As Papa and Mama did the usual lovey dovey parting rituals despite the fact we wouldn't even be gone for a day, I found myself perplexed by a mystery as I rubbed the cool metal of Metagross's leg. It was somehow hot and cool at the same time. Maybe I hadn't noticed before because of the heat of the desert climate we had lived in, but Metagross seemed to have an underlying heat to it. It was faint, but the more I felt for it the more clear the feeling became.
“What's up, Sprout? You've been fussing over Metagross for a while now. Want one of your own?” Papa laughed as, having finished up his rituals, strode over to me and patted my head.
“Well obviously I want one, Metagross is awesome after all…but that's not what's bugging me. Has Metagross been sitting out in the sun?” I asked, thinking I might've simply been feeling the leftover heat from that.
“Not that I know. Why do you ask?” He replied…rather stiffly. Suspicious…
“It's strangely warm. It feels…” I paused, trying to put words to what I was feeling. “It feels…like the leftovers…the embers of a big fire…”
As I spoke, I looked back at Mama and Papa, hoping to catch the reaction. And boy, was I not disappointed. They shared a *look*. Which told me they knew exactly what was going on and weren't keen on telling me just yet.
“Maybe it's leftover heat from the desert sun?” He suggested as an excuse.
“...Maybe.” I replied, my tone and glare making it perfectly clear that I didn't buy it for a second.
“Well, we may never know. Now hop on or we'll be late!” He deflected, climbing up on Metagross and pulling me up.
“Late? Pokemon Centers don't work like thaaaaaaat!!!” My objection trailed off into a yell as Metagross took off at top speed towards Sandgem.
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Papa refused to answer any further questions about the mysterious heat as we traveled, not that there was much time to actually ask them at the speed Metagross was moving. Before I knew it, we were at the doors of the Sandgem Pokemon Center.
“Come on, if we get this done quickly enough, we can check at the school you'll be going to!” Papa said as he hopped off, using the Parent Type move Topic Change to counter my Child Type move Pouty Glare! It was super effective
Continuing to try and inflict the Guilt status with my pouting, I followed Papa into the Pokemon Center…and almost immediately found myself being offered an egg by a Blissey. Guess a pouting child would be certain to attract its attention, huh?
I wasn't really hungry…but I also couldn't bring myself to refuse when Blissey was just trying to help. Accepting the egg, I took a bite out of it. It tasted…weird. It wasn't unpleasant, but it didn't really have a conventional taste. It was more like I was tasting the concept of comfort itself. It was like eating a meal during winter…only a hundred times stronger, making it very hard to feel anything other than contentment.
Her job done, Blissey gave me a pat on the head and a hug. A very warm hug…with a hint of coolness underneath. Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to muse on that, I was much too comfy for that at the moment.
“Welcome! How can I help you?” The Nurse Joy behind the counter asked as she watched the scene unfold. Papa simply handed her the Cherish Balls with Trapinch and Eevee.
“Need a full check up on these two.” He grunted. …I had forgotten how disinterested he tended to be about people other than Mama and I. Sometimes, I wonder how Mama had gotten him to warm up to her.
“Ah, it would be my pleasure! This may take a while, so would you like to wait here or come back later?” Nurse Joy asked, surprisingly unperturbed by Papa's intimidating glare. Guess when you deal with Trainers all day, you see it all.
“We'll come back later.” Papa replied before I could tell her I wanted to stay, obviously wanting to check out the school in the meantime. Unlike his earlier cold tone, there was now a hint of respect in his voice. Maybe that's how Mama did it?
Blissey gave me a final pat on the head before Papa ushered me out the door. As I waved to her, I remembered a little tidbit about Blissey eggs being able to bring good fortune. Wonder if there's any truth to that?
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We had almost made it to the school building when I seemingly got my answer.
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
“Dee! Deedee!” A pokemon called out behind us. I turned around to find a female Indeedee running towards us, eyes locked onto me. Only to stop dead in her tracks when she noticed my eternally glaring father.
“Hey! Get back here!” Another, rougher voice yelled, startling the Indeedee out of her uncertainty and causing her to hide behind me as a large man in a trench coat and fedora charged towards us angrily.
I reached up and stroked the fun on Indeedee's head to comfort her. “It'll be alright. We won't let the big bad bully hurt you. Right Papa?” I assured her, looking up at Papa with every parent's bane: the puppy eyes.
“Right…Let's get this over with…” He said with a heavy sigh, stepping forward while cracking his knuckles. I found myself getting excited in spite of the situation. What kid wouldn't like seeing their dad taking down baddies Crobatman style?
Contrary to my expectations, however, instead of comic style action I got…comic style mystery? The thugs eyes widened as he took in Papa's features. “N-No freaking way…He's supposed to be dead! You can't be Dante Au-MMMPH?!”
In an instant, Papa had closed the distance between them, grabbed the thug's mouth with his hand, and lifted him with one arm. He was currently holding the thug in air by the bottom half of his face! Holy distorting Giratinas, Crobatman!
Papa casually reached for his Pokeballs like he wasn't holding a grown man like a ragdoll and let out Lucario, handing it…a piece of paper?
“Lucario, please escort Cherish the rest of the way to her school. I need to have a…talk with this gentleman.”
As insanely tempting as trying to stay and eavesdrop was…I let myself be herded away. Indeedee was clearly distraught by the man's presence, even if he was currently as threatening as newborn Magikarp, and her feelings took priority over my curiosity. Not to mention even if I tried to stay, Papa would probably just have Lucario physically carry me away.
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Unfortunately, the only person at the school that day was the vice principal, who was the spitting image of a frumpy old woman who hated her students as much as they hated her. She didn't believe me when I told her what happened, though I honestly couldn't blame her. Maybe I should've downplayed it a bit? But I didn't really like lying if I didn't have to…
Thankfully Lucario and, surprisingly, Indeedee stopped her from marching me down to the local police station to report as a lost child. So she settled for calling for an Officer Jenny to come to the school and having me wait outside with her.
Which is how I found myself sitting on a bench outside while Indeedee stood behind me grooming the tangles out of my long, unkempt hair. It felt surprisingly nice to be honest. Between that, the lingering fluffiness of the Blissey egg, and the fact that I had gotten up much earlier than usual that day, I found myself struggling to stay awake.
I must’ve dozed off at some point, because the next thing I knew not only was Officer Jenny there, but also Papa, Looker of all people, and an older gentleman in a butler’s uniform. And for some reason, Papa and Looker were staring each other down.
“Ah good, she’s awake! So sorry to disturb you, my lady, but we need to have a word.” The older gentleman said with a noticeable Galarian accent.
“We could’ve talked to her and been long gone if you or her father had let us wake her up…” Officer Jenny grumbled.
“And as I said before, her Indeedee would not have looked kindly upon that, Miss Jenny.”
…
Wait…
“My Indeedee? I mean, I wouldn’t mind having her around, but-” I started to correct him, but he cut me off.
“Oh not to worry, I know her situation quite well. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Sebastian Black of Galar, Professional Butler and Pokemon Breeder, at your service. The Indeedee currently braiding your hair just so happens to have been bred by yours truly.” He said, giving a bow.
“Oh! Nice to meet you! I’m Cherish Harmonia of…Orre? I don’t think I’ve lived here in Sinnoh long enough to claim it as my home just yet…”
“Oho?” Sebastian’s eyes lit up with interest. “The Harmonia Clan still lives on? If the texts I’ve read have any truth to them, then it’s no wonder Indeedee took a shine to you so quickly.”
I couldn’t help but notice Papa stiffening up…and then he nudged Looker.
“Ahem!” Looker cleared his throat. “As pleasant as all this is, we still need to take back that Indeedee. It’s an important part of the SPI program.”
“Well, if you wish to try and separate Indeedee from her chosen trainer, you’re welcome to try. I would not recommend it, however.” Sebastian said with a chuckle. Indeedee certainly didn’t seem to find it funny. In fact she seemed rather heated about the whole thing.
…No, that wasn’t heat I was feeling…It kinda felt like the Blissey egg. Like a concept turned into a feeling that was merely similar to heat. Was this what I’d been sensing all morning?
“As an alternative, why don’t you simply include her in the program? If I recall, you have a spot since that Paul lad refused, do you not?” Sebastian offered to the hesitant Looker.
Paul? It couldn’t be the same one I was thinking of, could it?
“Well…She does meet the minimum qualifications…” Looker said, looking over at Papa as he rubbed his chin. “Alright, let’s go with that.”
Looker pulled some kind of rectangular device with two Pokeballs slotted into it and an empty slot for a third.
“Welcome to the Support Pokemon Initiative, kid. Keep this on you when you go out on your journey. Doesn’t matter where as long as it’s on your person. There’s this long speech the higher ups want me to give, but the simple explanation is that the Sinnoh League wanted to come up with its own version of Alola’s Ride Pokemon. But because governments will be governments, they wanted to be original about it. So instead of implementing Alola’s tried and true system, they came up with their own. You can designate three Pokemon as ‘Support Pokemon’ by slotting their Pokeballs into the Support Device at any Pokemon Center.” Looker said, handing me the device.
“Support Pokemon can’t be returned to their balls, can’t be used in Gym or League matches, and can’t stay too far from the Device without alerting the authorities. But they don’t count towards your six Pokemon limit, so you can have three helpers without sacrificing spaces on your team. Of course, it’s still an experimental system, so incentives were cooked up to give to Trainers who agreed to test it. Yours being that Indeedee.”
Well that was certainly something…and the Paul I was thinking of definitely wouldn’t have been interested.
“...And you’re giving me this? Just like that?” I asked.
“Like I said, you met the qualifications to be a test subject. You were actually on the waiting list for when more units were made, so you just got one ahead of schedule. Saves me some time and lets me get back to my actual job.”
“This isn’t your job?” I asked, already knowing the answer. I’d played both Platinum and Sun&Moon after all.
“Not even in the slightest. I’ve been stationed here in Sinnoh to keep an eye on some…people of interest you could say. It’s been slow and boring work, so the guy who was actually supposed to be doing this decided I had time to do his work for him too.” Looker grumbled.
I opened my mouth to question him further, but Papa cleared his throat. “Well, it’s been…fun. But my daughter and I really should go collect her Pokemon and get home. My wife is probably worried sick.”
“Right…Well, I’ll be off then. Oh and Dante? …Thanks for your help in Orre.”
“...Hmph. Just make sure the IP keeps up their end of the bargain.”
“Don’t worry. It’s already been wiped if that’s what you’re worried about.”
…Well that was cryptic.
PC comics makes Crobatman, Lugiaman, and The Jolteon comics among others.
Though, Cherish's favorite actually comes from their rival company, Wonder.
She just wishes the writers would give Ariados-Man the happiness he deserves...
