Notes: A longform journeyfic from the perspective of the pokémon, taking place over the course of many years. Be warned that it contains pokephilia-related themes and explicit scenes later on (of the M Human x F Pokémon variety). Also, smut won't happen until quite a few chapters in, so keep that in mind too if that's all you're looking for.

I looked around with shifty eyes, my head low and my ears droopy. I was not scared. I am never scared! But I will admit this moving metal box was, uh, something else. How it rumbled and growled! What did humans call this? A 'train'? But that was also the word they used to coach us pokémon! Silly humans, using the same word for different concepts. Why did they do that all the time?

Ugh. This trip was so long and so boring. I heard my humans say we had been sitting here for nearly six hours now. Oh, 'hour' is a word humans use to refer to a very long time. A day has a lot of hours in it. I think around twenty-five, maybe?

I brought my right paw to my mouth to give it a quick lick. A lady had to always be presentable! I liked keeping my green fur shiny and glossy, although I hated baths with all of my soul. Typical of a feline, I guess. Sprigatito perks. With not much else to do, I took a brief glance around as I groomed my left paw next.

This small room had two wide seats made of soft fabric. The seat in front of me was occupied by Mom, a fully-evolved female human — or I suppose just an adult, since humans are an unevolved species. Mom was lying with her legs spread out on the seat, resting her chin on one closed paw — uh, hand? — as she played with her messy, long dark hair with her other hand. It was so weird seeing Mom dressed like that, with black jeans and a dark jacket! I would need some time to get used to the change in wardrobe. At least she was still wearing black. And why did humans always wear clothes anyway? Perhaps they felt cold?

Uh, not that she was actually my Mom. Obviously. Different species and all. The real Mom and Dad — well, that's a bit of a long story. But back at Home, among the nice ladies in black, she was often the human that fed me and cared for me when I was sick. So yeah. Mom.

She looked bored. I couldn't blame her.

To my left there was a crystal rectangle on the wall looking outside. Trees! Okay, that's boring. What is to my right? The seat I was on was taken by two stage-one humans. To my right was Bera, a tiny girl with black pigtails like a pair of Poochyena tails. She was so pretty! I'm kind of jealous that humans can do so much fun stuff with their hair. Sitting on Bera's lap was a Litten who didn't look any less bored than me. Much like me, he was also licking his paw with that kind of elegance and debonair that my brother always had.

I then turned my attention upwards to the last person present, towards the human whose lap I was sitting on. Jarque! I felt my tail wagging against his lap. Jarque looked exactly identical to Bera, except his hair was shorter. Like, totally identical, but he was a boy. Why did they look alike if they were different genders? Sure, they were twins, but I thought humans were one of those species with gender differences. Then again, they were unevolved. Uh, kids, I mean. By pokémon standards, they were perhaps only a little older than me. Maybe humans were like Espurr, and only looked different after growing older and evolving into Meowstic. Metaphorically speaking.

"How long until we arrive?" The voice came from above me, from Jarque, and was aimed at Mom. I pricked my ear up, also curious about her answer. The human language was a bit tricky to understand sometimes, but I was getting better at it every day!

Mom raised her head a little, her eyes fighting the hard battle of keeping her awake. "Jarque, I just told you we've been in this train for six hours, and I don't know how many times I've told you that the full trip to Baraja would take ten. You're a smart boy. You do the math."

Oh! Oh! I'm a smart girl too! I can do that one! Let's see, it takes ten hours and we've done six so… Oh no, the boredom was going to kill me.

"That's so long!" This time it was Bera, the girl sitting by my side, who complained. "I know you told us the ride would take ten hours, but I didn't realize that actually meant ten hours, Sister Euchre."

"It's so boring," Jarque said in an upset tone. His voice was very similar to Bera's, but I had spent so much time with the siblings that I had gotten used to telling them apart. "And we cannot even start a battle to pass the time in such a crumpled space."

Mom grunted as she closed her eyes, as if she wanted to sleep. "You won't pass out for spending ten hours sitting down idly. At least you two can keep your pokémon around while we're in the train. Most of my pokémon are large enough that they wouldn't feel comfortable in such a cramped room, so into their pokéballs they go. Pallas could barely spread her wings here." That was such a shame. Her Corviknight was always a fun storyteller.

Bera reclined back as she placed her hands behind her head. "Still, I'm going to miss leaving the old orphanage behind."

Mom let out a tired but pungent chuckle. "Let's see if you still miss that decrepit old place after you see just how big Dagger's Dockyard is. You're gonna go crazy with all the great shops and restaurants and entertainment venues all over the place. Good riddance I say. New management can go suck on an Aggron's entire… er, tail. Plus all the money I'll be making as a gym referee! It's not every day you get offered an employment opportunity this lucrative, specially in this economy."

I nodded, trying to follow along the conversation, although some of the most complicated words were giving me trouble. My eyes drifted around the small room as I tried to figure out what they were talking about, before my eyes stopped on the Litten sitting on Bera, the only other pokémon present in the room. Of course! My brother could help me! Uh, half-brother. We only shared a… mother? Yes, a mother. Kind of. Not really. Anyway. The Litten was a little older than me, so he had a better grasp on the strange language that humans used, and I often asked him directly if I didn't quite catch something.

"Mallet, what does employment mean?" I asked him. Of course, only the Litten could understand me. Humans would only hear a soft meow. Some older pokémon could learn to speak their language, but I was a long way from that yet.

Mallet gave me a sidelong glance before adding an uppity smirk and answering. "A job, Clover. You know, the thing adult humans do for money." His voice was insultingly suave, overly feminine coming from a male.

I nodded, making a mental note. Employment equals job. Okay. "And lucrative? What does lucrative mean, Mallet?"

He looked up to the ceiling for all of two seconds as he recalled the meaning of that particular human word. "Ah. It means she'll be making a lot of money with her new job as a gym referee."

"Oh! And what about that last word? What does economy mean?"

His mouth twitched, then he took a moment to stretch out before responding. "That's a tricky one, and I'm not sure if I understand it myself, Clover. It's something about how money flows in human society. I think."

I gave an enthusiastic nod. I didn't fully understand what 'money' meant either, but I didn't want to pester him too much. While Mallet went back to grooming himself and I wondered how to next occupy my time, I felt a nice brushing hand on the back of my head, sending a shiver of bliss all through my body. Aaah… Jarque was petting me. I didn't need to look up, since I would recognize those tender hands in total darkness. That characteristic way he caressed me, stroking in the direction of my fur as he pressed with the tips of his fingers… Darn, this felt just delightful! Perhaps he heard me talking to my brother and thought I was stressed or scared and wanted to calm me down. It's not like he could understand the content of our conversation.

Now, I loved everyone in my family. I loved Mom, because although she was a bit crude at times, she always prepared delicious food and cared for me whenever I fell sick. I loved Bera, because she was very sweet and kind, even if she had a bit of a temper. I loved Mallet, because even though he was a tad snobby, I didn't know any other pokémon more reliable than him, and he was the only blood-related family I had left.

But although I loved them all, it is Jarque I loved the most, and this was not a secret. I guess our personalities meshed pretty well. He liked play fighting as much as I did — although the rest of them weren't that far behind — and he was the person I spent the most time around. We always played together, and cheered each other when we were feeling sad, and the only way I ever dared to take a bath was if he was present to soothe my nerves. We always ate and slept together too. I licked his arm as he pet me, which was universal language for 'I like you'. Or at least it was for a Sprigatito. He reacted with a giggle, so I guess he understood? It sucked that I couldn't talk to him.

"I think you'll like it there," Mom said, wistful. Her words didn't seem aimed at anyone in particular. "Baraja is one of those regions obsessed with pokémon combat where you can actually make a decent living from competition battles and endorsements. You don't need to be a gym leader to kill it there. Even a simple referee like me makes pretty decent money. Although it may take us a bit of time getting used to their peculiar rulings, since this is one of the rare regions where all officially sanctioned competition takes the form of double battles."

"All battles are double battles?" Bera asked, a bit absent-minded as she petted the Litten's neck.

"Weird, isn't it? It's supposedly a lure for tourists or some such bullsh — nonsense. Sets them apart from other nearby regions that also offer tournaments regulated by the Pokémon League. Still, it's not like the police is going to arrest you for conducting a singles match on the street with a friend. Singles battling is as popular as in any other region, it's just that most sanctioned forms of competition in Baraja consist of double battles."

"They have a league there, right?" Jarque asked as he continued petting me. "With gyms and all that." Oh! Pokémon gyms! I've heard Mallet talk of those. They are places were humans gather to watch us pokémon do dances of skill. "Me and Clover are great battlers, so I bet we can make a lot of money there!"

Mom raised both hands, keeping one open and holding three fingers on the other. "Not any time soon, no you won't. You two are eight. The minimum age to participate in the League's challenge in Baraja is twelve. You seem unable to wait for a measly four hours, so best of luck waiting four years. Besides, even if you start at twelve and all goes well, it will take you many years to complete the gym challenge. You'll probably hit eighteen before you are finished, assuming you even make it that far."

Jarque held me closer with one hand while he kept petting with the other. "What's that supposed to mean, Sister Euchre? As if we could lose! We were the best fighters in the orphanage after you!" He planted a kiss on my forehead from above, then turned to his sister. "And Bera and Mallet too!"

Mom had one of those laughs she had whenever it was her turn to sweep Home's floors. "Sure, you two were the kings of the orphanage back at Holon. You reigned supreme there were the only trainers were little orphan kids with no formal battle training, and all combatants where abandoned or abused pokémon with little to no actual battle experience. The biggest Magikarp in the smallest pond."

Bera began to scratch right under Mallet's chin, making him purr adorably. "We're not that dumb. We get that it will be hard, be we are still pretty good at it."

"I'm not saying you guys are bad. You are good. Great, even. But in order to complete the gym challenge, great doesn't cut it. You have to be excellent. No, more than that. There's no word for what you need to be. I'm calling the guys that write down the dictionaries so soon as we arrive." Mom changed her position, sitting down like most humans normally do instead of lying on the seat. "I think this can be an interesting learning experience, but don't get too caught on it, will you? It's okay if you cannot complete it. Many trainers try the challenges, but very, very few actually finish them. That's normal. Don't let it get to you, okay?"

Jarque let out a soft, nervous laugh. "It's like you're already assuming we won't make it. It's just winning eight battles. We won hundreds in all our years in the orphanage. How bad can it be?"

"Just make sure you have fun on your journeys, at least. Even if you only manage to hunt down two or three badges, you'll probably make some very nice money on the way there. Then you can try landing a more stable job. The charming thing about Baraja is that many battle-related jobs pay pretty well, such as being a battle instructor, or a breeder, or a referee. But for now, just have fun. Ah, four years from now, I mean. Again, too young, you two."

Everyone fell silent. I spent a moment thinking about Mom's words and… no, I definitely didn't get most of that. Ugh, the human language is so hard! I turned to Mallet once more, who was still enjoying Bera's tender stroking. "Hey, Mallet, what is this gym challenge thing, exactly?"

The Litten stayed in bliss as he was pet for a few more moments before deigning to answer. "It's about you and a human traveling around the region performing dances of skill against very strong pokémon coached by very smart humans, in order to find the strongest pokémon and the wisest human."

"Oh! That sounds cool!" I could feel my tail moving behind me, slowly. I bet we could win that! "Is that what we are going to do when we reach our new home?"

"That seems to be what Bera and Jarque are planning on doing. Well, four years from now, anyway. Our humans are still too young, Clover."

Our little conversation, unrecognized by human ears, was interrupted by a sudden question coming from the female twin. "Sister Euchre, where will we be living?"

It took the evolved — uh, the adult human a moment to realize she was being spoken to, as she stared at the twins as if in a state of stupor. "We'll crash by the lively Dagger's Dockyard, the city that houses the gym where I will work as a referee. I pulled some strings and got ourselves some nice, small house for ourselves. Nothing too fancy, but rent is low enough that I should be able to afford it with my new salary."

"And we can be there too?" Jarque asked. "Like, you're an adult, but we're children and our parents are —"

Mom resumed speaking without letting him finish. "Look, we're not in trouble, okay? I've done all the required paperwork for the adoption process — you've got no idea how long that took! I am your legal guardian now, of all four of you, so it's all good. If anyone asks, we're just a mother and her adopted children migrating from Holon to Baraja. Nothing illegal here. I know we left too abruptly and a lot of people back at the orphanage must be fuming, but screw them. The farther away we get from that godforsaken place the better." Mom fired a brief glance at Mallet, then stared at me intently for much longer, before facing our humans again. "Guys, I know. Changes are scary. You'll miss the old place. Me too. But it's for the best."

"Changes are not scary," Jarque said. I felt like I detected some trembling in his voice, but I must have been mistaken. Much like me, my buddy Jarque never felt scared! "You know what is scary? Waiting for four more darned hours doing nothing in this train! Now that makes me shiver!"

Oh? He was cold? I made sure to cuddle up against him more closely. My fur will keep you warm! He giggled as my fur brushed against him, so I took that as a good sign.

Mom observed us with a half-smile. It was very rare for her to smile widely anyway. "Plenty of ways to pass time other than fighting. Like, I don't know. Play a card game or something." She reached for her pocket and produced a small rectangular box, and shook it against her hand until a large number of pieces of heavy rectangular paper emerged from it.

"Card games?" Jarque asked, scrunching his nose. "I don't think we know any."

"Well, that's just sad. Let's get to solving that." Mom spread the pieces of paper over the table in a fan shape, shuffled them around, and then picked out four of them, each depicting a single colored symbol. "Do you know your suits?"

Bera gave her an awkward glance. "… As in clothes?"

"Oh my god. You really are that fresh. Listen here, kids." She tapped a finger at each of the four pieces of paper in order. "That's clubs, hearts, diamonds, and spades. Got it?"

The twins shared a brief glance, then both answered almost in unison. "No…?"

"God. Fine, fine. Let's take it slow." Mom chose one of those 'card' things and tapped her knuckles on it. This one had a green drawing of something that looked like a small tree, or maybe a paw print. "This is clubs. This is the peasant. This is the everyman, the little guy making an honest living that just wants to pay the bills and keep his family fed. Some would say he has no big dreams. That's not true. He aims high: his goal is to earn the affection of his loved ones. No nobler goal. This one understands that you don't need to make it big to be happy."

I nodded along. Oh, so that green symbol is supposed to be a plant with three leaves. Maybe a… clover? Oh, that would be cute! That's me! That's my name! I felt my tail wagging. I had no idea who this Mr. Clubs that Mom was talking about was, but I liked how she had described him. It resonated with me. Everyone that was important to me was in this small room. This was my entire world. I didn't need anything else to be happy.

"Next comes diamonds," Mom said, pointing to the next card in line, this one featuring a weird blue misshapen rectangle. "The thing is, the peasant grows the crops, but someone has to distribute them. This is the merchant, the guy with the market. Wealth. Riches. Cold hard cash. Bluey here is all about figuring out how to benefit from others and make others benefit from you. Quid pro quo, they call it. I scratch your back, and you scratch mine. You might think this one's cold and calculating, a bit too self-serving. But a smart merchant understands that the best way to amass riches isn't to selfishly take from others, but to make them reap the benefits too. Take a lot, but give a lot too."

I think humans saw greed as a negative trait. That's something I never understood. Why would you not be greedy? Why would you not want things? If you truly wanted something, if it were truly important to you, would you not do everything in your hand to achieve it?

"Then there's hearts." The next card was red, containing that one symbol that humans often used to depict a heart, which had always looked more like an autumn leaf to me. "You can probably figure out this one has to do with love and affection. Hearts is almost spiritual in nature, a priest if you will. Someone good-natured that keeps order, prone to self-sacrifice. Someone you want to keep around. Your greatest confidant, but his loyalty also makes him easy to exploit. A bosom friend if you nurture this relationship, but a dreadful foe if you play your cards wrong."

Oh! Love was important. Perhaps the most important thing. I didn't understand most of the things Mom had just said, but I at least understood that. She spoke of friends… Um, I don't think I had any of those. But I had a family, which was more fundamental! So I didn't miss not having friends or anything. I frantically shook my head. No. Not in the slightest.

"And last, not to call a spade a spade, but…" The fourth card was placed a bit further than the other three, and I couldn't for the life of mine figure out what that black symbol was meant to represent. Another leaf? Why did all these symbols look like leaves? "This is the pike, the sword. This is the military soldier. Because someone has to protect the peasant and the merchant and the priest, no? A commander to lead them and ensure they all stay safe — someone to assuage their fears and bolster them on. A life of war is not an easy one, but the soldier is no less proud because of it."

Her words brought to mind the image of Jarque, for some reason. I liked dances of skills, that which humans called battles, and so did Jarque. I liked to believe that his passion and enthusiasm incited me to improve, and the other way around. We made a fantastic team, the two of us!

Mom leaned back, putting both hands on the table. "Got them memorized now?"

Jarque picked one of the cards at random, one that depicted those weird three-leafed symbols on the corners. "Sister Euchre, is any of this relevant to the game or…?"

"No, not in the slightest," Mom said as she began to shuffle all the cards together, making both twins groan. "But life is no fun if you only focus on what's immediately pertinent. Some of the best things in life you will only learn if you take detours. If you only ever face ahead, you might miss important shortcuts."

"Right, right. So how do you actually play this?"

"Goddammit, fine. No more wisdom for you today. I'm gonna crush you at this game, kid."

"A-At least first teach us how to play?"

As they began to play around with those cardboard cutouts, with Mom arguing to 'let experience be your teacher' and the twins calling her lazy, my idle thoughts wandered elsewhere. In four more hours we would arrive to this new region, Baraja. I was a bit nervous, but also very excited about what was to come. According to Mallet, in four more years Jarque would be old enough to become my trainer, and then we could go on adventures together. I loved the idea of me and Jarque traveling and exploring and conquering powerful foes together. It sounded so fun! I couldn't wait!

Back at Home, the orphanage, I always had to share Jarque's attention with the other pokémon and younger human children, but once he became my trainer I would have him all for myself…!