The little gathering in Ethan’s home continued through the day in a much more jovial fashion. They did all end up watching the videos Chatot and Smeargle posted, and some of them were absolutely hilarious. For example, there were four videos posted back to back within a five minute period, all two to five seconds long, of the top of Chatot and Smeargle’s head. They’d been oblivious to the little webcam rolling, and were trying to figure out how to get the video to work. As it happens, they posted those videos as well.
The comments on those videos were full of teasing and some even tried to help the oblivious pokemon to take them down. There were some videos of just Chatot singing, and one of Smeargle painting… It seemed that the viewers of the videos quickly grasped onto the fact that his two pokemon were posting these videos without his permission, which was kinda-sorta true. They had his permission, but he didn’t actually know what they’d been posting.
The most surprising comment was from the user he and Chatot watched and learned vocals from. It seemed that their online vocal coach had taken an interest in them and left very encouraging comments for them to read.
All in all, Ethan wished so many people didn’t see his very personal singing sessions with his colorful bird, but was happy that she was happy about their ‘success’.
The next morning, as Ethan fed the pond pokemon with his trusty bucket of berries, one of the newest additions of his ranch came to say hello. With a bounce in her step, the tiny Azurill sprung towards him on her elastic orb of a tail. Ethan underhand tossed the chipper blue mouse an Oran berry, watching as she caught it at the apex of her springy hop.
Lotad gurgled before him, upside down as he floated belly up on the pond's surface. The little lillypad’s six stubby legs failed in a weird playful fashion. Ethan gave the exposed tummy several taps, causing Lotad to buoy on the water’s surface and splash a bit of water.
The Magikarp and Feebas were very slow moving, losing most of their quick dives and splashes due to the cold. At first he’d been worried about their mannerisms, but apparently their metabolisms slowed during the winter due to the cold.
Krabby was still king of the rock—nothing had changed there.
As the sun rose above the treetops, the rays of light peaking through the barren winter branches to reflect off the blue water’s surface, Ethan took in the sight and relaxed.
“Ah.”
The high pitched, short, curt, and foreign cry of a pokemon called from right behind him. Slowly, he twisted around spotting a small… Surskit? Surskit wasn’t a pokemon he was overly familiar with, only knowing that it evolved into Masquerain and was a bug and water type pokemon. It was a very small pokemon, only coming up to a foot tall even with its four long and thin legs sprouting from its round cyan body. Two charcoal black orbs stared at him in expectation. Beneath the two black eyes, twin red crescents reminiscent of facepaint or makeup stood out in a stark contrast to its blue body and yellowed top.
Surskit’s yellow antenna erected itself with a surge. “Ah.”
“Uh,” Caught off guard, Ethan didn’t know what to say. “Hello.”
Surskit bounced rapidly up and down, using its long legs as leverage to propel its body while standing in place—like it was jumping on a trampoline. “Ah.”
After its short and rapid display of movement, Surkit extended one of its forelegs in a point to the water. “Ah. Ah.”
Ethan looked between the small water pokemon and the water, not knowing what it was asking. “You can go into the water if you want.”
With a quickness he didn’t expect, Surskit sprang forward and leaped! It landed with nary a splash, ten skated on the water's surface. Its long spider-esque legs danced in a fluid economical motion as it glided. With Lapras’ expansion of his pond, the little Surskit had a large skating rink just for itself.
“Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah.” The pond skater’s tone didn’t change at all, but Ethan had the impression that the little pokemon was enjoying itself.
Ethan watched the little cyan pokemon skate around on the water for a few more minutes, idly tossing out berries to whatever pokemon came and asked for some. When no more came forward, he walked to the edge of the ranch and found several dangling Metapods to place berries in front of—None went to waste.
After checking on Snorlax, who slept in the barn still, Ethan made breakfast for his pokemon and himself and checked in on Cynthia. He only quickly peaked inside the guest room to see if she was awake and needed breakfast, but she was still snoozing.
When he made it back to the kitchen, Ethan caught Tinkatink and Shuckle’s attention. “You’re both with me today. I have a feeling that Cynthia is going to ask to battle and I want both of you there to participate.”
Tinkatink looked like Ethan had just told her she won a lifetime supply of steel, while Shuckle instantly looked worried. Tinkatink’s inner gremlin was starting to show as she jumped up and down with her hammer. “Calm down! She’s still asleep. If she somehow doesn’t suggest a battle, then we will go into the forest and see if any of the wild pokemon would like one.”
Tinkatink sprinted outside, probably not even registering what he said. He turned to his nervous and worried Shuckle and gave him a little scoot with his boot. “You’ll be okay. You’re strong now! Even if you lose, I won’t be disappointed or sad. I’ll take you right to Nurse Joy and have her fix you up.”
Shuckle used his noodly arms to mime wrapping up an invisible foe then squinted his eyes as he gave the imaginary enemy a forceful hug. Ethan smiled and nodded. “That’s exactly right. Do that and I promise you that you’ll be surprised.”
Ethan grabbed his bag from the table, which held his lunch for later, then held the door open for Shuckle to follow him. “Let’s go to the training field and practice a bit. You can even show me some of your new berry juices and ideas.” He smiled encouragingly, knowing that Shuckle loved chatting about berries.
Shuckle was a very slow pokemon, and the only pokemon he knew that could learn Trick Room was Ralts. In a battle, Shuckle would have a hard time closing the gap… but others would also think that Shuckle wouldn’t be much of a threat. But, that was all for battles. Shuckle’s slowness made him take nearly thirty seconds to go down the three steps by his door. Ethan could have carried his berry bud, but sometimes matching Shuckle pace was fine and dandy.
Slowly, Ethan walked by Shuckle as he trudged down the cobblestone path leading to the training field. Tinkatink was screeching and rambling somewhere in the berry fields to their left, but they both ignored her as this wasn’t an uncommon occurrence. “Hey Shuckle,” Ethan started, “Do you happen to know who Chatot’s friend is?”
“Shuu-ckle” Shuckle shook his long head side to side.
“I figured, just thought I’d ask. But what about you? Have you made any more friends?” He inquired, still matching Shuckle’s very slow pace.
A shrugging Shuckle was an interesting sight, as the front of Shuckle’ shell lifted and shifted. If you didn’t know what it was, you might have thought that it was just Shuckle repositioning himself to get more comfortable. Seeing the shrug, Ethan didn’t press for more details. “I’m sure you’ll find some more soon. Has anyone been mean to you?”
Shuckle shook his head with a smile this time. Ethan hadn’t thought that he was being bullied by any of his pokemon, but maybe there was a wild pokemon nearby that wasn’t being very nice. He was glad to hear that wasn’t the case. “I saw you talking to Pichu and Litten last night at the little party. Did you like talking to them?”
Shuckle kept his smile and nodded, then spoke aloud a bunch. Ethan guessed that Shuckle was talking about the conversation his pokemon had together, but he couldn’t be sure. Shuckle kept up the one sided conversation all the way to the training field, where they met up with Tinkatink who was battling an imaginary foe.
Even though Tinkatink was small, she was feisty. She sprinted and swirled, swinging her hammer as hard as she could without fanfare, even using moves like Fairy Wind as she ran around. If any of his pokemon loved battling, it was her.
They all spent the next hour practicing their moves, when Ethan spotted Cynthia walking up the path. “Here she comes, guys.”
Shuckle and Tinkatink smothered their expressions, appearing aloof. It was obvious as all hell that they were acting, but it was funny nonetheless. Cynthia approached the field with a smile and no pokemon by her side, then spotted Tinkatink and Shuckle acting. She snorted at the little display. “Good Morning, Ethan. Training your pokemon?”
“Indeed. We’re going out into the forest to see if any pokemon want to battle for some practice soon. They’re all warmed up and ready to go.”
“How about we do a battle?” She suggested, to the surprise of no one. “We can do a two versus one like last time. I’m interested to see how you and your pokemon have improved.”
“Sure.” Ethan nodded, then gestured to the other end of the field. “I’m focusing on double battles. So hopefully I can throw some people for a loop.”
—------------------------------------------------------
Standing on the opposite end of a field from the Champion of the region felt exactly the same as it had in the past. The nerves made his stomach hurt and the fear for his pokemon’s safety were still there in the back of his mind… but he wasn’t afraid of failing them or himself anymore. Battling was a part of life in this world and he went for as long as he could by doing the bare minimum when it came to battling.
It was time to take things more seriously.
“Are you ready?” Cynthia yelled from the opposite end of the field.
“As ready as I’ll ever be.” He shouted back. He then looked at Tinkatink and Shuckle. “You guys ready? Winning or losing doesn’t matter here, but try your best. This is practice.”
“Tinkaaaaa!”“Sh—-S—Shu—Shuuu!” Shuckle stuttered from his nerves, but he put on his cute gameface.
“Then…” Cynthia grabbed one of the many pokeballs from her waist. “Let the battle begin!”
Cynthia’s Ultra ball flew through the air in a lazy arc, thrown so that it’d take as long as possible to land and release. “Lucario! I choose you!” She shouted playfully but confidently, knowing full well about what those words meant to him.
Lucario was probably the worst matchup for his pokemon. A Steel/Fighting type versus a Bug/Rock and a Steel/Fairy? Not good. Any fighting type move would ruin his pokemon and Shuckle’s moves were all resisted. Tinkatink could use some fairy moves, which would be neutral, but neither of his pokemon knew any fighting, ground, or fire type moves to be super effective.
Lucario appeared. already in a fighting stance. He sent two thrusts into the air for show and then released an intimidating shout of its name. “Lucario!”
“Shuckle, Iron Defence! Tinkatink, get in there and do some damage! No Brutal Swing! Don’t use Dark-type moves!”
“Smart.” Cynthia shouted across the field. “Lucario, Bullet Punch!”
Skuckle withdrew into his shell as a flare of steel-type energy coated him, boosting his defence. Tinkatink was charging forward like a barbarian, hammer held high as she moved into battle. Lucario disappeared, then re-appeared right in front of his pink-gremlin, then sent a blisteringly fast punch right onto the metal plate that covered her chest. The harsh clang of metal rang out across the field as Tinkatink skidded back from the slow.
“Shuckle, Power Split!”
“Sh—Shuuuuuu!” Shuckle focused up, then sent a purple ball straight from his chest forward Lucario. Lucario, not wasting any movement after his Bullet Punch, deftly jumped back to avoid the obvious Psychic orb.
Unfortunately for Lucario, Power Split was not aimed. The orb of balance swerved and went straight into Lucario who shuddered in mild surprise. Not a second later, a much larger orb pulled itself free from Lucario and surged back to Shuckle.
“Get in there buddy!” Ethan ordered proudly, pointing to Lucario.
“Shuuuu!” Shuckle cried out a cute battlecry then… trudged forward!!!
…
….
…..
Reaching Lucario would take some time…