This Is Fine

[FTR2017]

Hey! Welcome to QQ, I for one have been reading your work as a lurker in SB, and knowing you're importing your work here? I am overjoyed, that's what!

Loving your grounded perspective in spite of the 'rare' pokemon the protagonist has managed to befriend and how you gave each 'mon their own personality and quirks, I really appreciate how the man knows the pokemon better than he realizes, as most regular natives would've ended up doing a faux-pas and ruining their chances with 'mons such as Mama Swampert.

Looking forward to how he grows after he leaves the town into literally warmer pastures!

 

[BazDog25]

Serves em right for attacking a Dragon Trainer. Time for heals

 

[Zauber]

Nice, good realism on the fight! I hope we get another interlude of post-fight harvey and jess, i'd like to see how they and their bosses react to this. Still find it weird his name is Harvey instead of James though.

 

[Manfat]

"Jimmy sent some thugs to grab the Gible." Jess' words were as unwelcome as they were unsurprising. I was glad she'd come by to let me know. I was even more glad she'd waited for Jen and the girls to go out when she did so.

When we'd hit a rough patch, Jen had asked why I never married Jess with how well we'd gotten along. We'd tried dating, first date, she'd told me I was a beard because her father hated gays. I'd been her beard for three years until she fell for Mika, and Jess didn't want to hide who she was anymore.

Being there as emotional support was one of the great highlights of my life when she told her Dad to 'go fuck yourself' and walked out. Shame it didn't work out , but Jess was still my best friend. I shook my head.

I was trying to distract myself from what she'd just said.

"Fuck. Tell me it worked." I already knew it hadn't. Otherwise, Jess would have led with Jimmy got the Gible.

"No. Apparently, they got the shit beaten out of them."

"Fuck! I told him to let me handle this."

"Harvey, he gave you more than a month to do something. I know you, I know you wanted to find a way to do this without anyone getting hurt. But that ship has sailed." As usual, Jess was right; we'd worked out who had the Gible from Geddes' League Day.

Some middle-aged guy who no one seemed to know. The same damned guy who had picked it up and delivered it to the Pokémon Center. Ever since then, we'd been working on a plan to find some way to separate them.

Ah, who was I kiddin'?

I was just wasting time.

I didn't like the idea of actually taking a Pokemon off someone. Sure, I transported them, most likely anyway. Didn't take a genius to work out what our no-questions-asked cargo was. Especially after our last two failures, but I wasn't a bad guy.

I did what I had to do to keep my family afloat, and if some people or Pokemon had to suffer for that, I was sorry about that, but those were the breaks, and, as selfish as it was.

Better them than mine.

This, though, there'd be no walkin' this back. Still, if I did nothing, then Kobie would be on the hook. Which meant we'd all be on the hook, because none of us were leaving him to hang alone.

"You're right, Jess. You're right."

"I usually am, now what are we gonna do?"

"We." I pointed between the two of us.

"Are not going to do anything. I am going to get the Gible back." Her face pinched inward in that argumentative way I was more than familiar with.

"Alone?"

"Well I ain't gonna fist fight the guy."

"Probably for the best." She shivered a little, something cold dropped into my chest.

"How bad was it?" A morbid question, maybe, but I needed to know.

"Between the two of them? Bad Harvey real bad." I licked my lips, my mouth feeling a little dry. Jess had seen some shit. If she said it was bad, then it was bad.

"I didn't get the whole story from Jimmy, but I know they've both got cracked skulls, one has a ruptured testicle, and his finger was almost bitten off. The other got a broken nose and jaw out of it."

"Right, definitely not going to fist fight the guy." I let out a laugh that sounded completely fake. The look on Jess's face told me I certainly hadn't fooled her.

"I'm sure that my partner can handle a Gible. And it doesn't matter how well he can fight, he ain't beating a Pokemon." Besides, if everything went wrong and we somehow lost, then at the very least I'd be the only one getting the shit beat out of em' she took a sharp breath in. Letting it out in a hiss.

"And what are the rest of us supposed to do?"

"Rat-Face, Jimmy, whatever you wanna call him. He's moving the operation to Icirrus City. Told me that a couple of weeks ago. His boys' failure probably sped his timetable up."

"Too bad Jimmy didn't get the shit beaten out of him," Jess muttered mulishly.

"Isn't it just. More seriously start taking more jobs up that way. Stay out of Warren County where you can and make money, Jess. Make as much as you can because I have no idea when this storm is gonna be over."

"What about Roger and Kobie?"

"Roger will do the same. Kobie had a personal meeting with Mr. Barristan yesterday. He's still alive." Jess' face almost collapsed in relief, it disappeared behind an iron mask of self control almost immediately.

"What's the damage?"

"Nine and a half." I didn't need to specify million.

"Fuck!"

"Yeah, we can work that off eventually. With prices going up somewhere between a year and two, depending on what works available. But we'll be deeper in, much deeper, more difficult to get back out again." We could still leave anytime we didn't know enough to need disappearing. We just needed to get to a place where we had enough to call it quits. It would happen soon, just a little longer.

"So the Gible then."

"Yeah."

"What are you going to do?"

"Well, first I'm gonna call Rat-Face and see what he knows about our guy. Maybe find a place he frequents with no people."

"Doubt he'll do that for a while if he's been attacked."

"Probably not, but I don't intend to go straight at him. I'll spend a bit of time learning about his habits first."

"Like you have for over a month?" A low blow, but not inaccurate.

"In any case, I'll have to let sleeping Stoutland lie for now. But a month from now? Two? I'll hit him and get the cargo back." I'd need the heat to die down a bit before I tried this that was all.

"Let me help." I really wish I could. I'd love some backup for this. But Jess, for all her abrasiveness, was the best person to take care of my family if I couldn't. I wasn't risking that, not if there was any way I could avoid it.

"No."

"Why not!?"

"Cause If I go down, I ain't bringing you with me." I kept my voice calm, but I couldn't keep the stiffness out of it completely.

"God damn it, Harvey, I'm already involved!" She snarled. I grit my teeth. She was. Because of me. Reminded of my failures yet again, the story of my life really.

"I know, and that's on me." That hurt to say, but it was no less than the truth.

"Please, Jess, I'm beggin' you let me do this. If I go down, my girls are gonna need their Godmother more than ever. You can't help if you're stuck in a cell with me!" We looked at each. She closed her eyes, and a brittle, bitter look passed over her face.

"Fine, Harvey, fine."

"Thanks, Jess."

"Just don't fuck this up, Harv." I gave her a wide grin that I definitely didn't feel and put on my best laid-back tone.

"Who me!?" I don't think I convinced her. Arceus knows I didn't convince myself. I thought about the guy who'd taken care of the Gible. He was probably just trying to get by, just like me. Just like Jess, Kobie, and Roger.

I laid a hand on my pokeball again, feeling a reassuring thrum of electricity pass through it.

But still.

Better him and his than me and mine.

Interlude 2 – END.

---

And there's the Interlude.

Manfat Patreon
Support is welcome. But never expected.
This is Fine Volume 1 - Complete.
No Strings On Me (Nikke x Gundam) - 2 chapters ahead. Biweekly, going to weekly as of 5/6 of July. (If I've got my math right)

 

[FTR2017]

Yeah, that's not gonna work out as you intend it to, man.

You better start working out how to off the mobster once you fail ... .

 

[Manfat]

Monday morning had me up bright and early, earlier than usual. My body still ached, but nowhere near what I'd expected it to be after the arsewoopin' I'd gotten. Still worse than my run here, though. There was a tap from the machine beside me.

Violet eyes stared at me.

"Vee." I sat up and popped the lid. Eevee stretched and then jumped into my lap. She was slow and stiff compared to her normal self. I let her stay a few minutes and stroked her fur. She was very fluffy. Nurse Mary, the Audino, looked in on us a few minutes after I woke up.

"Aud!" She kept her voice low, but the excitable tone was easy to pick up on. Eevee's response was quick and savage. She turned, hissing at the nurse fur standing on end. I gave her a quick pat. This brought back memories.

"Mary's good. We don't attack Mary."

"Vee." Not convinced, apparently. Now, where had I seen this before?

"I'll be here the whole time, I promise, but if you want to get better, you're going to have to listen." Eevee turned to me, looking mulish. Mary gave me a grateful look from behind her. She definitely remembered Gible's initial homicide attempt.

"Go get Ben, I'll keep her calm."

"Vee!" I gave her head a ruffle.

"You'll be fine, I promise." She turned her nose up at me, looking away, but didn't actually get out of my lap or attempt to stop me from petting her. I did indeed have another princess on my hands, it seemed.

"I'm not going to get blasted, right?" Ben's voice came from the left of the doorway. I looked down at Eevee, her hackles up again, and a low growl in her throat.

"She doesn't know Echoed Voice yet. But I can't rule out a mauling." It was a poor excuse for a joke, and even my tone made it fall flat. I rubbed Eevee's coat again and pitched my voice low.

"Ben's a friend you can trust him, I'll be here the whole time." She calmed a little at that.

"You're good to come in, treat her like Gible. Tell her exactly what you're going to do and why."

"Right." Ben stepped around the door. Eevee's eyes locked onto the pokeball on his belt, and she hissed. Ben stepped back around the door.

"Pokeball down, I think," I called back.

"Vee!"

"Yeah, got it, and to think I told my mother that nursing was a less dangerous profession than Ranger." He was only kinda whining, and really, given the last time this had happened, I really couldn't blame him. Ben stepped back into the room. Mary's pokeball missing from his belt. Either in a pocket or on the table in the hallway. Eevee calmed after giving Ben a very thorough once-over.

"Better?" I ran a hand through her fur again.

"Vee."

"Right, let's go through the tests." There were a lot of tests. Including one that needed to draw blood. I actually needed to stop Eevee from attempting a mauling on that one. Overall, with the exception of the blood test, which we'd need to wait a week for, she was slightly underweight, a little malnourished, but all of that was easily fixable.

"I'll get you a meal plan by tonight, and I'll have Dustin hold onto it." I looked down at Eevee. Not that I was unappreciative of the save or anything, but...

"You sticking with me?" She looked me up and down.

"Vee." And nodded, I took that to mean 'for now' rather than 'new party member get.'

"Thanks, Ben, alright, well, I gotta have a quick shower and head to work." I stood stiffly, and Eevee followed me from the room. I also learned that, unlike Gible, she wasn't content waiting in the hallway for me to wash.

After her very unsubtle threat to break down the door if I shut it in her face, seriously charging a Double Kick was a bit much, I let her in.

"You can wait in the room. Not in the stall." She gave me a very flat look that communicated 'who'd wanna see your fat arse naked anyway' before jumping onto a bench and curling up. I shut the stall door. Eevee's check-up meant I was running behind schedule for getting to work. I was gonna be cutting it close under the best-case scenario. Willow would be understanding, but I actually liked her and would prefer to be on time if possible.

Gible had just woken up when I swung by the room. Like the rest of us, she ate a berry on the go as we headed out to Park Recycling. A sweet Mago berry for Gible and me, a spicy Cheri berry for Eevee. I had to carry the four legged Pokemon so she could eat while we walked; we were running too late to stop.

I'd grabbed nine additional berries from Ben before I left. A mixture of sweet and spicy. While the Geddes Pokémon Center was too small to have a dedicated Pokemart integrated. It did stock basic necessities like Berries, Potions, and the like.

By the time she was done eating, Eevee decided to stay on my shoulder rather than walking. At least while within the limits of the town. Once Geddes was behind us, she jumped down and walked next to Gible out in front.

They were both trying to pretend they're weren't in pain.

They weren't very good at it.

Being more familiar with the fastest route, we made good time. Willow was waiting at the front gate. The expression on her face was carefully neutral as she looked at Eevee. I was late after all. Really should have called from the Pokémon Center.

"So that's where that one got too." She looked at me and took in the stiffness of my body and grimaced.
/
"Alright, what happened? You're not the kind to be late for no reason. I was gonna give you half an hour before I called the Pokémon Center to see if you'd gotten hurt."

I gave Willow the full rundown. Lunch, getting jumped outside the Geddes Tavern, what I remembered clearly from the fight, my police interview, and Eevee's morning check-up. Her face didn't change that much, but the general atmosphere around her said she wasn't pleased.

"Damn it, kid." Willow shook her head. "You should have called me from the center, I'd have given you the day off after that."

"Can't," I admitted, shaking my head. "Need the money too much." She sighed and rubbed her face.

"Damned stubborn bastard." I think I heard shades of approval in her tone.

"Alright, but you're on light duties today and buy a damn phone!" Well, I'd already been planning on that, even if I'd be saying goodbye to more of my dwindling savings account. Deputy Yates had told me to pick one up a while back. I kept putting it off. Recent events changed my priorities.

Even if I didn't have anyone except emergency services to call.

Mr. and Mrs. Aggron looked over me as I walked into the yard. It had taken a while, but I'd learned to read their expressions over the last month and a bit. Usually, Dad-ggron had an almost cartoonish grin, while Mum-ggron usually was a little sterner. Her mouth occasionally curled up into a small, warm smile.

Now though?

Their faces were very carefully blank, eyes narrowed. Mum-ggron gave me a reassuring pat on the back on my way past. It did not escape my notice that for the rest of the day, one of them was always nearby.

I imagined that if anyone came by Park Recycling to take a shot at me. They'd be hit by a half-ton of pissed-off metal-rock Godzilla. At which point the other one would probably jump in, and the poor bastard would be part of the world's worst two-on-one cage match. That was before whatever the Trubbish and Grimer added in.

Considering Gible and Eevee had been enough to see two arseholes off, I didn't imagine anyone coming by would fare much better. Partially because there were a lot of Pokémon at Park Recycling, and numbers certainly counted for a lot. Even if none of the Pokémon here were primarily battlers. More importantly, because either Aggron could stomp Gible flat without a problem if they ever felt like it.

Not that I'd ever say it out loud.

My girl was a delicate soul after all.

But it did mean that any threat that turned up would have a very short time to regret their actions. After which, they'd probably have reached their arranged meeting with God or maybe just the emergency room.

Willow had told me to take a light day. Every time I tried pushing the pace, one of the Aggron just so happened to have a job that required me to slow down.

Took me longer than I want to admit to work out that it was the Aron tipping them off.

Gible was too taken with Eevee to distract the Aron.

The two spoke, I didn't really understand most of it. I could probably parse out one word in every ten if I were fully dedicated to the task. Willow called me into her office at the end of the day; her face looked like it was carved from stone.

I felt a squirming of disquiet in my guts.

Was I about to be fired?

I could feel my heart rate begin to increase.

No.

No.

Not now.

I couldn't afford this to happen now!

The Bike wasn't ready.

I wouldn't be able to afford repairs. The motel room I'd paid for? Money down the drain. Worse, without the bike, I wouldn't be able to get anywhere fast enough to find extra well-paying work. My financial situation was about to go down the crapper, and that meant Gible was going to be taken.

No.

No.

There had to be a way out of this. My eyes darted around, flicking up and left, then down and right. Ideas were considered and thrown out. Too many problems. Not enough solutions. I could feel panic beginning to well up, and rage followed. Boiling up from my stomach like acid, pouring into my veins, my teeth grit and I felt a growl build in my chest.

Really now?

This had to happen now!?

Of all the fucking times!?

"I'm sorry." Willow's voice cut my thoughts before internal could become external.

"I've been looking at my incoming stock and the prices of moving more in, but I can't justify it with everything being the way it is. I can't keep you on past your original three-month contract date. I'm sorry, Nash, you've picked up the work quickly, and I like having you around, but financially speaking, I'll be losing money if I keep you on past your contract date."

I blinked several times rapidly. Fear and rage turned to confusion. Which turned into relief, anger drained down as though pulled by gravity to my feet. Relief flighty and warm took its place, my arms and legs shook slightly as the primed adrenaline dump from my fight or flight reflex drained away with the anger.

I tried to nonchalantly place a hand on a chair to steady myself. I doubt I managed to conceal it, my hand shook as I grabbed the chair back and let out a breath I didn't realise I'd been holding.

"Come again?" My voice sounded odd even to my own ears.

"I'm sorry I can't keep you on." Willow sounded confused. I couldn't help but laugh; I'd never had a particularly nice laugh. It always sounded more like a bark, unless I was laughing so much I could barely breathe, then I sounded like a hyena.

The laugh that left me sounded like a sob playing dress up.

My ribs ached with phantom pain. Willow looked a little shocked as I shook my head and gave a smile that was more teeth than truth.

"That's fine, Willow. You told me a bit ago you probably couldn't extend the contract. I'm glad for the heads up." I took a deep breath. Besides, I wasn't sure I'd stay even if she could extend it out. Geddes was a nice enough town, but the punch-up I'd been in made me think somewhere else could be a little safer overall for Gible and me both.

Maybe somewhere like Nimbasa City.

I was an Australian after all. Going north into the cold didn't really agree with me. I did it because one road had seemed as good as another. Just living day to day had been... enough. It hadn't been a good life, just enough.

Now though? Now I actually had things I was looking forward to. But that didn't change the fact that I hated being cold. I'd seen snow exactly once in my life. So far, once had been enough.

Five stars.

Vacations only.

At least Nimbasa had the decency to be next to a desert and thus hopefully much warmer when winter fully took hold. I was used to arid environments. Hell, when I'd vacationed in the USA, the Nevada desert had been the only place in the country that the sun had felt right.

Nimbasa's desert had felt similar last time I passed through.

"So about a month and a half left then?" I looked at Willow, and my teeth were still on display.

"A month and a half." Willow agreed, she opened her mouth, but didn't say anything.

"Alright. I'll see you tomorrow, Willow."

"I'll see you tomorrow, Nash." I closed the door to the office, Gible and Eevee were playing with the Aron. I called out to Gible and headed towards the gate. The land shark tottered over surprisingly quickly. Even managing to outpace Eevee, not easily, she needed to push herself, but Gible did out-run her. Her little arms came up, and I swept down, ignoring stiff muscles, and picking her up.

"Gib!" She called out happily. I shifted her into one arm and knelt. Eevee had slowed to a walk after being passed.

"Coming with?" The fox-like Pokémon looked around the Recycling plant and then nodded.

"Vee." I held an arm out, Eevee ran up it, and took position on my right shoulder. Apparently, I would need to act as a chauffeur today. At least until my arms got tired. Then they'd need to walk on their own for a bit.

I ignored the flashes of pain through my body.

The return trip was slow.

I had to let Gible down eventually. Eevee joined her. The two of them mostly stayed on the path, though Eevee began to slow down as we reached the outskirts of Geddes. I kneeled in front of her.

She was watching the town like it was enemy territory, then again, maybe to her it was. I reached out slowly and brushed her ears lightly. Her muscles were tense, and the fur around her neck was starting to rise.

"Listen, I have to grab something in town. When I'm done, I'll head to the Pokémon Center for a check-up with Gible. Then we'll take the road next to the center heading west to get to our motel." I pointed in its general direction.

"You have some choices. I know you wanted to come along. But if you're not up for this, then you can meet us by the Pokemon Center or the motel later. If neither of those works for you, you can head back to Willow's."

Eevee didn't say anything. Gible wandered up and gave a few low rumbling growls and chirps. Eevee answered with her own. I couldn't puzzle out what they were saying. My knees were starting to ache. After a moment, the fox bit my sleeve and pulled down. I let her lead my arm towards the ground before she ran up it to settle on my shoulder.

"Vee."

"Gib."

"Alright then." I stood again; thankfully, Gible didn't want another lift. She was wonderful, but sooner or later, twenty kilos hanging off an arm got hard to hold up. Gible knew where we were going. The local grocery store sold prepaid phones; the Pokemon managed to wrangle another few berries out of me into the bargain.

Though I did need to, subtly, warn off a few parents from sending kids over to look at Eevee. I could feel how stressed she was, and while I didn't think she'd maul a child. I wasn't entirely sure about that either.

We must have looked a sight to the cashier.

A land shark jumping around my legs, letting out a series of 'Gib' as though it were some kind of song.

A neurotic fox ready to throw down with anything and everyone in the store.

And a stressed homeless man who moved like he'd just gone a few rounds with a professional boxer.

Oh, what a trio we made.

If it wasn't for the fact that I shopped there fairly often, I was fairly sure that the police would have been called. The phone itself wasn't much, basic calls, and internet access. Still took a chunk out of my savings.

It was going to be the internet access that did me in, I was sure of it. Just one more gig, I'd tell myself, before paying for extra.

Gible's check-up went well, I got in contact with Jobe and arranged for a training session for Wednesday afternoon, out the back of the Pokemon Center. Which meant I'd be able to keep my appointment for the Cherry Grove Middle School Battle Club on Thursday.

Gible was still adamant about participating in League Day, and we needed all the practice we could get.

When I lay down for bed, Gible took up most of the bed on my left. Eevee curled up in a ball next to my pillow. I realised something, something that very much hurt to realise. If Eevee was going to stay around, which was looking more and more certain.

"I'm going to need a bigger tent."

My wallet howled in pain.

Chapter Seventeen – END.

---

That's all she wrote for today.

Hope you all enjoyed the chapter.

Manfat Patreon - If you'd like to support the work I do.
Support is welcome. Never expected.
This is Fine Volume 1 - Complete
No Strings On Me (Nikke x Gundam) - 2 Chapters Ahead. Currently Bi-weekly. Soon to be weekly.

 

[FTR2017]

Yeah, being a poor trainer while inside a country suffering economic depression sure makes things challenging to make it through.

More-so when said country also has very cold winters.

 

[saylin021]

Love the story, there aren't enough pokemon stories that operate at this level. Thanks for writing. Can't wait for the team to meet mama swampert and the lil kip

 

[Manfat]

"Healing up alright?" Jobe asked, we were sitting on the benches out the back of the Pokémon Center. Watching Victoria coax Gible into trying out Bulldoze again. The shark had been getting closer and closer to pulling it off. Now the ground cracked, and the Ground Type energy shot upwards, but she still wasn't putting enough oomph into it.

"Yeah, still a little stiff, but that's mostly gone. Bit of pain though." Eevee had taken longer to move away. Alex had been patient in coaxing her out. The Altaria was giving advice on Echoed Voice. Alex had gotten to using Hyper Voice through a different path.

Learning the Fairy Type Disarming Voice and refining it into Alluring Voice before finally altering it into Hyper Voice. But Alex knew sound-based more than enough to help Eevee.

She wasn't making as much progress as Gible. But progress was being made. Alex was not at all subtle about, quite literally, singing Eevee's praises when she did something he approved of.

Rustall had chosen to stay home rather than just hang out.

"Good. It's rare you'd need surgery or the like for injuries like you had, but if you feel any complications, call straight away."

"Yeah, Mum." I waved his concern off with a smile. Jobe snorted with good humour, and I relaxed into the bench.

"Got a call from the cops again yet?"

"Yeah," I pulled out my phone. This world's tech was a little more advanced than mine. So instead of the shit brick I'd been expecting, my 'cheap', relatively speaking, phone had more in common with the Samsung Galaxy S9 I'd had back in 2018.

It was considered a brick by Pokémon standards, but to me it was still a solid piece of equipment. Waterproof too, which, given I was going back to being homeless sooner rather than later, was a very big plus.

"I've got an appointment on Friday afternoon. They'll pick me up from Willow's. I'm supposed to be talking to a Forensic Artist and giving my statement again."

"Any updates?"

"Nothing they told me about."

"Damn." We settled into a companionable silence again. Jobe had a notepad out and jotted down notes now and then, watching Gible's interactions with Victoria.

"Got anything interesting?"

"I mean, all Dragon interactions are fascinating to me. But from what I can tell, outside of her personality, Gible acts pretty much the way I'd expect one of her species to act."

"She close to evolving or anything?" Jobe turned to me. His face was unreadable.

"Do you want her too?" I considered the question. Given the attack, I'd certainly feel better with a Gabite at my back. Dragon types, for all the mystique around them, were relatively weak until they finished evolving. Now, this was my reality game; statistics didn't quite line up, but there were Pokémon who naturally had advantages over others.

The strongest of Dragons, like Garchomp, numbered among the most powerful Pokémon. But their previous evolutions were regarded for rarity. Not strength. From what I could tell online, Dragon Types were considered to be long-term investments by Professional Trainers.

Potentially incredible, but taking years to accomplish that strength and, by and large, being middle of the road or on the slightly weaker side without fully evolving.

Even then, some fully evolved Dragons, like Noivern or Kingdra, were considered mid-range Dragons. Online discourse was messy over whether they were worth the investment. From everything I'd gathered, they were usually used for particular niches in a competitive team. They were powerful but not overwhelmingly so, requiring a good team to truly show off what they were made of.

With how many Dragons had three-stage evolution and the time it took to happen, there were more 'weak' dragons than 'strong' and 'mid' dragons put together. It had led me to a theory. All dragons prized strength because they knew what it was like to be weak. Granted, it was hardly a unique theory. A quick look around the internet found hundreds of forums of people floating the same idea and a few dozen research papers about the same.

What I thought was a grand revelation was pretty much an accepted scientific fact.

I'll admit.

Made me feel a hell of a lot less special.

"Nash?" I shook my head as Jobe's voice brought me back out of my own head. I looked towards the other man, he looked a little concerned.

"Sorry. Gible evolving right?"

"Yeah."

"I'm not opposed to it. I imagine it'll increase my costs," Gible ate almost as much as I did. Gabite would probably eat as much as me or a little more. If Eevee stayed on, I wasn't going to need to do extra jobs just to impress the PPP. I was going to need to do it to afford to feed everyone.

"By a bit, yeah." Jobe agreed. His face was still carefully neutral.

"After we got jumped, a bit more firepower would be welcome. But I'm not going to try forcing evolution or anything, just wondered if she was close."

"I'm glad you don't want to force an evolution. It's actually a big problem among Dragon Trainers. A lot of them will throw their partners into situations they're not ready for, usually against wild Pokémon, to try and force evolution before they're ready for it by putting increasing external pressure on the Pokémon."

"Doesn't that count as abuse?"

"Yeah. It is. The problem is that it's damned near impossible to prove. Sure, we can have suspicions, but proving that's what someone is trying to do is difficult at best. Doesn't help that some online 'experts'," I could taste the vitriol he put on that word.

"Expound that it's a great way to 'increase the power of a dragon', I swear I'd love to deck the first person who thought it was a good idea."That didn't sound like a joke in the slightest.

Good.

Because I fully agreed. Punching whoever thought of that was a cause I'd love to be a part of. Not sure I'd stop hitting them after one punch, but that was a small issue at best. Let's throw the thinking-feeling being into extreme danger because it could be possibly beneficial was crazy talk of the highest order.

There was a difference between Pokémon Battles and that. Pokemon Battles were something both parties agreed to, and, while like in Boxing or MMA, things could go wrong. Permanent injuries and deaths were astonishingly rare. In the thirty years since the World Wide Web had become commonplace, every Professional League Battle had been logged.

I'd gotten interested at one point and looked up deaths; in that time frame, there had been exactly five deaths attributed to official Pokemon Battles. Two of which were humans who got pasted after the psychic barriers failed. Permanent injuries were at seven.

Deaths due to wild Pokémon, however, while lower than they were a hundred years ago, were still something to be concerned about. It was about three hundred a year on average. With another fifty thousand people needing medical attention due to acting like an idiot. Throwing a Pokémon, dragon or not, at a wild Pokémon to try and force evolution sounded like a great way to get added to the Darwin Awards.

"Gible." Jobe looked at the land shark as she stomped the ground again. A visible ripple tore across the cracked ground. She looked up at Victoria and jumped up happily.

"I think she's getting close to being ready to evolve, but is still a bit off. From what I looked up, Bulldoze is one of the last moves Gible tend to learn in the wild before they're ready to evolve."

"Actually, would you mind answering a question?" It had been something I'd thought about before but never gotten around to looking into.

"Shoot."

"How do Pokémon moves work exactly?"

"Well, they mould Type Energy-"

"Sorry, I've phrased that badly." I cut him off.

"How do Pokémon learn moves in the wild?" Jobe nodded slowly and stroked his non-existent beard.

"Well, it's kind of like how humans can walk." Okay, weird start. "You don't remember learning how to walk right."

"No."

"It's a natural thing for humans to do. You eventually learn how to walk by observing others, sure, but it's also a deeply buried impulse. Your body knows it's supposed to walk; it has reactions specifically for walking. We, as a species, evolved specifically to be able to walk upright. While it is a skill you have to learn over time as an infant. The basic instinct is there."

"Following you so far." Kind of, I assumed this would be relevant later.

"Good. Pokémon are the same with moves." I quirked an eyebrow. "It's true. Specific lines of Pokémon used specific moves enough that they became ingrained in their DNA. A subconscious knowledge of how to do something."

"Let's use Gible as the example. Bulldoze is a common Ground Type move. To the point its almost ubiquitous with Ground Types. The list that can't learn it is a lot shorter than the list that can. Now training is helping her learn the right way to channel the Ground Type Energy, but honestly, do you really think she wouldn't have puzzled it out on her own?"

"She would have."

"Exactly, she has the inborn instincts to use Ground Type Energy to do exactly this. She'd get it sooner or later. But having a teacher helps. Based on the readings Ben first took when she came in, and the Ranger's notes, I'd have said she was somewhere between six and twelve months away from learning how to do it. Looking at her now, there's a pretty significant chance she'll have it down before the next League Day." He drew in a deep breath before continuing. It seemed I would be getting a lecture.

I didn't interrupt.

I was trying to make up for years of cultural and professionally instructed knowledge.

I'd take any help I could get.

"Moves are divided into four. Egg Moves. The ones passed down by their parents' DNA. Like Gible's Metal Claw. Natural Moves, those are the ones they pick up instinctively. Learned Moves: these are the ones that usually require human intervention. They're outside the usual for the species, but close enough you can make them work."

"What about the fourth category?"

"Ah, that one." Jobe sounded less enthused. "The official name is Extra Moves, but it's equally likely to be called Additional Moves, or Waste Of Time Moves."

"That sounds odd." I really wasn't sure what to say to that.

"Look, you have to understand that any Pokémon can learn almost any move."

"What?" That flew in the face of everything I knew in the games. Then again, this wasn't a game.

"There are some exceptions. A land-based Pokémon like Golem can't learn Fly, for example, or at least no one's ever recorded it. But for the most part, any Pokémon can learn any move. It's just a matter of them learning to manipulate that particular Type Energy in a certain way."

"And this is hard?"

"Oh, extremely." He pointed out to Eevee.

"One of the advantages of the Normal Type is their ability to learn Extra Moves more easily than most. By the same token, Extra Moves that use Normal-type Energy are easier to learn than others. We'll use Gible as the example. Being a Dragon-Ground Type. She'll always find it easier to learn moves that manipulate Dragon or Ground Type Energy and, as the Gible line primarily specialises in physical combat, she'll also find it easier to learn physical moves than ranged moves."

"Some of the Gible lines Learned Moves are Fire Fang and Thunder Fang. There are some Extra Moves she could also learn. Most easily would be Hyper Fang, as it uses Normal-type energy. To put the time investment into perspective, here.

Gible's Bulldoze. Half a year to a year in the wild from where she was when you picked her up. With teachers, maybe two months. A learned move with teachers who knew it could take anywhere from three months to a year to puzzle out. A fair amount of time."

"Okay." I was still with him for now.

"An Extra Move using Normal Type Energy with a Teacher usually takes anywhere from two to three years."

"Jesus Christ." Jobe looked at me oddly. I waved him off. I was not explaining Christian theology.

"If it's an Extra Move whose typing is antithetical to the user. Like Gible learning Ice Fang, which is Super Effective against her. You could be looking at half a decade or more. Not to say that Pokémon don't learn moves that are Super Effective against themselves, Eevee's Double Kick, for example. But when it comes to Extra Moves, they're usually far more trouble than they're worth. Even most Professional Trainers don't bother with them, or if they do, they pick one move and learn that just for an unexpected sucker punch."

"Okay," I nodded slowly.

"It's a lot to take in. Sorry for the diatribe. I get like that when I'm explaining things." Jobe rubbed the back of his head.

"Not all good, probably good, I know all that anyway. Speaking of moves, with Gible almost having Bulldoze down, where do you think she should focus next?"

"Dig." Jobe didn't even hesitate.

"Dig?"

"Dig."

"Why? If you don't mind me asking. Willow said Earth Power of High Horse Power should be next."

"Okay, so from a battling perspective, if you're aiming to learn Earthquake as quickly as possible, she's right. The next step is Earth Power or High Horse Power. But you also need to make some money."

"Yeah."

"Dig is going to be useful to you then. It's used a lot for landscaping, and you can use it to make a quick buck. My college life actually got a lot easier once I had Victoria because she already knew Dig." I stole his notepad and flipped the page. Jobe had very nice handwriting.

I jotted down my own note, 'learn dig, get money,' and tore out the page, tucking it in a pocket before throwing his pad back to him. I got a mock stern look before we went back to watching the Pokémon.

"She's almost got it," Jobe said after a moment. Gible stomped the ground again. The earth cracked orange-brown energy rippled upward for a half second and dissipated. Victoria let out a victory cry and bumped Gible's forehead to forehead in what I had learned was practically an intimate hug for Dragons.

"I'll need to buy her a big meal when she does, not sure if my wallet can take it." I was only half joking; everything I was doing was putting me on razor-thin margins.

"I do not envy you." I let my eyes travel over to Eevee, her mouth opened, seven grey-white rings burst forth, but did nothing to the tree that Alex was having her attack. The Altaria, however, clearly saw this as a massive success and began to sing Eevee's praises. Literally. The fox preened a little under the praise. While Alex shot a smug look at Victoria, the Flygon stuck her tongue out at him.

"Are they?"

"Competing?"

"Together."

"Eh," Jobe shrugged. "On and off. As far as I can tell, they're in a casual relationship at best."

"You don't know."

"Take a good look and then decide if you really wanna know about their sex life."

"Point made."

"Besides, they're both adults; they'll be fine." We lapsed back into relaxed silence, and I dicked around on my phone a bit.

I opened my emails, junk, junk, I don't own a house, why would I need home insurance, one from Bob the mechanic. When I opened it, I felt my heart practically stop. The first two words put a massive smile on my face.

Bike's ready.

A few parts you were looking for came in early with another shipment I'd been waiting on. I know you can't afford the whole thing right now. Come by, and you can take it for a test drive, and we'll work out a payment plan.

Regards,

Bob.

I let out a whoop of excitement that had everyone looking at me. I gave a sheepish wave as the four Pokémon returned to what they were doing. I couldn't help but bounce up and down in my seat. It was ready, it was finally ready!

"You look excited."

"My bike's ready!" I practically crowed.

"Good for you, man. Are you even allowed to drive?"

"Yeah. Back when I was first getting all my cards, they made me take their license exam. I passed." Barely. But I wasn't about to tell him that. I was fine with the general driving questions; it was the Pokémon-specific driving questions that had almost tripped me up. I'd passed the exam by a single point, and not even once had I been able to put my skills to work.

"Sweet. What's the plan?"

"Joy ride!"

"Joy ride. To where?"

"No idea! I'll work it out when I get there!" I was almost deliriously happy. I could feel the emotion bubbling up from inside my stomach like I was made of air. Oh, to be on the open road again. The part of my mind noting that I was going to need to outlay more cash for proper rackless luggage and likely a heat shield was promptly told to shut its God damned mouth.

It did so with a grumble.

Knowing it was right, but I wasn't in the mood to listen.

Despite my childlike giddiness, I didn't immediately run off. Instead, I spent another hour and a half on the bench talking with Jobe about anything and everything, really. But eventually, all good things come to an end.

"Alright, I gotta get home." The nurse stood stretching.

"Alex! Victoria!" The Altaria and Flygon looked over and then leaned down. Victoria giving Gible another light headbutt before racing over. Alex instead pulled his wings around Eevee and then took off. Victoria got over first, letting out a triumphant hiss and giving Jobe a head tap before hovering next to him. Not to be outdone, Alex's fluffy wings wrapped around the nurse before he landed on the ground.

"Gib!" Gible called out as she trotted up to me directly between Jobe and Victoria. I leaned down and gave her a quick belly rub.

"I was watching, you know, you did great."

"Gible!" She preened at my praise.

"Vee." Eevee's approach was much more careful. She skirted around Jobe and his Pokémon. Making sure never to put herself between them. Leaving several angles of retreat available to her. She was calm enough around Alex.

But once the Altaria was around Jobe again, she became wary. I didn't wait, walking over to her. Very deliberately placing myself between her and Jobe. She calmed a little, and I leaned down, putting my right arm out.

Eevee Sprang up the offered limb and onto my shoulder, where she settled in. I'd quickly discovered this was the best place for Eevee to be when we interacted with people. She was calmer when touching me and, more importantly. If she ever jumped at someone to maul them, I'd hopefully have enough forewarning to stop her.

"You did great, too." I kept my voice low; her ears were sensitive after all, and gave Eevee a little scratch behind the ears. I was lucky that Gible wasn't the jealous type. Though I'd probably need to carry her around for a little while to redress the karmic balance.

"Thanks, Jobe, Alex, Victoria." I nodded to each. "We really appreciate the help." I kept a smile on my face and shook Jobe's hand.

"No problem. Happy to help." Victoria and Alex added their own voices at the happy to help part, reinforcing that Jobe was speaking for all of them, not just himself.

"See you on Friday!" He called out, walking away.

"Alright, time to go see Bob."

"Gib?"

"Vee!?"

"Ah, right, you haven't met him yet." I gave Eevee a quick rundown of who Bob was. She didn't seem enthused to meet him. Then again, Eevee didn't exactly like people. So that wasn't surprising.

"Vee." She closed her eyes as we walked towards Grumley Mechanics.

"Oh, that reminds me. Gible, you want a name?"

"Gib?" She sounded confused.

"A human name, I mean, I know you already probably told me yours, but I can't exactly hear it properly."

"Gible." She sighed and shook her whole body, probably lamenting humans and their poor ears.

"So name?"

"Gib." She shrugged and did a wobbly body nod.

"Alright, I got a few." Before I could start, Eevee gave me a gentle bite on the ear. It didn't hurt; I could feel her teeth press in a little, but no pain. "What?"

"Vee."

"You want one too?"

"Vee!"

"Alright, fine, I got some ideas, hear them out, and let me know if you like any of them." I took a deep breath. I'd thought of six names; hopefully, one of them would be a hit.

"Marie, a woman who made significant scientific discoveries, who earned some of the highest scientific honours." The two Pokémon didn't react. I moved on. "Boudica, a warrior queen who almost managed to force an invading force out of her homeland." I think, no way to check anymore. Gible seemed to consider, but Eevee didn't react.

"Taylor, the Queen of Escalation. Killed God." I was not explaining Scion; I didn't think the Pokémon had the frame of reference to understand half of Worm. Gible reacted a little, Eevee not at all. I'd considered Coco for a while, but Coco Chanel was a Nazi, so I'd let that one go.

"Elayne rediscovered how to forge magic artifacts. Attempted to bitch slap the taste out of the mouth of immortal bad guys more than once. Admittedly, with help." Gible and Eevee looked a little interested, but neither jumped on it. "Finally, Joan, or Jeanne, of Arc fame. Helped push an invading army out of her homeland and was Sainted for it." I realised after a moment that the Pokémon who have no idea what that meant.

"Sainting is a big deal." I didn't have another way to describe it than that.

Gible and Eevee looked at each other, seemed to consider it for a moment, then shook their heads.

"No good, huh?"

"Gib."

"Vee."

"Alright, I'll keep working on it." Gible seemed to be drawn more towards warriors. Eevee was less clear but liked Elayne and Joan. It could be the sound of the name or the extremely truncated explanation I'd given. Still, it was more than I had to go on before. I toss some Dragon names at Gible next. Maybe some Celtic ones at Eevee. Try the Fairy angle.

It took another ten minutes to reach Bob's shop. Brutus the Stoutland watched us from near the gate. I waved to him and Gible, called a greeting. The Stoutland let out a bark in return and a doggy grin before going back to watching the road.

"Bob!" I called out as we got to the front door. The old mechanic stuck his head out from the workshop. Eevee went to hiss, and I placed a hand on her back. She calmed down. If Bob noticed, and I was sure he did, he didn't comment.

"Nash! Got my email then."

"Yep, how's she looking?" He let out a chuckle.

"Come and see." She was beautiful. Okay, that was a lie. She looked like a pile of crap.

"I love her." Bob started laughing.

"Alright, lover boy. You should be good to go for a while."

"I thought most of this would take longer to order."

"Yeah, so did I, but when I was buying some parts for another customer last week, I asked about some of the mechanical parts I couldn't get. They had a few boxes and sent them with the order. Came in on Thursday last week. Only got it all installed today. Normally, I wouldn't go out on a limb buying the stuff, but you need it, and let's be honest. You're not really in a position to stiff me."

"Okay, what's the damage come to?"

"Well, you've already paid for the Pyroar's share of it. All that's left on your account is," He pulled a piece of paper from his pocket. "Thirty-four thousand three hundred and ten." I did not have that on hand and told him as much.

"Ah, well, nice as it would have been. We can do a payment plan, as I said in my email. You're here for what, another month or so?"

"About five weeks." He pulled out a calculator from the nearby desk and punched in a few numbers.

"Five weeks, let's do six thousand five hundred for the next four weeks and eight thousand three hundred and ten for the last. Does that work for you?"

"Yeah. That works great, I may need to spend a bit more though." Saying the words was like pulling teeth.

"Really?"

"Yeah, storage, I'm thinking rackless bags, so I should just need some heat shields."

"How heavy?"

"I was hoping for twenty litres a side." He mulled it over for a second.

"I can get it for you, that'd be about another hundred grand." I let out a wheeze; I needed it, and this saved me looking. "You want something for the Pokémon to sit in. I doubt you could afford a sidecar, but they do beds for Pokémon about their size." I looked at Eevee, still wrapped around my neck.

"You sticking around?" She looked at me for a moment. Weighing her options, it took her a full minute to come to a decision. Then she licked me on the nose.

"Vee."

"Yeah, I'll need the bed too." Oh dear God in heaven, that hurt. I very much doubted I'd be able to convince her to stay in a pokeball. Given her general reaction to them.

"Alright, sit down." We pulled up chairs in front of his computer and began to search through the different bags and beds that could sit comfortably on the T-02. I ended up with a Buffolant Canyon that sat up to twenty liters on each side of the bike.

A pair of internal dry bags to make sure things stayed dry when it rained. A heat shield and a Silph Co. Medium-sized Pokemon Bed that could fit Eevee and Gible comfortably, with its clear plastic cover open. They could fit uncomfortably with it closed, or one of them could get in a pokeball.

"So your total for those, including shipping, is one hundred and seventy thousand." I let out a wheezing breath. Eevee snuggled closer. That was thirty grand more than the bike repairs had set me back; I could rent the motel room for a full month for that price.

"Hurts?"

"Yes."

"Gible."

"Eevee." The land shark hugged my stomach, sitting on my lap, as she was, while the fox snuggled into my neck. Damn you both and your cuteness.

"Can I add it to that repayment plan?" Bob looked me up and down, then sighed.

"Sure. Let me rework it." He scribbled down notes for a second I looked at my Pokémon.

"Okay, I know you're paid biweekly. We'll do eighty thousand every two weeks, then week five, you clear the rest at eight thousand three hundred and ten." I nodded and let out a wheeze like I'd just been hit in the gut. Bob laughed and printed out some forms, beginning to write on them. He threw me a key.

"Alright, I'll get the legal stuff written up. You wanna take her for a test ride?" I couldn't help the grin that came over my face.

"You sure I won't just bugger off?" He snorted and gave me a flat look.

"Running is for people with somewhere to go."

Fair.

"Back in a couple of hours?"

"That'd be appreciated, that way I can be home on time. By the way, kid, this is a test drive. Bike stays with me until you're paid up." I looked at the bike, my bike, and threw a leg over. Eevee dug her claws into my shirt as I mounted up and placed Gible in front of me. I wouldn't be able to ride the way I usually liked.

Fast.

Or suicidally, as my friends insisted on calling it.

I felt a well of sadness like black tar bubble up from my gut and forced it back down. Problems for later. I peeled out of Grumley's Mechanics and onto the road for the first time in over six months with a bike between my legs. I let out a whoop of triumph and forced a smile.

In serious debt or not.

Things were looking up!

END

---

Double upload today.

Because I'm an idiot who forgot to upload on Wednesday.


POKEMON ANIME EXTRA MOVE EXAMPLES

Raticate – Jump Kick (Battle Aboard the SS Anne)
Lance & Clair's Dragonites – Whirlwind (Talkin' 'Bout an evolution & Great Bowls of Fire)
Bock's Crowbat – Sonic Boom (Lapras of Luxury)
Loudred – Dig (Turning Over a Nuzleaf)
Jirachi – Teleport (Jarachi: Wish Maker)
Harley's Ariados – Shadow Ball (New Plot, Odd Lot)
Nidoran (m) – Bite (Leading a Stray)
Kricketune – Bullet Seed (Zoroark: Master of Illusions)
Officer Jenny's Swanna – Blizzard (Crisis at Ferroseed Research)

 

[Manfat]

I pulled the bike around the corner. Heading north up the ninety-five towards Icirrus city. I could see my breath as we traveled into the mountains. The wind smelled of pine needles, and the cold stung my face. The smile I'd forced before had become natural.

We wouldn't make it to Icirrus City. I only had a little while to take this bike for a spin. I had the range, the battery should last me two hundred kilometres, and there were a few Charge Courts on the way if I needed a top-up.

Icirrus City was a three-hour drive away at the speed limit, and I sure as hell wasn't going that fast.

Gible and Eevee weren't terrible passengers. But they weren't made for sitting on a bike. I had to manually adjust Gible every few minutes; she'd almost fallen off three times.

Eevee's tail was keeping my neck warm. But now and then, some of her fur would block my sight. Which meant, despite a speed limit of one hundred kilometers on this part of the highway. I was off to one side, practically in the emergency lane, barely managing fifty. Which was definitely illegal.

But I'd come off a bike at speed before. I was in no hurry to relive that experience. Broken ribs and road rash could suck my balls. Plus, in my haste to drive around, I'd completely neglected to get a helmet. I imagined Bob thought I'd bum around town a bit. In my experience, most country towns were a little lax on road laws.

I doubted he expected me to just send it.

I'd been so excited to finally be able to drive again that I hadn't even considered a helmet or the police until we were twenty minutes out of Geddes. Well. Hopefully, there were no eager traffic cops nearby.

That was another thing to add to my expense list: a helmet.

There were some questions I needed answers to if I was going to get any sort of plan off the ground. I looked at the upcoming sign, left hand automatically steadying Gible's fin as we rolled around a corner.

Kayuta Lake, next turn off, ten kilometers.

Good enough.

I wonder how Mama Swampert is doing?

The trees were almost completely golden. A few stubborn green leaves hung on by a thread. But it was more common to see bare branches than green as Autumn lost the war to Winter. Considering how far north we were. This place would probably be snowed under in another month. I didn't like that. I was built for heat. Not cold.

Plus, I didn't like my chances with just my tent and sleeping bag.

Freezing to death didn't appeal.

The bike didn't purr as I pulled into a vacant parking lot overlooking the lake. The electric motor's hum died down as I kicked out the stand and turned it off. I stood and stretched. I was still stiff as hell from the healing, and riding had made it worse. Apparently, my arse wasn't used to sitting on a bike anymore.

"Regular breaks," I muttered as Gible plopped down and waddled towards the grassy hill just off the car park. Eevee joined her. Flicking her tail, in what I assumed was affection, under my chin as she jumped off my shoulder. The two Pokémon began tramping up and down the hill, talking excitedly.

I ran a hand along the ground before sitting. Luckily, it was dry. I pulled out my phone, one bar of reception, typical. Still not as bad as the back roads near work. I was stuck on SoS only half the time.

With a grumble, I popped open the calculator. I knew I was cutting things close; I needed to know how close. Between Willow and the welfare payments, I was looking at one point two nine four million. I'd do some odd jobs with Gible and Eevee, but that kind of money wasn't reliable.

Now came expenses. There were the usuals, then eating out. I'd stop doing that if I had to. I wasn't exactly too keen on heading back to the Geddes Tavern anyway, and the pokeball I was somehow going to have to convince Eevee to get into. Plus whatever miscellaneous expenses came up.

I totaled the number up.

Blinked.

Totaled the number up again.

Swore loudly.

"Gib?" The shark princess wandered up. I barely noticed sweeping her into my lap as I checked my sums again.

I re-totaled everything, my earnings and expenses.

There was a slim chance I'd hit the wrong button.

"Son of a rat bastard." My voice was more of a growl.

"Vee." Half distracted, my hand picked Eevee off the ground and deposited her on my shoulder. Giving her a small scratch behind the ear. She gave an approving rumble. Before Gible could interrupt, I gave her a belly rub, and she lolled back into me.

With everything being taken into account, I would have a whopping nest egg of thirty-one thousand pokedollars, give or take a couple of hundred in either direction. That was a week of buffer if something went wrong. Two weeks, if I decided to eat nothing but dried food the whole time.

I doubted that God answered my prayers.

I sent one up anyway.

Couldn't hurt.

I groaned and fell back onto the grass. My right hand came up and pulled Eevee off my shoulder, dropping her onto my chest so she wasn't crushed. Gible immediately decided that while Eevee could have my chest, my stomach belonged to her.

"Gib!" She declared laying down.

"Vee." Eevee didn't move at all, curling up on my chest.

"Gahh." I groaned, bringing my phone up. It took me less than five minutes to find Unovas, and probably this world as a whole, equivalent to Amazon. Which meant the company was probably evil. But right now, I was about to benefit. So I wasn't going to look too hard beneath the surface.

Motorcycle helmets.

If I were riding long, even semi-long, distances, I wanted a full-face helmet. The wind got cold. There were a few, but in the end, I settled on a helmet with an extra bell on it. Bluetooth functionality. I could listen to songs while I rode. Now I just needed whatever passed for Spotify on this Earth.

What was the bet it was called something like Loudredfy?

Another upcoming expense.

I moved on to the confirm purchase page for the helmet. Its total price, including shipping, was twenty-three thousand nine hundred thirteen dollars and twenty-seven cents. Which would bring my final savings account down to around seven thousand, give or take a couple of hundred. Forget two weeks of buffer, I'd have three days if I were spectacularly lucky.

That new tent was going to have to wait.

"Man, you two are expensive." I groused, no real heat. The Pokemon chose, very magnanimously, it must be said, not to take issue with my statement. I lay on the ground without moving for another ten minutes before getting Eevee and Gible off of me and sitting up.

Time to address a problem. Besides the 'I desperately need more work' one.

"Eevee."

"Vee?"

"You said you wanted to stick around, right?" Unlike at Bob's, this time she didn't hesitate, nodding.

"Vee."

"Alright, gonna need to pick a pokeball then." The hair on the back of her neck raised, and she hissed. I put my hands up in mock surrender.

"I know you don't like them. But in order to properly register and make it so other people don't try anything, you're going to have to go in one once. I promise it'll only be for a second, and then you never have to go back if you don't want to."

"Vee!" She hissed a little, then slowly, but surely, her fur lay flat, and Eevee just looked tired.

"You'll be okay." I reached out and scratched her head. She used the chance to run up my arm and grab a spot on my shoulder. Before nuzzling her head against mine.

"Vee." Her voice was much lower now, almost a purr. I knew she was trying to distract me; it was also kind of working.

"Gib!" Gible, deciding she'd been left out long enough. Cannoned into my stomach and demanded belly rubs. I let out a wheeze. The muscles in my shoulders spasmed. At the same time, Eevee put on her best sad face to demand head scratches. I was stuck there another twenty minutes before my two miniature princesses would let me stand and get them back on the bike.

The ride back was much like the ride out. I pulled back into Bob's Mechanics just after the two-hour deadline. I counted it lucky he was more theatrically annoyed than angry. I was pretty sure he made me wait for twenty minutes getting the paperwork ready just to prove a point.

I signed off on the repayment plan paperwork. The first payment would be due this upcoming Friday, before Bob's closing time of five pm. Which was easily doable, even if I had to pay it in person, not via bank transfer.

I got to spend the next few days trying, and mostly failing, to get Eevee okay with the idea of getting into a pokeball. Eevee, for her part, either refused to talk about it or attempted to distract me. Her success rate with the latter was better than the former. Still, she didn't immediately go from Zero to Murder like she would have at the beginning.

I'd take the win.

Sometimes the small ones were all you got.

It was Saturday after Gible was done working with Mum-ggron. She was in for her weekly checkup. While Jobe was busy doing that. I was rolling a miniaturised pokeball back and forth across the counter. Eevee looked at it like it was the condensed form of all the world's evil.

"You did agree to this." I pointed out idly. We'd been at his for half an hour. I'd already tried coaxing and cajoling. Now I'd settled on mild apathy. I'd see if this one worked.

"Vee." She hissed and turned her nose up at the ball. She was being stubborn. I didn't know what she had against pokeballs. Charades only went so far. But I wasn't going to push. I'd let her take her time. We still had a few weeks before I needed to head out anyway. While not exactly warming up to the idea. Eevee was less actively hostile to the pokeball in my hands than anyone else's.

Then again, that step down wasn't massive.

Instead of 'murder', I got 'no'.

"Vee!" She whined. I gave her a flat look in return.

"Look, you know as well as I do this needs to be done. It doesn't have to be today. I got the pokeball, so you've got some time." My wallet gave a phantom scream.

"But it does need to be done before we leave." The Government didn't care if Eevee lived in the ball. Just that the ball was registered to Eevee, and I was registered to the ball. That way, when they inevitably decided to tax me over this, they knew who to send the bill.

"Vee." She kicked the miniaturised ball out of my hand and batted it around unenthusiastically. I rubbed her head and intercepted her before Eevee could use the excuse to run up my arm. She'd used curling up on my shoulder and demanding affection several times to avoid this conversation.

In Eevee's defence, and an indictment of me, I suppose, it was usually pretty effective.

She looked at me sourly. I raised an eyebrow. Letting out a theatrical sigh, she looked back at the ball. Disdain was written across her face. She let out a huff and rolled her paw. The universal sign for 'get on with it'. I enlarged the ball and placed it in front of her.

Eevee stared it down. Her face twisted in disgust. But she couldn't hide the tremors that ran through her body. That wasn't anger. That was fear. I reached out slowly, making sure she saw my hand. I did not want to take the small murder fox-cat-dog by surprise.

She hadn't mauled me yet, and I'd like to keep it that way. I scratched behind her ear and hummed a tune I vaguely remember from my Grandmother, never did learn what it was called. The trembling slowly stopped. She looked at me, then back at the ball.

"It doesn't have to be today." I reached for the ball.

"Vee." She shook her head and stepped out from under my hand, glaring at the ball. Her paw poked the button, and she vanished in a flash. The ball rocked once before letting out the chime like 'ping' that signalled a successful capture. I didn't even have a chance to try releasing her. The ball exploded open. Eevee hit me in the chest like a right straight from Iron Mike himself.

That wasn't an attack.

That was pure unadulterated desire to GET OUT.

I felt pain bloom from the middle of my chest. Air shot out from behind my teeth. I vaguely tasted yesterday's dinner. The chair teetered backward. I went over. Instinct took over before I could fully process what happened.

I wrapped one arm around the Pokémon. The other one broke my fall as I rolled out of the chair. There was a bang as we hit the floor, a sharp needle of pain flaring in my hip as it bounced off something hard and unforgiving. The stiffness and pain that had mostly become background noise reasserted itself.

"Ow." I groaned, "really should have seen that coming."

"Vee?" She climbed up my chest. Paws resting on my collarbone. Eevee looked a little worried. Which was nice.

"Yeah, I'm okay, just a little winded." My voice was an octave or two higher. I had to fight down a couple of breaths as my lungs stopped trying to kill me. I'd been properly winded before. This was mild discomfort by comparison. Was probably going to limp for a while, thanks to my hip, though.

"Vee." She butted her head against mine.

"You're alright," I said quietly. Almost whispering the words as I reached up, scratching her behind an ear. "You're alright."

"Vee." She didn't so much say it as her body rumbled.

"You haven't ever gotta go back in the ball if you don't want to." I let my arm drop on her back, lightly, and pulled her into a small hug. Light enough, she could escape if she felt the need to. She didn't. Eevee snuggled inward instead.

"Vee?"

"Promise." She let out a purr and rubbed against my head again. I scratched her behind the ears. I was gonna need another few minutes on the ground before I was good to go again.

"Gib!" The land-shark raced over. Deceptively fast for her size. Before settling on my stomach. This time I held in the wheeze.

"Are you okay?" Jobe asked, looking amused. But it flicked to concern for just a moment when he saw Eevee clinging to me. Well, to be fair, if I saw a grown ass man just lying on the floor in the middle of a hospital, I'd probably be amused as well or start screaming for a nurse. Really depended on the day.

"Yeah. Just....relaxing."

"Relaxing?"

"Floor is good."

"Alright then. I have not got the time or the qualifications to untangle whatever this is. Gible's recovery is going well. Just keep doing what you're doing, and it should be fine."

"Right, got it."

"Excellent," He went behind the desk, pulled out a clipboard, and squatted down to hand it to me. I gave it a quick once-over. Because that had been drilled into me from a young age. Read whatever you're about to sign. Same form I'd seen every time we did a check-up. I signed and got up off the floor.

Gible grumbled as I pulled her off me.

Eevee gave a smug look of superiority from my shoulder.

It was a miracle the land-shark didn't demand to be carried.

Today?

Today I'd take little miracles.

END

---

Slice of life chapter.

And we get another look at Nash's finances! They're terrible!
Manfat Patreon - If you're interested in supporting the work I do.
This is Fine - Volume 1 Complete
No Strings On Me (Nikke x Gundam) - 2 Chapters Ahead. Biweekly Schedule. Going to weekly as of July 6th.

 

[FTR2017]

Thanks for the double chapter!