Estimated Reading Time: 23 Minutes
Leafstorm
Ness took off his sweater in the bathroom and started washing it off. Gross, that Happiny threw up all over him. He washed most of it off, but decided not to wear it. Luckily he was prepared in case his clothes ever got dirty while he was out in public. He took out a ziploc bag and put the sweater inside it. At least his buttoned up shirt is still clean, although it felt incomplete without the sweater.
He left the bathroom and approached the door to the daycare. Oh god, why? Why did Leaf have to work here for all places? If he'd known, he would have never applied. Honestly, he should've known. It's a Pokemon Daycare! Of course she would work at a place like this. So would Red. Oh no, does Red work here too?
Last time Ness spoke with Red, the Pokemon Trainer fucking punched him. It was all a misunderstanding, but he's pretty certain that Red still doesn't like him.
Great. This is just great. When can he catch a break? Although he should be thankful. He has a job now and he'll start earning money. He won't have to dig in the trash for food anymore.
He closed his eyes and let out a deep breath. He opened the door and saw that it was full of lively Pokemon. The Purloin saw him again and immediately went over to him. A Meowth with a pink bow around its neck also walked up. He bent down and patted the two.
He stopped when he saw a pair of shoes in front of him. He looked up and saw Leaf. She had a disappointed look on her face.
Ness: "Oh, hi."
Leaf: *Sighs* "Let me give you a tour."
Ness: "Ok." (Geez, this is awkward…)
Leaf started walking off. He quickly got up and started walking with her. They walked to the baby Pokemon section. It looked like a giant indoor kids playground.
Leaf: "These are where the baby Pokemon like to hang out."
Ness: "Cool!"
She pointed to a corner near the baby section.
Leaf: "Over there is the nap area."
Ness: "Ok."
She walked off and went to another room. This room was a giant pool playground. It looked like a waterpark.
Leaf: "Over here is where you'll see most of the water Pokemon hang out. Any Pokemon are welcome here, but be cautious of certain Pokemon like a Charmander. Some can absolutely not be here or they'll be harmed."
Ness: "What is the type of Pokemon that can't be here?"
Leaf: "A lot of Fire Types could be hurt and some could even result in death. Also some rock and steel types can't float and will sink to the bottom."
Ness: "Don't let the fire, rock, and steel Pokemon in. Got it."
Leaf: "There are a few that can swim like a Vulpix for example. Here follow me actually."
Leaf left the pool area. They walked back to the entrance of the daycare. She grabbed her backpack that was hung up next to the door. She handed him a book.
Leaf: "Study this."
Ness: "Oh! Thank you."
Leaf: "Follow me."
She walked to the end of the room and opened another door. They were now outside. It was a giant yard. He saw lots of giant Pokemon running around.
Leaf: "This is the main yard where most of the Pokemon reside. However *Points ahead* We have other sections too. They're fenced off depending on the Pokemon's personality. Some are rowdy and some are nervous. We like to keep the ones that are easily scared in a different section, but they are welcome to go to the rowdy section. The rowdy Pokemon can't go to the nervous area for obvious reasons."
Ness: "It's like a giant dog park. Small dogs could go to the big dog area, but the big ones cannot unless the dog owners were ok with it."
Leaf: "Sure. Anyway, there's a ranch where Mareep, Rapidash, and Miltank like to dwell. Over there to the left is the giant swamp area. Lots of ponds over there. Lotads and Woopers love that place."
Ness: "This place is huge."
Leaf: "Yeah."
Ness: "Sooo… What do I do exactly?"
Leaf: "All you have to do is feed and pick up after them."
Ness: "Every area?!"
Leaf: "No, don't worry. There's other employees here. Some are fellow Pokemon trainers from different regions. Bianca is here."
Ness: "Who?"
Leaf: "Uh, you'll see her later."
Ness: "Oh, ok."
Leaf: "Each person will be stationed to a department. Today you are scheduled in the baby department."
Ness: "Seems simple enough."
Leaf: "Sure…"
Ness: "Um, so do I go off on my own, or do I follow you around?"
Leaf: "Because it's your first day, I'm supposed to watch you."
Ness: (Yikes… This is going to suck.) "Oh, ok. So, wait, what do I do?"
Leaf showed him where the food was and asked him to feed the baby Pokemon. He grabbed a bag and went over there. He immediately got swarmed. They were jumping and clawing at him. He raised the food up in the air so that the Pokemon wouldn't rip into it. Unfortunately for him, a Starly swooped down and pecked a hole in the bag, which caused bits of food to fall out.
Ness: "Hey! Stop it!"
A Pichu landed on his face and used thundershock. He screamed and dropped the food all over him. The Pokemon started fighting each other. They started stomping on him by accident. One of them straight up kicked him in the balls.
Leaf: *Chuckles*
Ness: OW! L-Leaf! Help!"
Leaf: "..."
Ness: "Help!"
She took out a whistle and blew on it. The Pokemon including Ness winced in pain from the loud piercing sound.
Leaf: "Everyone stop!"
The Pokemon looked at her and sat down. Ness was flabbergasted. They listened to her right away. How did she do that?
Leaf: "Be nice to the new guy."
The Pokemon frowned and nodded.
Leaf: "You may now eat."
They all ate from the floor. Ness crawled out of the mob and sat there breathing heavily.
Ness: "H-how *huffs* did you do that?"
Leaf: "..."
She turned around and left to go tend to the other Pokemon across the room. She didn't even look at him. This… This is awkward.
Ness: "Um, ok yeah, I'll just stay with the baby Pokemon."
Meanwhile In Onett
The Clone
Nate put on his work uniform. He said goodbye to Ness's mom and his sister. They waved him out and he walked to Mach Pizza.
Nate went inside and clocked on. He went to the back and started making pizza. One of the co-workers went up to him. His name was Trey. Nate enjoyed his presence because Trey always went out of his way to talk to him.
Trey: "Hey, bro, what's up?"
Nate: "Nothin' much just another boring shift."
Trey: "You can say that again."
Nate: "Hahaha!"
Trey: "It would be better if they paid us more."
Nate: "I know right? What is this greedy company bullshit?"
Trey: "Fucking stupid is what it is."
Nate: "Hahaha!"
Trey: "So, hey, you've been working here for a week now. How do you like it?"
Nate: "If I'm being honest, it's alright. The pay sucks, but at least I'm back here and not in service."
Trey: "Oh gross. I would hate to be out there."
Nate: "I do well with people, but I'm not good with money."
Trey: "We have the opposite problem."
Nate: "You're good with money?"
Trey: "I'm good with numbers in general. I used to always ace my math tests."
Nate: "Math tests?"
Trey: "You're acting like you never took one."
Nate bit his lip. What's he talking about? What's a math test? Quick he needs to think of something, so he doesn't look like a complete idiot.
Nate: "I haven't. I'm home-schooled."
Trey: "Shit! Call yourself lucky then."
Nate: "Why?"
Trey: "School fuckin' sucked."
Nate: "Really?"
Trey: "Yeah. Teachers don't know how to teach. Education sucks ass. Bunch of useless information. School is a waste of time."
Nate: "Damn."
Trey: "Anyway, enough about school. Do you play basketball?"
Nate: "What's that?"
Trey: "Bro, you don't know what basketball is?!"
Nate: "N-no."
Trey: "Aww, dude. I gotta show you how to play."
Nate: "Aww yeah?"
Trey: "Yeah, let's hit the court after we close."
Nate: "Alright, I'm down~"
Trey: "Cool. Cool."
After work, the two followed Trey to his old high school. The two went to the basketball court there. He walked over to a basket that had basketballs in there. He grabbed one and started showing Nate how to dribble.
Trey: "Alright, you try." *Passes basketball*
Nate caught it. He tried dribbling, and got it right away. Next, Trey taught him how to shoot. Nate wasn't good at it, but his friend didn't make fun. They ended up listening to music while shooting hoops for hours. Eventually the two boys got tired.
Trey: "Alright dawg, I think I'm done."
Nate: "Yeah ok. It was fun."
Trey: "Hell yeah it was. We should do this again. Gimme your number."
They traded numbers and walked back home.
Nate stepped foot in the house and immediately he was greeted with two happy faces. Ness's mom and his sister asked him how his day went. He happily told them about Trey. The two were happy and started asking questions about his new friend.
After eating dinner with the family, he went to his room to chill. He hopped on his desk and booted up his laptop. He hopped on discord and texted Ness.
[- Nate
Nate: hey broo wanna play league of legendzzzz
Ness: Oh… Hey…
Nate: u good bro
Ness: No…
Nate: wat happened
Ness: A lot.
Nate: tell meeee
Ness: My first day at work was today.
Nate: oooo dat sounds awful
Ness: Leaf was there…
Nate: oh hell nah
Ness: Yup. It was awkward.
Nate: brooo dats not ok did she yell at u
Ness: No, she mainly ignored me and it was killing me inside.
Nate: she still hates us
Ness: Yeah because of you. Thanks for that.
Nate: sorryyyy :(
Ness: Sorry, Nate. I didn't mean to attack you.
Nate: its ok i deserve it honestly
Ness: It's a gray area. You did and you didn't.
Nate: no excuse i shouldnt have done dat
Ness: It's fine now. I forgive you. Sorry, I didn't mean to come at you like that. I'm just frustrated.
Nate: i get it
Nate: so wat exactly happened
Ness: Well a Happiny threw up on me thirty seconds in.
Nate: a wat
Ness: That's not important.
Ness: Leaf gave me a tour and then assigned me the baby Pokemon department which sucked.
Nate: u took care of a bunch of babies
Ness: It was awful. I thought Lucky was a brat. These Pokemon were on another level. You know how many times I got shocked by a fucking Pichu? It hurts! I'm bringing rubber gloves next time.
Nate: sounds kinda funny
Ness: It wasn't. I have a bunch of scratches and bruises.
Nate: just use ur pk powers to heal it off
Ness: Feels like cheating. Plus we're not allowed.
Nate: feels like cheating is wild
Ness: Is it weird that I kind of like getting scratches?
Nate: bro got a pain fetish
Ness: No! I just… It's nice to feel something like a normal person would. Healing it off is too easy. I like challenges.
Nate: bro ur fkin crazy but i vibe wit dat
Ness: See? You get my point.
Nate: yeah dats fair honestly
Ness: Anyway so the rest of my shift after Leaf showed me around was dealing with the baby Pokemon. They demand lots of attention and play. It was so exhausting. I hated it. Plus, Leaf is… IT'S SO AWKWARD. I wish she wasn't there…
Nate: yeaaaaah i couldnt do it
Ness: Did I tell you that she commented on my twitter post?
Nate: for real
Ness: Yeah! She gave me advice. I thought we were at least neutral, but no. She still hates me.
Nate: i would quit bro dats too much
Ness: But free Pokemon health care…
Nate: sacrifices must be made
Ness: I'll give it a little bit. It was my first day. First days always suck, right?
Nate: mine sure did
Ness: Oh yeah?
Nate: being the new guy isnt fun
Nate: i didnt know where things were and it was frustrating plus i didnt talk to anyone
Ness: Shy?
Nate: yeah i know crazy
Ness: That doesn't sound like you at all.
Nate: its the new town. i'm not used to things here. everything is new and scary even being at ur moms feels a lil unsafe
Ness: It takes getting used to.
Nate: yup so i guess ur right in this case. stick wit it
Ness: I hope that since I'll be working with Leaf more, she'll start to warm up to me.
Nate: maybe i dunno. i really fcked up
Ness: You sure did, buddy.
Nate: she definitely sees u as me
Ness: I know. Its annoying.
Ness: *It's
Nate: same here… ur fam still calls me ness… i realy hate it
Ness: I'm sorry…
Nate: this is just something we both have to live wit now bc of my existence
Ness: It's true, but you know, I'm glad you're alive and here.
Nate: thx
Ness: I mean it. It sucks a little that people get us mixed up, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I like you, Nate. You turned out to be a good person deep inside. I'm happy you broke out of Mario's influence.
Nate: i was never brainwashed by him. i hated the dude from teh start
Ness: Yeah, I could tell when Mario introduced us.
Nate: dat fckin guy is crazy
Ness: Oh I know.
Nate: i never wanted to work wit him. he abused me
Ness: I'm sorry… You didn't deserve that.
Nate: idk i did some bad things
Ness: You're like what, almost a year old? You didn't know any better. I wish I thought about your perspective sooner.
Nate: nah dude it cool. i was such a dick back then
Ness: You really were.
Nate: hey! Ur supposed to say "no way u were always cool"
Ness: I'm not sugar coating it. You were a dick.
Nate: biiiitch
Ness: No, that's you.
Nate: truuuu
Nate: ugh i really do feel bad for wat i did
Ness: It's ok. We're ok.
Nate: i know but now ur dealing wit leaf hatin ya
Ness: I'm hoping she'll realize that I wasn't the one that cheated on her.
Nate: [Nate is typing]
…
Nate wanted to ask Ness a favor. If he could tell Leaf that he's sorry, or if he could get her number somehow so he could tell her himself. However, he stopped typing. He was scared. What he did to her was unforgivable. Sure, the argument could be made that he was too young and dumb, but the truth is, he still knew it was a bad thing.
He's glad that he finally realized that being a player is terrible. However, he feels guilty because when he looks at some of his co-workers or other customers, a part of him wants to sleep with them. It would be easy too. The people in Onett seem desperate for attention. However, that's predatory. At least that's how he feels about it. He's not sure if it is. If they want it, they want it. This time he would lay out the ground rules and tell them that it's just sex. It still felt wrong though. He still feels guilty about what he did. Sex went from super fun to a bad taste in his mouth.
Nate didn't want to be like that again. Even though he has these thoughts, he's been a good boy and hasn't been acting on them. He has self-control now. It's all thanks to-
Ding!
[- Ness
Ness: Hey are you still there?
Nate: ya sorry lost my train of thought
Ness: What were you going to say?
Nate: i dont remember
Ness: Oh well, anyway, it's getting late. I'll talk to you tomorrow.
Nate: ok! Ttyl
…
Nate went to the kitchen to grab a glass of water. Ness's sister snuck out of her room and rushed over to him.
Tracy: "Ness!"
Nate: "!"
He turned around and saw her. She smiled and walked closer.
Tracy: "Now that you have a job, you get discounts, right?"
Nate: "Yeah."
Tracy: "Can you order pizza right now?"
Nate: "I could."
Tracy: "Do it! I want pizza!"
Nate: "We already had dinner."
Tracy: "I'm still hungry."
Nate: "Yeah ok."
Tracy: "Wait, really?"
Nate: "Sure, I could go for some pizza."
Nate dialed the number and ordered two boxes of pizza. He sat on the couch and turned on the tv.
Tracy: "Lower it. Mom's sleeping. Don't want her to bust us do ya?"
Nate: "Are we not allowed to have pizza?"
Tracy: "Not this late."
Nate: "Why not?"
Tracy: "I'm surprised. You're usually all about the rules."
Nate: "I'm not Ness, remember?"
Tracy covered her mouth and gasped.
Tracy: "I'm so sorry!"
Nate: "It's ok. I understand."
Tracy: "It's just you look so much like him."
Nate: "I mean yeah, I'm his clone."
Tracy: "Sorry, Nate."
Nate: "It's all good."
Tracy: "If it makes you feel any better, you're a lot more chill than Ness."
Nate: "Oh I know. That guy can be... Um, what's a nice way of putting it?"
Tracy: "A control freak."
Nate: "Yeah!"
Tracy: "He means well, but sometimes he's a wet blanket."
Nate: "Just sometimes?"
The two started laughing.
Ding Dong!
Tracy and Nate winced. The doorbell was so loud. They looked upstairs hoping that Ness's mom wasn't coming down.
Tracy: "I think we're good. Go answer it."
Nate looked through the peephole and saw that it was the pizza delivery guy. He opened the door and paid for it. He set the pizza on the coffee table and the two started chowing down.
Tracy: "Mmm! So goood!"
Nate: "I know right~"
Tracy: "You wouldn't mind if I bring friends over, do you?"
Nate: "I don't care. I'm heading to bed anyway."
He grabbed a few more slices and went upstairs. Tracy was shocked. Ness would ask her so many questions about her friends to make sure they were safe or whatever. He would also tell her to go to bed and be super over the top about it. However, Nate gave no fucks at all. They look exactly the same, yet so different. She was skeptical of Nate at first, but he's cooler than her actual brother.
Her friends came over and they chilled in the living room, eating pizza. They talked for hours. Eventually her friends left. She went back to her room and realized she had two hours to get ready for school. Fuck… Nate might be cooler, but Ness always made sure she was ok. Dammit, she shouldn't have eaten the pizza and stayed up. School is going to suck.
Later that day
Nate went to work. When he entered, his manager greeted him. She was a tall brunette famous for her red lipstick. She always made sure to smell nice and look pretty for the customers.
Nate: "Hey, wassup, Kimberly."
She looked him up and down. She smiled and put her hand on his shoulder.
Kimberly: "I barely see you. How's the job so far?"
Nate: "Oh, haha! Yeah, we usually work different shifts. The job is nice."
Kimberly: "That's good to hear. Also I'm thinking of being a closer, so we'll be getting to know each other more~"
Nate: "Oh, no more Samuel as the closing manager?"
Kimberly: "I'm thinking about changing his schedule."
Nate: "Oh…"
Kimberly: "You like Samuel?"
Nate: "Yeah, he's cool."
Kimberly: "Do you guys talk often?"
Nate: "Not really. He's just chill."
Kimberly: "Well, Samuel recently had a kid. I'm thinking of moving him to the day shift so he can be with his family more. If he likes the new schedule, that means you'll be closing with me from now on."
Nate: "Sounds like a plan."
Kimberly: "You sound eager."
Nate: "I mean, sure why not."
Kimberly: "So, made any friends yet?"
Nate: "Yeah! Trey and I have been playing basketball together."
Kimberly: ["An active guy~"] *Bites lip*
Nate: "What was that? Sorry, I swear I'm deaf sometimes."
Kimberly: "Sorry. I was just talking to myself."
Nate: "Oh, ok then. Well, I'm gonna head to the kitchen."
Kimberly: "Ok, you do that, baby~"
Nate: (Baby?) "Yeah, it was nice talking to ya."
Kimberly: "Yes, it was nice. Let me know if you need anything ok."
Nate: "I will."
Kimberly stared at Nate as he went to the kitchen. She watched him and Trey talk about whatever. Trey made a joke and Nate started laughing. Her heart skipped a beat. What an attractive laugh.