Patricia Greenwood
—
Life at the Ranch had once again fallen into a comfortable routine for me.
I still got up before dawn, but these days I wasn't the only one who enjoyed not only coffee, but baked goods. I still cooked, of course, but I wasn't the only one.
The old Hypno was already hard at work when I came downstairs, a series of bowls already full of different dry and wet ingredients as he directed another Hypno, a Drowzee, and a Meowth in their own tasks. From what I could tell, he was making cinnamon rolls, again.
It had been quite the surprise when he asked to use the kitchen, but apparently he didn't just like to watch cooking shows, no, the old Hypno wanted to cook. Bake, really, after I had introduced him to cinnamon rolls. He still baked other things, but those were his favorite, him and the rest of the Drowzee line. I had thought that they didn't appreciate good food, as long as it wasn't bad, and I had been right. He still didn't really care what he was eating… unless it was cinnamon rolls. Why those?
I had no idea, honestly, but as he saw me come down the stairs he smiled and poured me a cup of coffee, and after a moment spent staring at the other Pokemon, stirred a heaping spoonful of cinnamon into his own mug of coffee and followed me outside.
Alfred was already there, of course. He preferred to sleep in the clinic most nights, but now that I was up? It was time to serve! Which right now meant sitting with me as we watched the sunrise.
Of course, we weren't alone, not by a long shot.
Midir was already up, sniffing at a cup of tea as he relaxed in a sturdy chair I had bought for him, one designed for Pokemon with tails. The Meowstic couple were sleepily leaning on each other from their permanently-claimed spot on the table, while Maddy was just now shaking herself awake. I waved up at the Zubat and Murkrow, just back from their night-time flight, receiving nods and waves of wings.
Honey and her… gaggle of Koffing? Flotilla? Honey and her group of Koffing, and two Weezing, floated there as well. They were getting better already, but very few among them smiled. Honey actually had a small smile most of the time these days, but never the huge, goofy grin her species were known for…
This morning I had one more sunrise watcher, one I hadn't been expecting. Petals usually woke up with the dawn, not before, but she lightly chimed at me with a wide smile as she hopped onto an empty seat. She had a lot more free time these days. I had discovered that I could 'order' the Oddish and Bellsprout lines to use Growth 'whenever it would help the plant', and it worked. No need to order them every time… Of course, I had phrased it as a request, not an order, but they were happy to help, the Victreebel especially. They were still just so happy…
It felt good, the gratitude, but it also hurt, knowing why they were so happy to be free of Team Rocket… Most of the interviews had been sad or infuriating, of course, but the Victreebel? Well… I hadn't eaten meat for more than a few days after interviewing them… Some Victreebel enjoyed… that, of course, it was how they hunted in the wild… Most killed their prey first, though…
As the sun finally rose my Ranch got its new wake-up call. Wukong had moved into a corner of Erin's huge room due to all the cooking happening before dawn these days, so it wasn't him. No, the Skarmory greeted the new day with voices like steel scraping together from their new nest, waking the entire Ranch up. Also Mrs. Maple and a few of the closer neighbors…
I had finally 'ordered' them to hunt for themselves, and to defend themselves as needed. After a few supervised hunts with Maddy and Midir, including a fake 'ambush' from Wukong once, I had finally relaxed about the whole thing. I still worried a little, but they were intimidating Pokemon, and I highly doubted anything would try to hunt them in the first place. It wasn't like we had a population of Tinkaton here in Kanto…
I had built them a large alcove on the roof, more than large enough for the two of them. Them, and their Eggs. They had proudly invited me up there to see the four small Eggs, the female preening in pride the entire time. They also requested some brambles of some sort through the Meowstic couple, because Skarmory, in my opinion, didn't have the most… comfortable early lives. They toughened their skin up by living in the bramble, being scratched by it, and I hadn't denied them the chance to raise their children how they wanted…
I simply had Petals bring some of the pruned blackberry vines up to them. It was very productive, not to mention huge already, covering an entire side of my garden hill. I was actually giving a lot of them away these days. Well, those that weren't eaten right off the vine…
I smiled as my Ranch came alive with sound, waving goodbye to the Zubat and Murkrow as they retreated to their new cave in the forest. It wasn't a huge, deep cave, but it doubled back on itself twice, and was always dark, so they were all much, much happier there than having to sleep in the Barn.
I put my empty cup down, stood up, and stretched, enjoying the moment of chaotic peace for a few moments longer. Then I tried to grab my cup to put it away, but of course it was already gone, whisked away by Alfred, and I frowned.
I felt lazy these days, with how many helpers I had! Cooking? The Hypno enjoyed baking, at least, and for vegetarian dishes the Indeedee also enjoyed cooking. The crops? I had picked maybe a few tomatoes, and that was it. The rest were picked by the Drowzee at the direction of Petals and the other Grass types. Gyarados watered them for us as well, not to mention him and Kingdra brought seafood back most days.
Really, the only thing I had to do myself was butchering. I had actually started selling some of the excess Pidgeotto and Pidgeot that were frequently brought in by Maddy! Very cheaply, though, and mainly because even though we had an excess of meat for the rescues to eat, Maddy still wanted to hunt. Considering the chittering horde of Rattata and Raticate? Not to mention the Ekans and Arbok? She had stopped hunting any Pokemon that we had here at the Ranch, or at the very least she didn't bring them back, so there was a bit of a poultry explosion in my packed refrigerator and freezer in the warehouse.
My very packed refrigeration unit…
That hadn't been a fun day whatsoever. The Meowstic couple had helped me move them inside my unit, thankfully, because ten Tauros were quite heavy, even gutted and bled. Skinning and butchering them, though, had been a bit of a challenge. The Meowstic were happy to help move them, but not butcher them, so it had been a long day…
Professor Oak had been ecstatic, however, especially after I had given him the recipe for Erin's ribs. I think we had somewhat startled the town, however, when Gyarados flew over the town, ten thankfully fully drained Tauros carcasses dangling from him…
The furrier in Viridian had been very happy to see me the other day as well. I'd actually made quite a bit of money selling off the excessive amount of skins to him, the ones that were fully cured at least. I'd also bought a few nice, thick rugs for the Barn, but even with purchasing some of his stock, I'd made a good profit. He had gotten a very good discount, of course, but it was still enough to pay for the most recent addition to the Ranch…
This morning I checked my PokeNav and smiled. The Hypno and Drowzee would need to be 'fed' tomorrow night, and thankfully my new 'community center' had been finished. It wasn't that large, honestly, but it didn't need to be large. There was now a medium-sized, open-roomed building on the corner of my property, one with not only couches, chairs, and TV's for any prospective adopters to visit the rescues, but a small series of beds. Every few days the volunteers would come by to let the Hypno line 'feed', and I tried to make it more than just them dropping by to sleep.
The children especially were more than happy to run around the Ranch when their parents dropped them off, chaperoned by a couple Indeedee, and sometimes Wukong. He was still joining them at the playground most evenings, and I was happy to see his progress. Wukong still raged occasionally, but he had finally gotten to the point where he could control how mad he was… for the most part. I had the feeling that in another month or two he would be ready for Erin's 'test'... I also had the feeling that the 'test' was her deliberately infuriating him, of course, but she wouldn't give him the go-ahead to start Rage Fist until she was sure he would… keep going, after he died.
It worried me terribly, but I wouldn't stop him, wouldn't stifle his desire to grow…
The children loved running around the Ranch in the evenings, a Ranch full of Pokemon who couldn't accidentally hurt them, and they especially liked playing with the Poochyena and Houndour lines. Most of the packs had been happy to play, as well. Not the older adults, but I never pushed them, so that was fine by me. The children also loved my huge, almost too-productive blackberry bush…
It was a bit of a routine they had. They would play with the canines, and any other Pokemon who wandered by, until they had tired themselves out. Then there would be a procession of children and their chaperones to my garden hill, and after eating handfuls of berries they would run to the pond to rinse their faces off. Well, they went swimming, really, the juice stains on their hands and faces were just incidentally washed away as they swam, and on occasion, played with the Dratini, their mother, and even Gyarados every now and then.
Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.
Kingdra would never hurt them, but he found them to be a little annoying and never came out when they were here, which, fair enough… They were well behaved, for children, but they were still children…
After their swim some of the older Houndoom would very carefully help dry them off at the Indeedee's direction before the children would settle in for the night. Most were happy to play with the Hypno and Drowzee until they became too tired to stay up, and past a certain point they would 'feed' from the children. Their parents would come collect them the next morning, usually quite happy to have a nice, quiet night of their own.
I loved to see the children here, of course, but I was happy that they wouldn't be here this evening. My daughters were fighting Janine today, and nobody would want to miss tonight's entertainment…
I stepped out of the old 'backyard' into the Ranch proper and smiled at the sight before me. My nose also scrunched up in anticipation…
The Grimer and that poor Muk had finally gotten as non-smelly as possible, and eagerly… glooped around? Ran round? They were happy to spend time outside, not locked in a Pokeball or in their quarantined room. Very happy, and after a stern talking to by Petals, had managed to stop killing plants that they touched. They weren't… deadly to the touch, but without constant effort they… leaked. Or something of that sort. Still, they were more than happy to essentially clench a muscle the entire time they were outside of their new housing if it meant having the entire Ranch to explore.
Not the backyard, though. They still smelled…
Still, I met the procession of them with a smile, even as my nose tried its best to run away from the rest of my face. Muk was quite possibly the friendliest Pokemon I had ever encountered, and now that he had mostly free run of the Ranch, he came to greet me every morning.
I also got to hear him, or at least an interpretation of him, thanks to my helpers. The Indeedee could do this, they just required a request each and every time…
""Hi, Matriarch! Morning! Good food again?"" His nose, or what looked like a nasal orifice, was sniffing as he said that. His and the Grimer, and I smiled at them.
"Hypno is baking cinnamon rolls, again, so we can all have some later." They all jiggled in happiness, and I braced myself as Muk gave me a hug. He didn't leave any stains or odors behind, but it was still… an experience. I patted him on the back and laughed a little before he released me, already looking for others to talk to. Not that many were all that happy to be close to a Grimer or Muk, but enough could deal with the stench that they usually had plenty of Pokemon to interact with. Mainly the Grass types, honestly…
The canines would wave at them with their tails… from a long distance away…
I smiled at them as they moved towards the garden hill, and then turned my smile to the weights that once again settled on my shoulders. They smiled back, but they weren't the most… friendly Pokemon. They liked me, sure, but they weren't overly affectionate with it.
""They are still too smelly…"" 'They can't exactly help it, and they're nice!'
""I know that, but my nose doesn't…""
I burst into laughter as the female Meowstic scrunched up her nose from my shoulder.
The Meowstic couple had finally relaxed entirely here, and they were going to stick around. I had finally convinced them to come inside, and they had a section of my living room claimed as their own, now. The female was actually pregnant, and I would soon have a litter of Espurr wandering around… Which was slightly worrying, honestly. It would have been very worrying if I didn't have the Indeedee, of course. Espurr didn't have great control over their powers, and while true accidents that could cause harm were rare, I was grateful that the Indeedee would be able to help them restrain their power until they eventually Evolved.
I stared around the Ranch, just taking it all in. This was what I had envisioned when I ordered the extensive renovations, and it made me so happy to see so many happy, or at the very least content, Pokemon…
—
—
That evening the entire population of the Ranch gathered in the Barn, eager to watch the two videos I had received earlier. The poor Grimer and Muk were getting mild glares, but they were near an open door with large fans blowing air outside, so the smell wasn't… too bad. They still smelled badly, but I wasn't about to keep them in quarantine or anything. They usually watched TV in their own 'housing', a large stone hut basically, but this was a 'whole Ranch' occasion…
Also a Professor Oak occasion, as he joined me to watch his sponsored trainers fight their first 'serious' Gym Battles, the first four being a bit easier… usually. Charizard was here too, of course, idly munching on an entire roasted Tauros leg she had brought along…
Leaf's battle was first, and I was pleasantly surprised to see her Noibat do so well. It was quite startling to watch him slam his ears into that poor Skuntank, not to mention claw so deeply down that poor Pokemon's snout, but he was at least putting in the effort. She had texted me her worries about him, and I had honestly expected to see him come to the Ranch at some point. If he was going to fight like that, though…
Of course, Janine was a ninja, and her Pokemon left Noibat a little parting gift. He would be quite intimidating once he Evolved, but for now? Watching the little dragon struggle to fly had been… well, very adorable, just like him. He probably didn't care about being returned, either…
Janine apparently wanted to have a real brawl, though, when she sent out that Scolipede that had to be sixth-badge… something that Hazard was more than happy to accommodate! He came out like the poster child for aggressive, dangerous Pokemon, as usual… Although he wasn't dangerous to Leaf anymore.
Dexter had actually sent me a short video of him playing with Tinkatink, and considering the way he grinned at my daughter before flinging himself at that huge Pokemon? His mood wasn't too unusual these days. Leaf had broken through to him, finally, and he was gradually becoming… Well, not nice, but at the very least not constantly angry at everything and everyone.
I even felt some pride in the bloodthirsty little dragon when he fought that Gengar. Even if he did it with Outrage, a Move that was practically designed for him… He was honestly kind of terrifying, especially when he had cleaved right through the ghost Pokemon.
Dragalge were intimidating Pokemon, and judging from Janine, Leaf, and the referee's faces, that was an eighth-badge Pokemon…
The entire Barn burst into laughter when Leaf had given him an 'order', though… Dragalge hadn't appreciated being called weak, of course, but Hazard still did his best, inflicting some decent damage on the larger poison dragon, but he had been a bit tired… Acid Armor was a vicious defensive Move, too…
When Leaf's Indeedee came out with a frown the entire Barn cheered, of course, especially Alfred and the rest of the Indeedee here. The rescues all loved the Indeedee, and the other Indeedee loved to see her fight.
She certainly put on quite the show…
Leaf's ignored request not to humiliate Dragalge was apparently accurate, because Indeedee glided around that dragon with impressive speed, and I could see it growing more and more frustrated… Not for long, though, as she unleashed a barrage of Psybeams…
The entire Ranch once again laughed as Indeedee deliberately took a Sludge Bomb as she charged some sort of psychic Move, one that violently knocked that dragon out.
It felt very good to watch my little girl dominate a Gym Leader who used higher-badge Pokemon, even if they hadn't brought out the truly nasty strategies like filling the arena with poison…
Then Erin walked in, announced as the 'Tiny Tyrant', and the Barn erupted in laughter again. I knew Erin didn't mind that name all that much, but Janine was trying to rattle her. Very unsuccessfully, as it turned out.
Instead, I think it was Janine that got rattled when Dhelmise came out with a huge crash and snap of wood. Erin had apparently gotten them a larger anchor, and they looked shiny and new as they obliterated that poor Toxtricity.
Janine's Crobat put up an actual fight, though. Dhelmise's howl of ghostly rage and pain didn't transfer to audio very well, but enough did to know how badly that Hurricane had hurt them… The entire Barn gasped as its huge anchor smashed that Pokemon, though… I would have been more worried, but considering the look on Janine's face, she was happy… It had almost certainly been an eighth badge Pokemon as well, and then I realized why Janine had smiled.
This Gengar was obviously more powerful than the one who had fought Leaf and Hazard, but it didn't matter all that much. Erin's order to Dhelmise, to go insane, was a bit worrying, but Dhelmise had responded with enthusiasm… Until Janine decided that Dhelmise had to go.
Professor Oak chuckled as a scowling Erin returned the unconscious ghost.
"Destiny Bond is a nasty Move, but very effective against dangerous inorganic or mostly-inorganic Pokemon like Dhelmise. You said she caught it with a fishing rod?" I idly nodded as Janine sent out a Clodsire, and he chuckled again.
"I'll have to ask Dexter if he recorded that… Well, I know he did, actually, he records everything!" Yes, he did… it was slightly creepy, honestly, but I liked Dexter, and Erin would always have an alibi…
"Janine may have made a mistake, though, even with her using some strong Pokemon. That Clodsire would do some real damage to most of Erin's team, but- Ah, there she is." I smiled as Hecate cracked the floorboards with a huge flip, and laughed when Dexter did a quick pan of the audience to show their dumbfounded faces. Hattrem weren't exactly scary-looking Pokemon, but they were rare in Galar, much less here, and as an Alpha? Hecate was more than a little intimidating…
Something she demonstrated with enthusiasm, blasting that poor Pokemon into unconsciousness before it could do anything to her.
Then Janine got serious. Even Professor Oak looked slightly shocked, honestly…
Drapion were very scary looking Pokemon. Very scary, very angry looking, and also Dark Pokemon. Erin certainly got a kick out of her order, though… 'Dazzle them', indeed…
Hecate had some good mobility these days, though, and she looked very impressive when she launched herself away by smashing that terrifying Pokemon with her ponytails. My concern when Hecate was pierced was mirrored by Erin, but she had won against what had to be one of Janine's personal Pokemon, even if it hadn't used any truly dangerous strategies…
Professor Oak turned to me as the Barn began to cheer, a wide smile on his face.
"They're both a bit strong, aren't they? Maybe Lance should be a little worried about his title, especially with Leaf and Hope…"
I laughed and nodded, because yes… Lance actually was looking forward to fighting them. Not for his title, though. There was beating the Champion, and then there was actually taking the title of Champion from him, and that required far more than strength in battle… Not to mention neither of them would want to deal with the bureaucratic hassle that Lance did, or even be old enough for it.
He had been more than happy to praise Alex's battle, of course, and after a moment's thought I sent him my daughters' battles. He may not love them, not yet, but he certainly cared about them, even Erin and her tendency to needle him.
I smiled at the thought of the last time he had dropped by… It had been brief, but I had managed to get some actual time alone with him… Not to mention the actual reason he had dropped by, because Lance was a very caring person under that ego I had been chipping away at…
I was still smiling widely as I saw Professor Oak and Charizard off later, a tray of cinnamon rolls courtesy of the old Hypno held in Charizard's claws.
Life was good these days…
