Truck driver Ken Worth's first day with GS Transport was turning into a very weird one. The mandate that all drivers keep Pokémon for protection he could understand, and he felt ignorant he hadn't thought to prepare for that now, but now his boss had not only assigned him one but it was a breed he'd never heard of or seen before, a little yellow fox named Fennekin. He deployed the scanner his boss had just attached to his phone.
"SCANNING: Fennekin, fox Pokémon. Fire Type," the machine read aloud. "It expels excess heat from its large ears and likes to snack on twigs."
"Ken, meet your 'co-driver' and Fennekin meet your new partner," Mack said with a smile. "They issue these little guys to rookies in Kalos. It's funny you defaulted to Charmander, I tried those in the past and the open flame on the tail caused issues in the trucks to say nothing of evolution problems. Fennekins have an internal flame so that's a non-issue and even after he evolves into a bipedal Braixen or a Delphox he will still fit in the cab; assuming he ever reaches evolutionary level."
"Fennekin," replied the Pokémon, aware he was being complimented.
"Kalos?," Ken asked. "So how did you get one of these here?"
"Got it online," Mack replied. "His original trainer dumped him after a few early losses, I don't think she ever figured out the type advantage thing."
Fennekin's ears drooped at being reminded of that, it was a painful memory.
"Her loss will be your gain though," Mack continued. "He's got a few basic moves. Scratch, tail whip, and ember. Enough to get you out the door. Plus I find the cute ones have a sway to make sure drivers care for them as needed. Ember's a neat one, let's go down to the shop and I'll show you what we taught him after we got him."
Mack walked out and Ken began to follow him before turning to his new partner.
"Ah, Fennekin, come?" Ken asked.
"Fen," the little fox responded then obeyed.
"So you're going to be riding shotgun with me huh?" Ken said to his Pokémon. "Welcome aboard I guess, I hope you like trucks."
"Fen ken fen," Fennekin responded with a smile.
Ken hoped that meant something along the lines of "I sure do" and not anything like "eh, not really as I'm prone to carsickness." The pair followed Mack as he walked down a staircase.
"Starters are nice, they are trained to obey right out of the gate," Mack said. "Of course, if you mess up and they lose trust in you they'll become just as disobedient as any mon. You two should be fine though, you're both hungry to prove yourself. You want to prove you can haul, he wants to prove he's useful after his misfire before. From here on, Fennekin is in your ownership so use him well."
"So, what's it eat?" Ken asked. "Just the twigs?"
"Fennekin snacks on twigs but standard Poké Chow is good idea as an overall meal to keep him happy and healthy," Mack noted.
"Does it need a litter box in the truck?" Ken continued.
"They housebreak starters, just walk him at truck stops and you'll probably be fine," Mack said.
The pair walked out of the office portion of the dispatch center and into the truck garage. Here a wide variety of trucks sat in various forms of disrepair as they were being repaired. Ken started to get nervous as he noted Mack walking up to one truck with its frame broken clean in half.
"Alright, see how this one is broke," Mack said. "You are going to want to watch this."
Mack checked to make sure the metal was in the right position for a weld. He was glad it was.
"Give your new buddy an order for 'ember – spot weld'," Mack instructed.
"Okay," Ken said. "Fennekin, ember – spot weld that frame!"
"Fen," said the fox as it let loose a blast of flame toward the damaged frame in the form of many little orange sparks.
Ken felt a surge of confidence at his new Pokémon getting a chance to show off. As the attack dissipated the two parts of the frame were now loosely connected. It wasn't perfect, that weld would almost certainly need more work, but the demonstration proved its point.
"Kin fen," said Fennekin proudly, for moment Ken thought it might be bragging as if to say "no big."
"They can be quite helpful in the field," Mack said.
"Color me impressed," Ken said.
A smile of pride crossed Fennekin's face. Ken had to admit, this little fire type certainly could endear himself to others quickly.
"Shall we hook you two up with a truck?" Mack asked.
Now the smile of pride was going along Ken's face.
"Let's roll," Ken said.
Mack led Ken and Fennekin into the main garage and loading dock area. The area bustled with activity as forklifts scurried back and forth moving cargo in and out of various trucks, they carried everything from giant rolls of steel to basic groceries. One forklift was failing to start as dock workers tried to use it to move a giant bronze boat propeller. One of the workers deployed a Magneton and hooked up some jumper cables to it in an attempt to jump start the vehicle. It looked like the effort was progressing slowly.
"Get that to loading dock 15 once the forklift is working," Mack instructed the dock workers. "I've got a clear truck there ready to load."
The big rigs ranged in appearance from completely stock to uniquely customized, no doubt depending on the driver's taste. Finally, the trio arrived at the available truck, an older model with a flatbed on the back. Its light blue paint scheme matched most of the other trucks at the loading dock. The cab was sized for long journeys with a front row for the driver and some small living quarters behind them.
"Here she is, truck #2,013," Mack said. "It's an old 550 model. It's got some miles on it but it'll get the job done."
"I trained for my commercial license on a 550," Ken said. "It's a stable truck and I'll get it rolling with ease."
"Fen fen," said Fennekin as he looked up amazed at the size of the truck.
"It's got a MerrillChu hydrogen fuel cell system, so it's clean burning and low emission," Mack said. "There's satellite tracking, radio, and television and an air ride suspension. The living quarters including a small bed, a bunk, a makeshift desk, a refrigerator, and a microwave. There's passes for all of the toll roads and ferries already aboard if you need them. And of course, that's to say nothing of its best feature."
"What's that?" Ken asked.
"It's unlocked and the keys are in it," Mack said. "They are in the ignition and waiting for you."
Ken's face lit up like a child on a Christmas morning as dashed over, pulled open the door, and jumped into the cab.
"Fennekin!" said Fennekin, as if to note "hey, don't forget about me," prompting Ken to reach down and give him a boost into the cab.
Ken plopped down into the driver's seat and grabbed the wheel for the first time. He felt empowered as he gripped it. This was finally it. This was his truck and he was ready to drive it anywhere. Fennekin climbed up on the passengers seat and sniffed at the dash. By all intents he liked what he saw too.
The seats had been given a plastic cover with the GS logo on them and it looked like it had been done to cover the fact the seats were worn with age. The old rig wasn't perfect but Ken didn't care, this was the real deal.
"This is the greatest day of my life," Ken said.
"Before you two reach for the ignition key I believe you are missing three things," Mack said. "First off you'll need a nickname, or handle as we call them, for when you use the radio. From now on this truck will be known as Vulpix 3 when you are driving it."
Ken snapped back to reality.
"Uh, Vulpix 3?" Ken asked.
"We assign all the handles based off Pokémon from the main region that the truck driver is from," Mack said. "Usually we name them after the driver's personal Pokémon but since you only have a Kalos Fennekin, and have only had him about 10 minutes at that, we'll just name it after a local Kanto species that shares his type. I've already got a Vulpix 1 and Vulpix 2 so you'll be number three. Second, you need a uniform so please pick some up before you leave. And third you need a cargo. Oh good, here it comes now."
With the whirl of its electric motor audible a forklift truck came into view on the loading dock carrying the large ship's propeller. The dock workers and the Magneton had got it running and it pulled up to the back of the truck to load it in.
"The 550 is modular," Mack said. "We've got a flatbed on it for now but we can switch this out for almost anything depending on the task at hand. We've got options for a box van, a tanker, a dump truck, a tow truck, and more."
The dock workers deposited the propeller into the back of the truck and began chaining it in place for the journey ahead.
"Wow," Ken said. "Where's that thing headed?"
"The docks at Vermilion City," Mack said. "There's some cruise ship in dry dock that needs it."
Ken rolled his eyes. The irony was rich with the assignment, all those runs to Vermilion City and back in the delivery van and when he finally moves up to intercity trucking he gets sent back immediately. He let out a slight laugh.
"I'm ready, willing, and able Mack," Ken said, hopping out to get his uniform.
"Fen Fennekin," Fennekin added.
"I think he's stoked up and raring to go too," Ken noted.
"You should keep him out of the ball on your first run," Mack said. "Give you a chance to get to know him better."
Mack stayed to oversee the loading process as Ken dashed off to get his uniforms. He soon returned now dressed in a light blue driver's uniform with two vertical yellow stripes highlights, the later hue almost matched Fennekin's fur in a way. Fennekin let out a happy bark as Ken came running back to the truck. He hopped in the back to check the load and make sure the propeller was secured before setting off, the dock crew were professionals but no driver worth his salt would leave without double checking their load. Mack smiled at that as the Ken climbed back in the cab and put on his seat belt. Fennekin hopped back on the passenger seat.
"I think this big rig is ready to roll," Ken said as he shut the door.
"I think you're right," Mack replied, speaking to Ken through the open driver's side window. "Time for you to get out on the road and make all of us some money."
"That's a big 10-4 good buddy," Ken said.
"Fennekin," Fennekin added.
"And I think that's a big 10-4 from the good foxy," Ken joked.
Ken turned the key and truck #2,013 came to life, its engine letting out a loud roar like a Charizard ready for battle as it fired up. There was a slight hiss as the air brakes released. A few puffs of black smoke came out of its exhaust stacks before dissipating as the hydrogen system fully engaged. Ken's adrenaline was rushing as reached over and grabbed the gear shift, he pushed down the clutch and the brake with his feet and shifted the truck into first gear.
"Let's roll," Ken said.
"Yup, hit the road," Mack replied.
"Catch ya later Mack," Ken said, he let his foot off the break and with a jerk the truck began to move forward away from the loading dock.
"And I'll catch both of you later too," Mack said.
Ken started to wave goodbye out the window only to have Fennekin leap over onto his lap to give its own wave goodbye to Mack. It caught Ken caught by surprise but given that Fennekin probably felt Mack gave him back some sense of purpose he could see why he'd want to thank him.
"Fennekin!" Fennekin said in Mack's direction as the boss started getting smaller and smaller in the rear-view mirror.
"I get you're excited but maybe you can remember to be a little careful when I'm driving alright," Ken said.
He reached over to put Fennekin back on the passenger's seat then reached up and grabbed the microphone of the roof-mounted radio.
"Dispatch, this is Vulpix 3 and we are departing now for Vermilion," Ken said.
"Roger, Vulpix 3," the dispatcher responded. "Welcome to the team and drive safe out there. We'll let the dock know you're coming."
"Thank you dispatch," Ken replied. "I'm eastbound and down, 10-4."
"Fennekin!" added Fennekin loudly.
"Why don't you leave the radio to me," Ken said half-jokingly.
"Fennekin," the fox replied as if to apologize, drooping his ears a little.
Ken saw his partner's mood lowering a little. He reached over and gave the little fox a quick pet on the head.
"No worries bud," Ken said. "We got plenty of time to get a system worked out as we go."
The truck reached the front gate of the complex and slowly turned out onto the road. There was no turning back now as Ken pushed down the gas pedal and the blue truck began to accelerate. A cheeky smile came across his face.
"Hey Fennekin," Ken said. "Please don't mind but I've always wanted to do this."
He reached up and pulled the chord to sound the truck's horn, giving it two long blows. Fennekin got a chuckle out of the act.
"This is it fire type," Ken said. "It's you and me against the world. We're on the road to Vermilion City."
Fennekin had a bit of a smile on his muzzle. He gestured his head toward the window. Ken was starting to understand his new partner a bit.
"Are you serious?" Ken asked.
Fennekin nodded his head and gestured to the window again. Ken shrugged and flipped the switch to roll down the passenger window just enough for Fennekin to stick his head out. The little fox flipped his tongue out and was having some fun with the whole ordeal as the truck made its way through the streets of Celadon City. He perked up his ears as the truck passed the Celadon City Pokémon Gym where a young trainer and his Bulbasaur were walking through the front door. Fennekin pulled his head back in as the truck turned onto the tollway and started accelerating toward Vermilion City. Now the real fun would begin…