Truck driver Ken Worth's reunion with his sister Sandra and his wait for a pizza had taken an unexpected turn as his sibling had dropped a bombshell with the gift of a Buizel to add to his team. Fennekin looked on as the male Buizel made a battle-ready pose. Ken stood mouth agape as Sandra smiled.
"What do you think Kenny?" Sandra said. "I think this little guy will be a great addition to your little lineup. Buizel, meet your trainer."
"Bui Bui!" responded Buizel with a paw pump.
"Wow," Ken said. "He looks healthy. Does he have any actual truck washing experience?"
"No, but that's why I'm giving him to a trainer who can teach him that," Sandra said.
Buizel smiled as Fennekin crossed under the table to get an up-close look and sniff at his new teammate. It caught Buizel a little off guard as Fennekin popped up and sniffed him before quickly extending a paw in friendship. They both shook with a smile.
"Glad to see they like each other," Ken said. "Where'd you get this guy?"
"I was in Floaroma Town when you first told me about how you became a trainer for your job," Sandra said. "After seeing your fiery Fennekin I figured you'd need a water type to balance that out so I caught this little guy that same day on Route 205. I stopped for lunch and he came out of the water and tried to swipe the bag of chips I had out. I caught him after a quick battle with Lopunny and since he's low level I figured he'd fit well with your team. I nicknamed him Squirtle Wax after that stuff I get you for your pickup truck every holiday season…And also because I thought it would be funny to still saddle you with a "Squirtle" after you didn't pick a Kanto starter."
"Do I have to use the nickname?" Ken asked, finding it humorous but perhaps not being the fondest of it. "I'm not used to that."
"Nah, you can still just call him Buizel if you like," Sandra replied. "It's like those Pokémon contests where all of them have an over complicated name but no one uses them outside of competition."
"Does he know any moves?" Ken asked.
"Yeah," Sandra replied. "He's got quick attack, water gun, aqua jet, and growl. Nothing too advanced but enough to get you rolling. I ran a test battle with him and he seems to like close range attacking."
"Buizel!" Buizel said, looking amped up at the mention of that.
Ken signaled Fennekin back to his side of the table and used the Dive Ball to pull Buizel in and then release him next to him. He gave both of them a friendly pat on the head. Buizel had a rubbery feel to its fur, like a life raft. The Sea Weasel Pokémon had a smile on its face, this guy was clearly eager to please.
"I think I'm going to like you," Ken said. "Welcome to the crew of Truck #653 Buizel."
"Bui! Bui!" Buizel responded excitedly.
Ken recalled Buizel into his Dive Ball. At this point the pizza arrived and was placed in the center of the table allowing Ken and Sandra to dig in. Fennekin quickly snuck a slice when they weren't looking.
"So how are you enjoying being a trainer, Kenny?" Sandra asked. "I know what you want as a trucker, that haul master rank and the big money, but is there anything you want as a trainer? You want to take on the League? Try a contest? Do one of those crazy "Road-eo" or "Autocross Target Shooting" Pokémon motorsports competitions?"
"I hadn't thought about it," Ken replied. "I've been thinking about maybe doing a gym battle or two, something to build up my skills in case Team Rocket or somebody tries something, but I probably don't have time to get eight badges and go for the League. GS does offer time off if we enter it though, my boss Mack thinks it's good advertising for his company to have the company's best trainers battling on TV. Those motorsports could be fun but I don't have the equipment for it, well yet anyway."
"You could always test in," Sandra noted. "There's opportunities aplenty and Kanto is generous with their ways to enter."
"What about you?" Ken asked. "You've been at this for more than a decade. Is the goal just to keep training professionally or do you have an end goal for the League?"
"I still want to win one," Sandra said. "I've been close and I've still got a shot. It would be nice to win one this year and have a little momentum going into the World Coronation Series. I know all the lines about how the young kids who can do nothing but train all day have the best shot compared to us more experienced trainers with other commitments but that's part of the fun. Youth versus experience, and while they're unpredictable experience will beat them a lot. There's a reason Cynthia is still king of the hill here in Sinnoh. I've still got a great run in me and I think I can still win one."
"Stay at it sis," Ken said. "We can both make it happen. I never thought I'd get as far as I have as fast as I have. This ice road run is going to be wild but fun."
Ken picked up his soft drink from the table.
"To future challenges and continuing goals!" Ken said.
"I'll drink to that," Sandra said, picking up her soft drink.
The two clicked their drinks above the pizza while Fennekin let off a happy bark. The journey would continue for both of them.
The Worths finished their meal and returned to the Truck Stop to enjoy a rare family evening as the sun set. Both of them showed each other their teams. Sandra was most impressed with Ken's Absol and intrigued by his Alolan Vulpix while he enjoyed seeing how much her starters Venusaur and Blaziken had grown and how powerful her Luxray looked. He remembered her bragging about how he was her first catch in Sinnoh years ago when she caught him as a Shinx. Fennekin was thrilled to met Sandra's starters and the Worth twins drafted in another trucker to take a quick picture of them with their original Pokémon. Sandra took a special note of Ken's Jolteon.
"It's great to see you already have an Eeveelution on your team," Sandra said. "They have a great mix of loyalty and versatility."
"Yeah, you might say Jolteon jumped at the chance to join our little traveling band," Ken said as his electric type jumped happily. "You've got all the Eeveelutions at your disposal don't ya?"
"Yeah," Sandra replied. "Espeon is the only one in my current lineup but she was my first Eevee and thus my strongest. The others are in the rotation as needed. She's packing some real power though. Want to see a neat trick we picked up training in the Victory Road scrapyard?"
"Sure, I didn't know you trained there," Ken said. "I did some work there myself before we came up to Sinnoh."
"Now I promise this isn't a damaging move," Sandra said as Ken started to look puzzled. "Espeon, lift it up."
Sandra pointed at Ken's truck. Ken smiled for a moment, then realized what was about to happen and got nervous despite the words of confidence a moment earlier. Espeon's eyes started glowing blue with a similar glow encircling Truck #653. The Pokémon focused all of her strength on the truck. Ken's jaw dropped as the big rig lifted up and levitated about a foot off the ground before she slowly lowered it back down for a super soft landing.
"Whoa!" Ken said. "But, um, could you tell me first before using my truck for a party trick, that rig is my livelihood. Espeon has got some real power."
"I wouldn't try it if didn't I knew she wouldn't hurt it," Sandra replied. "It takes years to get physic power this strong."
"You want to look inside?" Ken said.
"I was hoping you'd ask," Sandra said.
The two Worths climbed into the cab of the truck with Fennekin following. Sandra looked around in awe as she stepped behind the two rows of seats into the sleeping cab area. Ken's truck was a mobile base of operation with its two bunks, refrigerator, microwave, TV, and wide variety of storage areas for equipment, paperwork, and other items. The interior was pretty comfortable, but given how much time Ken and Fennekin spent living in this truck that was done with purpose to make it easier to relax, and recharge, in off hours.
"Wow," Sandra said. "I can see why you wanted an over the road gig. This truck has everything but a bathroom on board."
"Yeah," Ken said. "Devon actually offers those on 750 Eeveeliners as an option but it's rarely equipped on working trucks. Rich people and folks who use these as the basis for their RVs are the ones who get that fitted. They are more trouble than their worth to maintain for commercial rigs."
"Why does it have an extra row of seats?" Sandra said.
"The extra bunk and seats are part of a family-geared package for tandem crews, sometimes it's Mom and Dad driving the rig and they'll have a young child with them or something. Having two drivers is a good configuration sometimes. If you have multiple drivers, you can run the truck around the clock so it never stops rolling or making money, but almost everyone who does it is married because of how much time that means spending together. Kodai Transit ordered this truck for Unova service and put the family configuration on it before they went under, Mack bought them out, and this truck got imported and repainted for GS Transport service."
"Yeah, I remember you telling me how proud you were to have a Unova Special with all that extra power," Sandra said. "This is a wild rig but it fits you well. I'm kind of jealous given I bike most places but I do love the fresh air and all the adventure that comes out in the open."
"My team and I are ready to make the most of this rig," Ken said. "There's no telling where this truck can take us on the road of life."
The Worth twins relaxed for the rest of the evening with Sandra hooking up her phone to Ken's TV to teach him a little about battling and stream a movie. Eventually the time came for the two to part ways and they wished each other well on their journeys. Ken and Fennekin turned in for the night to get some rest before their long run north to Snowpoint City the following day. Ken was looking forward to a clean run, today had gone well and tomorrow was all simple highway driving. And what could possibly go wrong on a simple highway run?