like an assistant." Tamara replied.
'"Assistant" for what?" Keats questioned.
"He's a paranormal investigator named Ambrose. He goes around looking for places that are claimed to be "haunted" and gets rid of the Ghost Pokémon inside." Tamara explained.
"Ahhh..." Keats muttered. "Damn, his name is cooler than mine too..." He thought with jealousy.
"Pfffft!" Tamara sputtered in laughter as she covered her mouth as Keats' eye twitched in response. "I was told to wait out here while he has all the fun battling." She continued.
"What "fun?"' Keats questioned.
"He's in that house trying to find the Ghost Pokémon inside it. He almost never lets me inside the homes because I'm not a trainer." Tamara explained. "I won't spoil too much though about Ambrose and his... "Issues."' She thought.
"Oh, a Ghost Pokémon in a house in Ecruteak City?" That's nothing new around here." Keats said as he waved his hand. "Ecruteak City is full of them. I would know, I was told by the gym leader in town to avoid the Ghost Pokémon because they're afraid of me." He said.
"Huh? Why would Ghost Pokémon be afraid of you?" Tamara said as Furret raised an eyebrow.
"Read my mind..." Keats said as he folded his arms and Tamara tilted her head, hearing his thoughts as her face started to grimace.
"...What the heck is wrong with you...?" Tamara said, now disturbed by Keats as he smirked with a cocky smile.
"Suck on that!" Keats exclaimed. "Anyway, what's he going to do with the Ghost Pokemon?" He asked.
"He's going to beat it to a pulp with super effective Pokémon, catch it in a Dusk Ball and then release it far away from human civilization." Tamara explained.
"...That's... Incredibly specific." Keats said with a raised eyebrow.
"It's a long and frankly odd story with him but I help him, nonetheless." Tamara said as Furret reached its head over to where Tamara's hands were and started to rub its cheeks against them. "I also get to spend time with his Pokémon so that's a plus." She said.
"Huuuh... Which house is he in? That one?" Keats said as he turned his head to the side and walked over to the front door of the two-story home, opening it. "Hey! Ghosts! Come on out!" He screamed loudly as he walked inside and closed the door behind him, leaving Tamara and Furret outside.
"...Ambrose is not going to be happy..." Tamara said to herself. "He asked me to stay out here and make sure people didn't bother him while he was ghost hunting..." She thought as she shifted her head in a random direction.
"Furret-ret!" Furret exclaimed as it nudged against Tamara.
"Something the matter?" Tamara muttered as she tried to read Furret's mind.
"Retret! Furr-urr!" Furret said in a frantic manner.
"Huh?" Tamara said. "He went in the wrong house?" She thought with confusion as Furret moved forward slightly and looked at the pair of two-story houses, one containing the Ghost Pokémon that Ambrose was said to be searching for inside and the other being just a random home that Keats walked into that had an unlocked front door.
"Hey "ghosts!"' Keats shouted while inside the house as he flicked a switch.
Looking around as the lightbulbs started to illuminate the abandoned home, Keats spotted empty picture frames and left-over decorative tables with a ton of dust built up on everything before eyeing the stairs to the second floor and a pathway leading to a kitchen and a living room. Peering into the living room, Keats spotted a left-over combination televison and VCR on a stand.
"Ooooohh, old stuff. Maybe I could pawn that towards my plane ticket." Keats said with a giddy tone as he walked into the living room, failing to the spot the three sets of eyes that were looking at him from a hole in the ceiling as a blue tentacle, a three fingered hand with a purple arm and a thin string-like arm with a hand shaped like a yellow heart were sticking out of the hole.
*dun-dun-duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuunnnnnnnnnn* Welp, Keats is still a moron and spent most of this chapter just hunched over thinking with his Pokémon and deciding to just buy groceries and then encountering one of our recently introduced duo of paranormal investigators, Tamara the blind psychic and Ambrose's Furret. Now if only he can go home and meet up with frankly the only person who considers him a friend, Anik, who just so happened to meet Keats' sister and her husband. But it looks like Keats is content to just cause more problems as he just so happens to have walked inside of a potentially abandoned home that is actually the wrong house that Ambrose is searching inside of... And he's not alone! Will this cause a problem? Probably! Until next time on Wannabe!
Keats' Pokémon (on-hand):
1. Timburr.
2. Stunky.
3. Sizzlipede.
4. Swalot.
5. Dragalge.
Keats' Pokémon (in rotation):
1. Porygon.
2. Pineco.
3. Cloyster.
4. Venonat.
5. Druddigon.
6. Raichu - Alolan Form.
Released/Traded Away:
1. Diglett - Alolan Form.
2. Surskit.