Pokemon Freelancer (Part 2, Episodic Story)

[Orderneri]

1: Family Life​

On a cool weekday morning, Laurence stirred. He leaned over to his girlfriend and brushed her long ginger hair out of the way. He kissed her forehead and saw her smile in her sleep, satisfied. They'd both been woken up in the middle of the night by their son, and Sonia had insisted on handling it, causing Laurence to fall asleep sooner. Now it was her turn to sleep in.

Laurence spun and put a foot on the floor. He grabbed his sleek dark grey prosthetic and put it on. It'd replaced his right leg ever since he ran out of luck in Saffron. He got up and put some clothes on as his trusted partner, Absol, stretched. A special bond between the two of them caused them to understand each other's thoughts, so she woke up alongside Laurence. She could feel the cold laminate floor as if she were on it, despite being comfortably curled up on a large rug.

Absol used her one remaining eye to watch her Trainer. Like Laurence, she had bitten off more than she could chew, but instead of losing a limb, she had lost an eye and damaged her horn. She didn't regret her decision. What she had done was for the family. People she had grown to love. She had long since dropped the facade of a lone wolf, openly displaying anger at the loss of a family member and pushing herself beyond her limits, expending all her defensive energy but continuing to fight regardless.

As Laurence approached the door with Absol by his side, he heard soft footsteps approaching. A very young boy, a toddler, was waddling towards his parent's bedroom. Laurence moved into the hallway. The boy looked up at his giant of a father with a grin, holding his plush Charizard close.

Laurence put a finger to his lips as he crouched. "Shh. Mommy's still asleep."

Andrew, his and Sonia's son, nodded as he put a hand over his mouth. Laurence picked his son up and moved through the large estate as he poked and prodded the boy to make him laugh. The name Andrew simply came from the fact that Sonia liked the name for some reason.

As he walked through his home, Laurence caught glimpses of Pokemon. His chubby Raichu sleeping on the sofa. An ageing Arcanine with unkempt fur in the corner, an eye open and eyes twitching. The perfect guard dog.

Gardevoir was having an animated conversation with Sonia's Appletun. Gardevoir's blue hue reminiscent of a shiny was a reminder. She wasn't like that when Laurence first earned the favour of Ralts. When faced with a massive threat, Gardevoir expended all her psychic power to protect the people she loved. She sent both herself and her enemies to another dimension, and while there she mutated, changing colours. This was the same event that resulted in Absol losing an eye. Laurence had, quite literally, ventured through Hell and back to bring Gardevoir to the realm she belonged to. It would not happen again. Gardevoir had been scolded accordingly, too. There would be no self-sacrificial behaviour in this household. Laurence refused to lose anyone.

Laurence ventured outside and took a seat in a wooden rocking chair resting on a wide deck, overlooking massive fields and a large lake on the edge of the property. He'd apparently woken up with the sun as it hadn't separated from the horizon yet.

A bipedal cat, Meowscarada, noticed the moment her beloved Trainer exited the house. She bounded up to Laurence and rubbed her cheek against his, a deep purr rumbling through her body and being transferred to Laurence. He stroked her head in return, giving attention to the needy cat.

With Absol lying on one side of his chair and Meowscarada curled up on the other, Laurence settled into a gentle rocking motion and watched as animals started to wake up. Some of the Pokemon were his, some belonged to the women in his life, and some were wild, simply choosing this land to be their grazing grounds for a time.

Typhlosion and Pangoro roared at each other and immediately got into a fight, as per usual. Laurence stopped counting wins after the number reached triple digits, and that was a couple of years ago. Ever since their bout near Pallet, they'd had a score to settle and fought nearly every day.

Two sword masters meditated. The fire encased in purple armour, Ceruledge, was more casual about it considering he was a ghost. He'd already reached enlightenment and mastery of the sword. He was more so encouraging Dewott, a once wandering samurai that was drawn to Laurence's fighting spirit and good heart.

Laurence instinctively felt the thigh compartment of his prosthetic leg as he looked at Ceruledge. The one-armed knight had given Laurence a gauntlet capable of spawning a sword of ghostly fire. It rested in Laurence's thigh, custom made springs ready to throw it up into Laurence's grip if he twisted his ankle a certain way. Laurence had lost track at the number of jeans he'd ruined due to summoning his sword in a fight.

Speaking of ghosts, Gengar lingered around the property, no longer attached to Laurence's shadow. He'd been kicked out, replaced by a different ghost who commanded golden rings that created portals.

On his way outside, Laurence had stopped by the kitchen, allowing him to sip on a coffee as he rocked. Relaxing here with his son and Pokemon was pretty much the life he wanted. All he was missing was one of his women sitting beside him. Sonia wasn't the only one. He'd become famous, or perhaps infamous, for the amount of women in his life. He couldn't help it. He had a big heart and a lot of love to share. Some called him greedy, but whatever.

Some of his partners were no doubt sound asleep in the house, as they had rooms. The estate was huge for his ever-growing family. Over forty rooms. Even so, he might have to hire construction to build another forty-room building soon.

"Daddy, I'm hungry." Andrew eventually reached up and pulled his father's cheek. For some reason he liked the feeling of Laurence's short, boxed beard, a feature Laurence adopted from grandad Rose.

Without Laurence realising, the sun had risen a good amount. Perhaps an hour had passed. Now that he paid attention, he could feel his own stomach demanding sustenance. "All right, let's get you fed."

Laurence went inside and sat his son in a raised chair at the dining room table. He ate toast while watching Andrew use a backwards grip on a spoon, shovelling cereal into his mouth and spilling half the milk.

Laurence grinned as he used a towel to clean up his son. He was content. Happy. He'd earned the life he wanted. Sometimes he got the fidgets and his women noticed, telling him to go to work, but otherwise Laurence was content to stay at home as much as possible. He could afford to because his job wasn't safe or easy. He'd made a reputation for himself, mainly through arresting criminals, and had been generously rewarded because of it. Work took him away from home for a few days, maybe a week if it was a particularly big problem, but he needed the outlet. It was satisfying to clean up the world for his children's future, and he had to admit that cracking some skulls in the process was good stress relief.

Absol, like Laurence, also felt the call to fight sometimes. And due to the special connection, the feeling was amplified as it was shared between them.

Sonia soon came downstairs. She saw that Andrew had just finished breakfast so picked him up and started repeatedly kissing his ginger hair to the point where he got annoyed and tried to push away.

"Aw, don't be like that. Mommy just wants a kiss."

"You already had one!"

Sonia settled with a smile and turned to Laurence as she hugged Andrew. "Hear that? He's gettin' smart, just like his mom."

Laurence raised an eyebrow. "If you're so smart then where's the results of all this research you're supposed to be doing?"

"Soon, soon! But speakin' of me bein' smart, don't think I haven't noticed. Ya doin' it again. Gettin' antsy. This is the fourth mornin' in a row ya've woken up early."

Laurence agreed. It had become obvious not long after buying this home that he couldn't sit still. He had a strong work ethic and hated letting his hands be idle for too long. At first he tried to fight it and stay with his family all day every day, but this quickly devolved into him being more of a nuisance than normal, so he was kicked out of the house until he sorted himself out.

He stood up and kissed Andrew on the head. "Time for dad to go to work, buddy. Are you ready to hold down the fort while I'm gone?" Andrew gave a thumbs up which caused Laurence to chuckle and ruffle his son's hair. "Good lad."

Sonia put Andrew down and the boy went into the living room to play with his toys. "And what about me?" She pouted, looking up at Laurence with puppy eyes.

He couldn't resist. A brief kiss turned into a deep, passionate thirty second one as their embrace tightened with the passage of time. Ever since they'd gotten together they'd been like this. Couldn't keep their hands off each other. If they weren't careful, they might have another child soon. It'd been years since they'd become gotten together but time hadn't dulled their passion.

They were interrupted by Absol jabbing the inside of Laurence's left knee. He got the hint and disengaged with Sonia. He laughed down at Absol as he walked upstairs to get ready. "Just wait until you get yourself a boyfriend. Then you'll understand."

Absol huffed. She wasn't interested. Relationships weren't for her. She had her hands full looking after the family she currently had.

Laurence got into a basic outfit and went for a run around his property, along a fence he'd begun constructing in his downtime. He had the urge to finish a bit more before looking for a job.

Some of his Pokemon joined him on his run. Typhlosion bounded along on all fours. Omastar somehow kept up, his writhing tentacles rushing over each other to move. Flygon flew overhead, and because of how fast she was she repeatedly overtook Laurence, the wind she created making good resistance training.

Laurence went to work out in a room he'd converted into a home gym and then finished off with a shower. His daily routine.

As he was about to leave, he looked through to the living room. He saw Melony with a baby boy in her arms, Andrew showing his favourite toy to his brother. Gordie, named after his late grandfather.

"Dad's going to work on the fence for a bit."

At that, Andrew dropped his toy and ran to Laurence. The boy seemed to be interested in getting his hands dirty with physical labour, but for now he just watched and prepared to replicate in the future.

Laurence made his way to a shed that looked like someone's first building project. Because it was. The poorly put together structure was one of Laurence's outlets, and looked awful in comparison to his pristine brick ranch house.

"Wait here a second, buddy." Laurence said, opening a door that was uneven and scraped the dirt floor inside. He should sort that out soon. It's not that hard to adjust the hinges.

He exited with a toolbelt strapped to him and a pile of wooden planks on a shoulder. Absol was using her body to block Andrew from getting close to the shed. He ruffled her head. "Good girl."

Absol bit back a response and put herself on the other side of Andrew so the boy was between his father and a trusted Pokemon as they walked. She had an instinct to protect.

At the fence, Laurence jammed a long piece of wood into the ground roughly a metre from the last post. It was bad etiquette, but he didn't bother measuring. He just eyeballed it. He hammered it deeper and then lined up a wooden plank. Like Professor Elm in New Bark, Laurence favoured a basic fence with two horizontal planks. It wasn't keeping anything in or out, but that wasn't the point. It was simply marking territory.

The fence had to be massive to cover the property. Laurence owned multiple fields around his home. It was nice and peaceful. If he ever heard a vehicle, it had to be directed at his home. There were no other roads around. At first glance it seemed like he picked a home in the middle of nowhere, but they were actually on the edge of a city. The nearest grocery store was a five-minute drive away, and there were schools nearby. That was a compromise. Laurence essentially wanted a cabin in the woods, but his partners put their feet down and made him pick a place close to conveniences. Sure, they could hire a tutor to come out here, but children needed socialising, and they didn't want to travel an hour to get food.

Laurence used the edge of his palm to keep the wood in place while using the same hand to line up a nail. He looked around and then to Andrew who watched with sparkling eyes. He was a curious boy, just like his father. He liked seeing things in action. He'd also watched Sonia take apart her phone to repair it recently. Laurence wouldn't be surprised if, soon, he learned that Andrew took apart his own toys to figure out how they worked.

"Come here, buddy." Laurence said, changing his grip on the hammer and allowing the excited toddler to squirm into him. "You've seen me do it enough so you probably know, but hold the grip tightly, okay?"

Andrew did so, using both hands to grab the handle of the hammer. Laurence put his hand over top of his son's and then started hitting the nail. Andrew laughed the entire time, until the nail had been thoroughly hammered home.

"Good boy. Just don't tell your mom, okay?" Laurence rustled his son's hair.

They moved to a post Laurence had previously planted and lined up the other end of the plank. All in all, father and son planted a dozen more posts and secured them to the rest of the line before they paused construction. They headed back to the house a mile away, Sonia visible on the deck.

When he was close enough, Laurence opened his mouth to speak, but he felt something in his bones. From the ground. It could be Steelix waking up, but… No, this was a different rumble.

It had been a while since trouble came to Laurence.

In just seconds, multiple events occurred. A gold ring appeared behind Laurence, linking the porch to his back. A portal. Sonia instinctively reached through and grabbed Andrew, pulling him to the house. Gardevoir appeared via Teleport as the ring closed. She used Protect to create a large green barrier to cover the house and everyone inside.

Laurence spun in time to see the ground burst open, different coloured beams working to create a large hole before shooting pointlessly into the sky. Chunks of dirt and stone rained down. Laurence saw sparkling pink mixed into the falling debris. He assumed it to be an animal. He rushed forward and caught the pink mass with one arm. Its weight was enough to drop him to his right knee, mainly due to gravity. He noticed quickly that the Pokemon itself was quite light.

He dug his foot in and twisted, causing a compartment to whip out. Springs thrust the gauntlet out and onto his hand. Using Aura, Laurence ignited the weapon and cut through a white Hyper Beam, hearing it slam into Protect behind him.

Laurence rose, sword across his body in a defensive position, pink Pokemon in his other arm. He eyed three particularly strong Pokemon. A Tyranitar covered in thick green armour, a Scolipede with poison dripping from its mouth, and a Probopass ready to unleash more beams.

Unfortunately for these attackers, they picked the wrong land to trespass upon. Laurence's Pokemon all started roaring and showing they were prepared to fight. Typhlosion unleashed immense fire from his back, Nidoking punched his fists together, Corviknight descended from his roost atop the mansion's roof and landed with a heavy thud, Steelix burst out of the ground nearby, Klawf snapped his claws together, Delphox flew in on her broom and pointed her wand forward. More than fifty Pokemon aimed their hostility towards the intruders.

The attackers were visibly shaken, sweating under the pressure, but it wasn't enough to make them stand down. They could still fight. But they had been doomed from the start. To prove it a white dragon roared and flew over the house, hovering above her Trainer, sharp blue eyes aimed at the enemies and fire burning from her tail. The Legendary Reshiram did not take kindly to her peace and quiet being disturbed.

Reshiram appearing cemented the continuation of the fight as a fool's errand. The trio turned tail, rushing back into the hole they'd made. The heavy footsteps of Tyranitar was the only sound, so once they faded out it signalled the end of the threat.

Laurence let out a sigh and straightened up, twisting his foot to open the compartment and putting the gauntlet back into his thigh. He was a little disappointed. He would've liked a proper fight. He looked up as Reshiram's shadow shifted across the field. He gave a thumbs up. Reshiram growled gently and flew off behind the house.

He looked down at the pink mass in his arm, simply knowing it was the victim and the attackers were the bad guys. He had a sense for these things. "Are you okay?"

The Pokemon was startled to the present. It'd spent the entire time looking up at Laurence and knew this was the knight in shining armour it needed.