Chapter 12
It was shortly after noon the next day when Corporal Jeremy the Farfetch'd-man knocked on Gertrude's door. He was still in his NKR fatigues but only carried his 9mm sidearm when she answered.
"Thanks for stopping by, Jeremy," Gertrude gave him a hug, which he returned.
"No problem, I see you had your egg," Jeremy pulled back just to confirm she was no longer eggnant.
"Yep, that's why I asked you over," Gertrude invited Jeremy in and showed him to the incubator, where she'd replaced her egg after waking up. "I'm joining the expedition to Fort Daggerpoint and I'd like someone I can rely on to eggsit for me until I return."
"Me!?" Jeremy pointed to himself, "But I don't know anything about egg care!"
Gertrude handed a few papers to Jeremy, "It's not a big deal, here's a list of what to check for and do each day. I can talk to General Silverman to make this official work so you'll still get paid."
Jeremy scanned the paper then looked back up at Gertrude, who was looking at him with quivering pleading eyes, "You don't have to give me the baby-doll eyes, I'll do it. Can I stay here instead of the barracks?"
Gertrude giggled, "Of course, I'll go talk to the General about your pay. Thank you, Jeremy." She headed for the door, "Help yourself to anything in the kitchen!"
Jeremy looked up at the egg that sat in the incubator, "Guess I'm your caretaker for now, kid. Your mom's got important stuff to do." He stroked the egg once with his feathery hand then went to see what he could find to eat.
Gertrude met Dee at Molly Murkrow's as the Lucario-woman was pulling on some new larger travelling clothes, which were still stretched by her ample chest. "Did everything work out?" Dee asked as Gertrude approached.
"It did, Jeremy will look after my egg while we're gone," Gertrude watched as Dee adjusted her armor. "Were you able to find a bra that fits?"
Molly Murkrow laughed, "I haven't seen tits that big in ages, I had to measure her so I could make one just for her."
Dee blushed, "Yeah, and one day without a bra won't kill me. I already paid for it, saved the rest to get more gear."
"You go on ahead then, I have some stuff to buy here," Gertrude waved as Dee left before turning to Molly for her own supplies.
Dee ran into Melany at the Gun Runner's booth and the Stunky-woman just grumbled, "Still no MF-cells, hi Dee," she turned to greet the Lucario-woman.
"We'll probably find some at Fort Daggerpoint," Dee stepped up to the booth, "Any small cells at least?"
"A few, hopefully enough to last," Melany sighed, "I'll just have to pick my shots, but I was able to pick up some parts to make a scope for this." She patted the plasma defender at her side, "I'll be back at Gertrude's house."
"And spare parts for me," GR-0-WL barked as he followed after Melany.
"Alright," Dee waved then turned back to the booth, "Let's see what kind of grenades you have…"
Manectric Captain Jameson just stared at Helios as the Charmeleon-man finished talking. "You want that crazy bounty hunter to come with us?! No way! I'm not having a loose cannon on the trip with us!"
"It's her terms, either she comes with us or we don't get the passkey," Helios folded his arms, "I spoke to her earlier, she seems stable if a bit creepy."
"To say the least," Captain Jameson, "I don't know if I can trust someone like that even if General Silverman endorses her."
"Because she's still human?" Helios' question caught Jameson off guard.
Jameson sighed, "I can't say no, when the only humans I've heard of out here are with Aether and a reminder of our pasts."
Helios pointed to himself, "Dee and I were humans until barely over a week ago, Melany was human too. Do you trust us?"
"Yes, but you've already been a huge help to us even if you were paid for it. She's a bounty hunter who nearly blew off the Dubwool Shack's doors last night. Can't you just pay her for it?" Jameson asked.
"We'll be responsible for her and having an extra gun on hand will be better for escorting the Tauros," Helios folded his arms again, "And we all need whatever's in there for when Aether or the Survivalists attack again."
Captain Jameson sighed in defeat, "Fine, we're leaving tomorrow morning so be ready to go."
"Don't worry, we will be," Annai's voice made them jump as she had seemingly materialized next to them without a noise.
Sparks flew from Jameson's fur, "Don't do that! I almost shocked you!"
"Sorry, but here," Annai handed the passkey to Helios, "I'll go make my preparations, excuse me." The human woman turned and left.
Helios carefully stowed the passkey in his backpack, "I should stock up too. See you tomorrow, Captain."
OoOoO
Gertrude returned home and found Jeremy seated at her kitchen table. The Farfetch'd-man looked up, "How'd everything go?"
"Great, got my supplies and here," she passed some paperwork to Jeremy, "The General approved your eggsitting as official military business, as long as you attend drills every day to keep in shape."
Jeremy looked over the paperwork and sighed in relief, "Good. Was kinda looking forwards to going to Daggerpoint…"
"Oh… sorry I can try to find someone else," Gertrude reached to take the papers back but Jeremy pocketed them.
"No, it's fine. Maybe I could be the kid's godparent," he did his best to smile with his beak.
Gertrude nodded, "That would be fine, and the General said that after this he's going to organize a proper prospecting expedition once we bring back the first shipment, so you can join that."
"Sounds like a good deal," Melany spoke up from where she had just finished attaching the scope to her plasma defender, "We do the dangerous stuff and then you get to go in and just pick up what we leave behind." She rolled her eyes and smiled, "So, Gertrude, what did you buy for this expedition?"
"Mostly more medical supplies: surgical kits, stimpacks, Rad-X and Rad-away, antidotes, bandages, that sort of stuff. And this," Gertrude unpacked a series of what looked like black plates from her backpack. "Vault security armor, but with a beige jumpsuit. I actually ordered it months ago but then I found out I was expecting before it arrived so I just had Molly hold onto it until today."
"I guess your old armor is kind of a mess too," Melany laughed.
Dee and Helios returned some time later as Gertrude was preparing supper with Jeremy joining them and being introduced to the group.
"What are you going to do when Alex is finally home for good?" Dee asked as Gertrude served them.
Gertrude smiled as she finished serving and joined them at the somewhat crowded kitchen table, "Alex always wanted to open his own restaurant. He's a much better cook than I am and a big part of why he's trying to earn is enough to get a place built, a place with a roof and intact walls. No offense to Molly but we want somewhere people can go just to eat that focuses on that. That's part of why we're out here, no real competition and far away from most of the politics in the Kanto region."
"Sounds nice," Helios dug into his supper.
"So, Jeremy, what's your story?" Melany asked between mouthfuls.
Jeremy swallowed, "Not much. Hatched back in Kanto and was a friend of Alex and Gertrude. I joined the NKR military and was posted out here. I think I'm the only one of their friends who didn't join Kitun Caravans."
GR-0-WL just looked up at him, "That's very simple."
"Well not everyone can have a story as interesting as ours," the Stunky-woman stuck another bite in her mouth.
Jeremy left after supper as the five discussed the extra gear they'd bought for the expedition: Helios had sold the hunting rifle off and bough more ammo for his assault rifle and shells for the shotgun he still carried and traded in his homemade spear for a sledgehammer; Dee had picked up more grenades, mostly frag but also a few pulse as well just in case they ran into any robots; Melany had just replenished her repair supplies and bought out the limited stock of small energy cells she could find and Gertrude just had her new armor and extra medical supplies. GR-0-WL didn't need anything save for Melany's repairs. After that they all turned in.
OoOoO
Dee burst into Molly's early in the morning where the Murkrow-woman was just getting set up for her shift. "Is it ready?" Dee stopped and the counter.
"Finished last night," Molly chuckled and passed the completed undergarment to Dee.
It was the work of a moment for Dee to strip her top off, startling and exciting the few other early morning patrons who gawked as she fastened her new bra and tested it for comfort. "Thanks, Molly. Gotta go!" Dee ran out the front door while still pulling her top back on.
Dee skidded to a stop next to Helios at the city gate, where the squad, her friends, Annai and half a dozen Tauros laden with saddlebags were gathered. She gawked at the seemingly unmutated Pokemon, "How are their original Tauros out here?"
Helios passed Dee her bag, which he'd offered to take that morning, "I asked the same thing, turns out Tauros are highly mutation resistant. They're just bigger and stronger than they used to be."
Dee pulled on her backpack and took stock of the squad. Other than herself, her friends, Annai and Captain Jameson the Manectric-man there were ten others: three Lycanroc-people one of each Midday Midnight and Dusk forms, two Raticate-women, a nervous-looking Furret-man, two Flaffy-people one man one woman, a scowling Jolteon-man and a Combusken-woman all in fatigues and armed with assault rifles, 9mm sidearms and frag grenades.
Once he saw that Dee was ready Captain Jameson addressed everyone, "Alright, soldiers and volunteers, we're heading far east way past the desert. It's going to be a long two weeks hiking there and just as long hiking back. There's going to be raiders, mutant Pokemon and maybe some unexpected surprises along the way but stay together, stay alive and protect the Tauros so we can haul back everything we need. Now head out and march!" He turned and led them towards the front gate, where Ranger Kerry Vargas saw them off.
Once they were on the road, Dee and Helios found themselves marching alongside the Combusken-woman. She smiled at the two, "Hi, I'm Sergeant Lauren. Are you from the Moltres' Embers Tribe, Helios?"
Helios nodded, "I am, but I only really visited them once earlier this week."
"I came from the Moltres' Embers, used to be called Volca," Lauren looked over at the two, "Did you see my dad, Helfra, how's he doing?"
Dee smiled, "We did, he helped train me while I was there. I still couldn't figure out Blaze Kick."
Lauren pumped her arm, "I can help you with that when we get some rest time. He trained me since I was a kid."
"Why did you leave and change your name?" Helios asked.
"I was fascinated by cities and civilization, especially when some NKR soldiers came to visit when I was a Torchic. After I evolved I decided to make the trip here and eventually joined the military. I miss home sometimes but I prefer the city. As for my name I just wanted to choose my own name that wasn't related to fire." Lauren turned to continue the march, "Haven't been on an assignment that lasted this long before though."
"I haven't even been a Lucario as long as this trip's going to be," Dee said, "Feels like so long ago."
Helios took Dee's hand and gave her a kiss on the cheek, "Me either, but we'll make it."
Dee blushed and kissed him back, "Thanks, Helios, we will."