Sugarcube
patreon
Chapter 50 - Man's best Friends
🕑 Added 2024-05-29 23:16:06 +0000 UTCChapter 50 – Man’s best Friends
“Are we there yet Hoothoot?”
“Hoot!”
It’s been a while since Hoothoot had agreed to guide us. The little owlet made us hike up and down the cliffs in search of a particular cave. The owl Pokémon knew that the local fire types lived in one of these caves but he didn’t know which one. Leading us to have a few close calls with the Pokémon who were using the caves as their private living spaces. After an encounter with a particularly aggressive momma Ursaring I got fed up.
“Are you sure that you know where we are going, Hoothoot? By my reckoning there are at least fifty caves here. Going through them all will take hours.”
“Hoot!?”
“Hey stop bullying Hoothoot! He’s just trying his best to remember.”
Somehow the owlet had managed to endear himself to Flannery. Phoebe on the other hand seemed to be immune to Hoothoot’s wiles but seemed amused enough by the situation to let this spiel drag on.
“I swear if the next cave doesn’t… OW!”
I tripped and stubbed my toe against an inconspicuous rock. In my frustration I kicked against the large rock but to my surprise and everybody else’s there was a Pokémon hiding underneath.
“Shuck?”
‘Oh my…! What are the chances that I meet two of its kind within the same month?’
The girls also got a good look at the Pokémon hiding underneath the errant rock. After getting a good look at the hole’s occupant they were surprised but not particularly ecstatic.
“Oh, it’s just a shuckle. Egon put that rock back and let’s keep looking for those fire types.”
“Just wait a second Flanny. My grandma has always wanted to catch one of these for her shop. The unique bacteria present inside a shuckle’s shell would give her fermented Lava cookies a certain oomph.”
“Fermentation?”
“The process by which bacteria or fungi convert organic compounds into lactic acid or alcohol. However, the bacteria living inside a shuckle’s shell are wholly unique and can convert berries into a juice which produces special effects in Pokémon.”
“Only you can make Pokémon sound boring! Whatever, go ahead and try to convince Shuckle into coming with us if you can.”
“Hey there Shuckle. You have a very pretty shell, you must take very good care of your home.”
“Luckle?”
I knew that most shuckle are extremely timid which made sense from a biological point of view. The species didn’t have any natural weaponry to protect themselves and suffered from a debilitating lack of speed. Once caught their best shot was to just hole up inside their shells until any would be predator gives up or gets bored. The only time they appeared out in the open was to scrounge for berries and once they collected enough, they would go back inside their hidey holes for another month or two. This one's eyes seemed to follow me from inside the safety of its shell.
“How would you like the opportunity to come work for my grandma’s store? We offer full benefits, medical insurance, paid time off and an intern who will wax and keep your hard-shell home in pristine condition. We can also give you all kinds of different berries so you can master the ancient art of berry mixology. The only thing that would be required from you is a certain percentage share of your berry juice. The exact specifics of our deal being completely renegotiable at any point.”
“Egon! Shuckle is a Pokémon there’s no way he’d be interested in paid time off or a slav… oops I mean cleaning intern!”
Contrary to Flannery’s false assumptions my proposal got the mold Pokémon interested enough to come out of its shell. The bug type gave me a stern look as if pondering to determine my trustworthiness as a person.
“Uckle…?”
“How about I catch you now and afterwards we can call my grandparents back at old man Jack’s place. If you are still not satisfied after talking with my grandmother, we can cancel our deal.”
“Shuck!”
After much ruminating Shuckle assented to be caught in one of my safari balls. Communicating his acceptance with a small nod. Naturally I couldn’t be any happier, especially since this is the first time I was in a position to give my hardworking grandmother a meaningful gift.
“Thank you! Thank you! You won’t regret this I promise!”
I presented one of my safari balls and Shuckle bumped heads with the capturing device immediately being sucked in with a flash of red light. Twirling around I presented my now filled safari ball to my other traveling companions.
“I caught a Shuckle!”
My posing naturally got the attention of ladies traveling with me.
“We don’t know you.”
“Wha…?”
“Keep your distance, we don't want the Pokémon living here to think we are associated with a poser.”
“From Phoebe I’ve come to expect this kind of behavior but Flannery you are the last person I would suspect of not appreciating a good pose. Don’t most gym leaders have their own catch phrase and unique opening stance at the start of every official gym battle? Wattson did the exact same thing when I challenged him. You were there sitting at the bleachers when it happened!”
“That’s for the cameras to keep the gym relevant!”
Their misconception about the importance of posing couldn’t dampen my mood. It’s been a while since I’ve managed to catch a new Pokémon. I almost forgot the thrill of convincing an intelligent living being to partner up with me. Shuckle was a great Pokémon in my opinion not directly powerful but in the hands of a skilled trainer could become a hassle to deal with. Too bad I wouldn’t be training it for battle.
“What do you girls think? Shuckle are an amazing species of Pokémon, right?”
“Never mind that! Now I really want to catch a Pokémon of my own! March! We are not stopping until I’ve caught myself a new partner.”
Under the duress of my red-haired slave driver we went back to exploring caves. Most of those caves were empty, their occupants probably out foraging for food most likely. We eventually did come across suspicious paw print marks going in and out of the latest cave we decided to venture into.
“The paw prints closely resemble those made by canine Pokémon. Judging by the sheer amount of prints left behind all over the entrance I am judging there to be at least six Pokémon living inside but there could be as many as nine occupants. Hoothoot you think this is the place?”
“Hoooot!”
“The last one to catch a Growlithe is rotten exeggcute!”
After getting a positive confirmation from the little owlet Flannery couldn’t help but run inside out of excitement without regard to her personal safety. Phoebe, getting more used to the red-head’s actions sighed in exasperation before addressing me.
“Aren’t we going to chase after her?”
“Just let her run out of steam. Growlithe are not known to lounge around in caves during the middle of the day like this. If my hunch is correct, then there’s another species’ of Pokémon that have made this cave their home. Besides… this is the safari zone. Old man jack would not admit Pokémon dangerous to humans inside the reserve. At most they might rough her up for a bit. Just like that Ursaring from before.”
“Eeeeeeek!”
“You care saying that again!?”
We both sprinted inside trying to catch up with Flannery in time before whatever trouble she found herself in decided to put teenage girl on the menu. Unlike Flannery I was prepared enough to have prepared torches beforehand. I always kept them inside my backpack in case I’d ever come across mysterious caves that needed exploring. This cave wasn’t mysterious but using up my torches now was better than tripping and falling because I couldn’t see anything. Not to mention my team being all fire types this was probably the only chance I’d ever get to use them non frivolously.
“Here take one of these.”
“Thanks, this would have been so much easier if that stupid old man allowed trainer owned Pokémon inside. My Sableye or Lampent would make for a great addition to any cave exploration team.”
Now safe from accidentally falling off an extra slippery piece of sediment we moved onward to the direction the initial sound came out of. It didn’t take long before we were greeted with the sight of Flannery who was now surrounded by a group of cranky canine Pokémon who didn’t like being disturbed while asleep.
“Grrrrr.”
“I knew it! A pack of houndour would be one of the only fire types still resting inside caves like this one during daytime hours.”
“Egon… help!”
“They might seem intimidating, but these Pokémon are one of the most social creatures around. Try offering them some of those treats you’ve been lugging around with you. That’ll get you on their good side.”
Slowly without making any sudden movements Flannery pulled out a treat from her pocket, unwrapped it and presented the food to the houndour closest to her as a peace offering. The canine Pokémon sniffed it before taking the morsel inside its mouth, making some distance between him and Flannery and chowing down. I knew the Pokémon was male based on the fact that the boney protrusion on its head was a bit larger than that of a female’s. Mr. Moore did have a houndoom on his team, so it seemed weird to me that Flannery got spooked the way she did. The rest of the pack started lazing about while still keeping an eye on us.
“Flanny, how come you freaked out like that? I am pretty sure I’ve seen you ride on Mr. Moore’s Houndoom as a kid.”
“Houndoom is a sweetie, but grandpa has always warned me that their species' fire moves leave a wicked burn that lasts for months even with the right treatment.”
Our mentioning of a Houndoom seemed to have garnered the interest of the whole pack. Most of them coming closer to listen in on our conversation. I pulled out my own remaining treats to distribute among the pack evenly figuring that I wouldn’t be needing them anymore after this. So far, I had my sights set on the second biggest houndour of the pack. With pack hunters like these it was always a good idea to get in good with every individual in the group even if you wanted to endear yourself to only a single one of them. After throwing my unwrapped snacks to all eight of them. I decided to approach the female one with an open hand.
“Hey, do you mind getting your ears scratched?”
“Ruff…”
Her response told me I could go ahead but that she wasn’t expecting much from me. Unbeknownst to her I’ve gotten in a lot of practice with Rena. If her fox ears were anything like other canine ears this one would be in for a pleasant surprise. On the other end of the cave Flannery was attempting to get in good with the leader of the pack.
‘She always was an ambitious one. Let’s see if she has what it takes to convince their pack leader to part with his subordinates.’
In the meantime, the Houndour I was working with seemed content with the ear scratches until my fingers reached a particular spot.
“Arf?!”
‘Her sweet spot is right behind the skull cap, good to know.’
“Say, me and my team are looking for a strong battler to win this year’s championship circuit. Do you have any interest in duking it out against the strongest competitors?”
“…?”
“We’d be traveling around Hoenn seeing the sights, having the occasional battle and training for the upcoming conference. You see I specialize in fire type Pokémon like yourself. I have a bunch of companions waiting near the safari’s entrance, but we still need a sixth competitor in order to challenge the eighth gym and eventually compete in the Ever Grande conference.”
“Ruff...”
“Let’s just hang out for now and see if we have chemistry. Maybe watch some more of my friend’s failing attempts at getting the big guy to join up with her.”
And we did just that it was amusing to watch Flannery desperately try to convince the pack leader to join her team. That Houndour seemed to be receptive enough to Flannery’s attempts at bribery and head petting but leaving its pack to wallow alone inside the safari seemed to be a nonstarter for him. That was until Flannery gave the dark type a strong counteroffer.
“I’ll bring along everyone who wants to come! My grandpa runs a gym, and we always have herd Pokémon that need looking after. Grandpa’s Arcanine and Houndoom are off with grandpa when he’s out on league business so they can’t be around to keep watch most of the time.”
“Arf?”
Her counteroffer seemed to have garnered the interest of the entire pack. It made sense really, Houndour living in these conditions are pitiable. In the wild their diet consisted mostly of berries and the occasional prey items such as a nice juicy sentret or the like. Being stuck inside the safari zone forced them to suppress their natural instincts. A houndour was happiest when it gets to battle or hunt whenever it wants. Naturally most visiting trainers would not be able to afford housing and food for all eight Pokémon in order to keep the pack together.
Their leader was now giving Flannery his full attention. Flannery, picking up on the increasing amount of interest, quickly gave a hasty sales pitch on all the gym’s amenities available to the entire pack if they agreed to be caught by her. Up to and including better quality food stuffs, health care, training to become one of the gym’s battling Pokémon and lots of tummy rubs.
‘The last offer was a nice touch I should’ve led with that one myself.’
The entire houndour pack except for the one who was currently enjoying my own ministrations huddled up together to discuss the redhead’s proposal. Judging by the heated barks and yips there were quite a few houndour in the pack who wanted to join up with the Lavaridge gym. While there were some others who were skeptical about the veracity of her claims. Their leader who has been eyed by Flannery all the while kept his silence content with letting his subordinates decide for themselves.
“What do you think? Will they go for Flannery’s deal?”
“Arf…”
“She needs to show some kind of proof…? And if she wants the big one to accept her as his trainer, she’ll need to show her competence in battle?”
“Ruff!”
I could still sort of guess what houndour was talking about seeing as I’ve been Rena’s trainer for multiple years now. Their body language was oddly similar and it’s not like I had zero experience interacting with fire type canines back at the gym.
“Well, Flannery probably has some photos of the gym saved on her Pokégear. Still… she is a rookie trainer Flanny doesn’t have much battle experience and the rules of the safari prevent trainers from battling while inside the reserve.”
I signaled Flannery to come our way so that we could discuss and improve her attempts at persuasion. The timidly eager girl came close to the three of us seemingly eager to hear my sage advice.
“You are doing well. Just show them some pictures of the gym from your pokégear to prove that you are telling the truth. If you want their pack leader on your personal team you’ll have to demonstrate your competence as a trainer.”
“A demonstration battle against you?”
“When we get back to the main entrance you can show off some of your skills in a practice match. It could work… but I don’t think the big guy would be impressed by you winning against a hatchling like Halo.”
“Hey! I’ll have you know that my Pokémon are just as strong as yours!”
“Doubtful. My team has more experience battling. Unless you’ve been moonlighting as an underground battler while I was off in Unova.”
“That’s it! When we get out of here you and me! One on one bringing our strongest competitors!”
Phoebe who has up until now been content with just watching us work our magic on the houndour came forward with her own proposal to have Flannery show her worth.
“Would that really prove your skills as a battler? Ask Houndour to place himself under your command for a single battle against me. I too managed to catch a few new additions for my circuit team that still need to be trained up. Having them learn how to deal with dark types early would be of help in their training.”
“You are an Ace trainer who has already won all eight gym badges and made it to the top sixteen on her first circuit run. There’s no way that’s a fair fight even with type advantage!”
My reprimand seemed to just stoke Flannery’s competitive spirit.
“Bring it on! I’ll show her how we do things back at the Lavaridge gym.”
Our little exchange caught the attention of the Houndour in charge. Flannery’s fiery declaration seemed to have caught his interest. With a few barks he commanded his entourage to clear the way and communicated his interest in participating in Phoebe and Flanerry’s standoff.
“You’ll battle with me, Houndour?”
“Arf!”
Somehow, I felt like Flannery was upstaging me in front of my own prospective team member. So, without further ado I issued my own challenge in front of the most senior trainer in our group.
“Phoebes you want to make that a double battle? I’ll field my own competitor against your Lampent.”
“Are you that confident Egon? I’ll have you know that Lampent was already strong the moment she decided to join my team.”
“Not as strong as one of mine. You haven’t seen my Pokémon in action.”
The Houndour who was lounging next to me seemed to enjoy the show that’s been put on in front of her. She didn’t bother to stand up, but the wagging of her tail was an unmistakable sign of excitement. It didn’t matter what kind, but most Pokémon tended to enjoy heated battles. I figured that letting the pack witness a friendly match would be enough to convince them to join up with the Lavaridge gym.
“Still, we would need to capture these houndour to get them off safari grounds and there is a legal limit set on how many Pokémon a trainer is allowed to carry on them at all times… The moment we exit the safari zone with more than six occupied poké balls we’ll get in trouble with the Jenny’s.”
“That’s easy, the safari zone has a machine set up for transporting any excess Pokémon. The houndour can immediately be sent to your sponsor’s corral.”
“Hmm so that means any extra houndour would have to be sent to Mr. Moore’s place. The gym has enough space to house many more fire type Pokémon, but it would probably be best if we call in to let them know so they aren’t caught unawares.”
Before I even finished talking Flannery already pulled out her pokégear and selected her grandfather’s number for a personal call. She even put her pokégear on speaker so all the houndour could listen in.
“Sweetheart? What’s the matter? Your daily call is usually a tad later than this.”
“Geez! Grandpa, you're on speaker. Stop saying embarrassing things!”
“Speaker? Sorry this old man didn’t know pokégears could do that. For any who might still be listening in on this conversation let it be known that I am the only one allowed to call my granddaughter a sweetheart!”
“Anyhow! Egon has taken us on a tour of the safari zone, and we came across this pack of cute houndour who all want to stay together. So, I was wondering if I could capture seven of them to and have the aunties and uncles at the gym take care of them for me?”
“Seven?! Sweetie… you do know taking care of that many extra Pokémon is a big responsibility and with you and that boy Egon gone I would have to hire an extra hand to make up for the additional work.”
“Pleaaase! You’d be the bestest grandpa ever! Doomy can teach them all about being a gym Pokémon and I’ll come right back after I catch a second Pokémon to help out at the gym!”
A weary and deep sigh could be heard from the other side of the line.
“Okay, I guess I can move some stuff around to keep things running for a bit. When will you be sending them over?”
“Thank you, grandpa, you’re the best! We are still deep in the safari zone so maybe at the end of the afternoon. See you later bye!”
Flannery wasted no time and poured out the contents of her own backpack. Revealing her stash of safari balls to the small crowd of Pokémon.
“I’ve never done this before so… who wants to be caught first?”
“Just hold on a second Flannery. I still have to do some catching of my own.”
I addressed the now excitable canine Pokémon who was trying to stay perfectly still at my side. The only indicator of her emotional state was her treacherous tail.
“Houndour, would you grant me the honor of becoming my partner Pokémon?“
“Arf!”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Afternoon’s end*
The entire pack of houndour was now situated on Flannery’s waistline. She couldn’t help but squeal in excitement every time another individual of the pack got sucked into the capturing devices. I tried encouraging her to strike a pose seeing as she was in the proper emotional state but the girl wasn’t having it. Since Hoothoot’s job was done and we were all out of treats the flying type flew off but not before nuzzling the two girls and giving me the evil eye. I suspected the Hoothoot was eager to be caught by a female trainer and was hoping that his usefulness would land him a spot on the girls’ team. I wasn’t all that concerned about the owlet. Hoothoot were well known for being superb at dealing with ghosts and seeing which route we were on the little fellow should have no problem finding a partner eventually. And as for my own chosen partner…
“I can’t wait for you to meet the rest of the team. We have a few younger ones and one little one that’s only been out of her egg for two weeks. Having another role model to look up to will surely be a boon to her upbringing.”
“Ruff!”
‘My own Houndour! Having a dark type on the team will give me an edge when going up against ghost or psychic types.’
I couldn’t help myself and started poking the white bands enveloping the back of her spine. They actually felt warm to the touch like the marrow inside them had fire running through instead of regular blood.
“Arf!?”
“Are your exterior bones sensitive? I’ve always been curious about houndour physiology. I don’t think that there are any nerve endings in bone.”
“Ruff.”
“Light touches are fine, but they are sensitive to strong blows?”
While I was getting to know my new partner. Flannery had decided to emulate me by walking with her own newest acquisition. Her Houndour was still a bit standoffish as if the girl hadn’t yet earned the right to act overly familiar with him. Seeing as it was probably the strongest in the pack and considered their leader for a long time, I wisely avoided trying to get that one to partner up with me. Catching strong Pokémon was a fine strategy for most trainers but I was quite certain adding him would have messed up my team’s friendly dynamic. The Houndour I picked was patient and the big sister type and would certainly get along fine with the rest of the team. I didn’t envy Flannery for the hassle that the addition of the pack leader would surely bring to her rookie team.
We were getting closer to the main entrance having already passed the previous areas. Now that we were no longer looking for any additional Pokémon to capture, the trek back was fairly straightforward although I was still tempted to go play with the mareep some more. Before the sun turned orange the three of us plus all the newly captured Pokémon got back to the main hall.
“Old man Jack we’re back!”
“Why hello there youngsters. Did you have a good time inside the reserve?”
We found old man Jack lounging in his usual corner spot on the rocking chair. Most of my team was resting in the lounging area with him. Old man Jack glanced at the two Pokémon traveling with us before standing up and walking over to his work desk probably looking to get the paperwork done to officiate our captures.
“Old man I also caught a Shuckle and Flannery captured the rest of the pack. She’s planning on sending them to the Lavaridge gym.”
“Hmmm, are you two Tim’s sponsored trainers?”
“I am, but Flannery’s his granddaughter.”
“Now that you mention it, she does sort of resemble that old coot’s wife. The girl’s lucky she didn’t inherit his facial features.”
While we were having small talk with the old man the rest of my team walked up to me curious about the new Pokémon tagging along with me. Rena especially seemed to be interested in her fellow canine Pokémon. Since the old man was still busy with paperwork I took this opportunity to introduce houndour to the rest of the gang. Flannery did much the same, taking her Houndour and the rest of the team into a sideroom to make the proper introductions.
“Guys this is Houndour she’ll be tagging along with us from now on. Since she’s now our newest teammate Halo will be the one responsible for showing her the ropes.”
“Vess?!”
“Don’t you worry. You can ask the others for help. Since I will be preparing dinner soon you can ask Houndour about her favorite berries and the like. Learning how to conduct small talk with regular Pokémon is an important step towards becoming proper royalty.”
“Vess!”
Comments
Joseph (T3mmie)
I applaud you for not using the term alpha as that is NOT how canines(including wolves) work.
Desidia
Is Egon pretty much done catching new pokemon, now that he caught six main battlers?
9Tales
Im so damn glad ge got hondour im sorry but everybody and their momma gets a arcanine about time the fiery Doberman got a shot as anything other than bad guys pokemon as evil dog number 1
Desidia
I was trying to remember... second shuckle? Then I remembered Roxanne's shuckle.
Evertime
Princess has become the master I can only prepare my mind for hijinks
