New Beginnings – A Pokemon Slice of Life. [OC/Isekai/Move Tutor/Breeder]

As he gathered water from his well to begin making dinner for himself and his pokemon, Ethan watched Max gather up his team for a meeting at the entrance to the meadow.

Gardevoir, Vaporeon, and Salazzle all began making their way towards Max, seemingly used to having team meetings at sporadic times. Lopunny, who had instantly jumped off to explore the surrounded forest, crashed through some of the nearby trees, jumping over Ethan’s fences with a trivial amount of effort as she wore a frustrated frown on her face—Most likely from her exploration being ended prematurely.

Smeargle stood by Max while clutching its orange-tipped tail to his chest. It looked sullen and crestfallen.

Ethan was too far away to overhear their team meeting, not that he would eavesdrop so casually, but he didn’t think he was wrong about his assumption. They were talking about Smeargle’s position in their team and their goals for the future.

Ethan took his pot into the kitchen and turned the stove on to begin boiling the water. When he was back outside, Max was kneeling down on the ground with his hands on Smeargle’s shoulders. Max whispered to Smeargle and ran a hand over its head in comfort and the dog-like pokemon nodded in understanding.

While Smeargle might have understood whatever was said, it didn’t mean it felt good about the situation. It was quietly quaking as tears strolled down its cheeks.

Max kept talking to Smeargle as he looked back to Gardevoir, who in turn listened to Smeargle's replies and appeared to relay its response. Ethan felt like an idiot for forgetting that a psychic pokemon could translate between a pokemon and a human. Hopefully, Chatot would fill the same translator role once she got some more practice.

Smeargle talked on for a long time, gesturing with its tail as it explained. When it was finished, Max nodded and gave his pokemon an enormous hug while whispering in its ear. When they parted, Smeargle pointed over toward Ethan with its tail, and Max nodded as he stood and held Smeargle’s hand.

As they approached, Ethan turned to face them fully. Max had looked reluctant but resolute during the team meeting, and now his face was downcast. Smeargle was sniffling, resigned about what had been discussed in their meeting. While it sounded terrible, Ethan was glad that they could come out with an understanding, even if both human and pokemon didn’t like the eventual outcome.

Max, shoulders slumped, flicked his gaze from Smeargle to Ethan. “After some talks about the future and what each of us wanted—” Max swallowed a lump in his throat. “Smeargle wanted to know if you’d have him on your ranch until he found what he wanted to do. I understand that this is sudden, but—”

“Sure thing. I’ll be glad to have him around.” Ethan replied, cutting him off nonchalantly. “Pokemon come and go from my ranch all the time—Wild ones, at least. Having him stay around won’t be an issue.”

Smeargle smiled slightly as he looked at Max, giving his hand a comforting and reassuring squeeze. Max took a shaky breath and muttered, barely audibly, “Thank you.”

Deciding that a change of topic would be ideal, Ethan clapped his hands as he scanned the rest of Max’s pokemon. “Did you think of anyone else you wanted tutored?”

Max shook his head. “No, no… To be honest with you, I wanted to get your help with Smeargle. I knew it was a long shot, but I had to take the chance, you know? So we could still be together?”

Ethan nodded along slowly. “I understand. Feel free to stay the night here. It’s getting late, and there’s a campsite near the entrance… Spend some time with your pokemon.”

Max straightened his shoulder and gave Ethan a nod of respect. “Thank you. We’ll do just that. Let’s go set-up camp everyone.”

Max and his team walked down his cobblestone path, chatting with one another. Smeargle still held Max’s hand, and was determined to make his last day with his friends a good one. Not one full of sadness.

“♫ Chaa-tooot! ♫”

Chatot sang from up above. She perched on the roof of his house, and watched on as Max and his team began to set up camp, then she tilted her head at Ethan. He laughed and patted his shoulder, causing Chatot to fly over and land on his right shoulder. “You don’t need to worry about that happening to us. If we ever separate, it’ll be because it’s you that wants to leave. I promise.”

“Pa-chi…”

Without gazing around, Chatot let loose an audible sigh and awkwardly climbed over Ethan’s head to settle on his left shoulder. Pachirisu’s white and blue furred head peered through the leaves of the surrounding Oddish like a spy, his eyes narrowing in obvious judgment.

Once he was satisfied by Chatot’s resting location, he ran forward and took his rightful spot on Ethan’s right shoulder. In his hands, he held out a familiar item. It was another one of the large ginger-esque roots, just like the one Teddiursa had given him in the past. He’d completely forgotten about it, but now that he wasn’t in a hurry, he figured he could search on his phone to find out exactly what it was.

But first, Ethan finished making dinner. Onigiri was easy to make, but eating the same thing over and over again wasn’t ideal. So instead, Ethan tried his hand at making some fried rice, and even used his new blender to make a Sitrus berry smoothie. He used the last of his store-bought rice, as his rice crops were still growing, but did have some homegrown carrots, celery, and spring onions to use for his new dish.

Pachirisu, as a species, mainly ate foraged berries. They used their shed fur to make tiny pouches filled with static electricity to hide berries in hidey-holes within the branches of trees to eat later. Any unaware berry thieves would be shocked in their attempt to take their hidden food. They could also eat normal fruits and vegetables, so Pachirisu got a portion of the fried rice with extra helpings of chopped berries.

Chatot’s also ate primarily berries, fruits, or vegetables, but they also ate seeds. Pachirisu did not eat the seeds of the berries he ate, always spitting them out with a forceful use of Seed Bomb. He’d recently gotten Pachirisu to stop, as he didn’t need any more trees sprouting up at random, and he could use them to supplement Chatot’s meals. For her portion, he sprinkled some berry seeds throughout the dish and added a hefty amount of salt, much to her pleasure.

Shuckle… Shuckle ate berries and slurped his juice. He was a pretty hands off pokemon, all things considered. Right now, he was probably sorting through his berry stash for the tenth time like the berry banker he was. Once in a while, he’d let loose a quiet “Shuuck” as he dropped off another load of berries into the cellar. It was, and had been, fully stocked, but Ethan had been taking some out to store in the refrigerator just to have Shuckle feel accomplished with his work.

He made a bowl of chopped Durin berries for Shuckle’s meal and placed it on top of the dinner table before going out to collect his berry friend.

The front door opened easily, not leaving a trace into the ground as the house’s foundation was raised, having three steps to exit or enter. So, Ethan didn’t have to smooth out the ground with his foot like before.

He walked over to Shuckle’s hole, and cupped his hands. “Shuckle! It’s time to eat! We’re waiting on you!”

A moment later, Shuckle’s yellow limbs and red shell crawled out of his hole. He looked at Ethan with a gentle smile and happy eyes as he flailed his limbs upwards, asking to be carried. Ethan snorted, but complied to his young pokemon’s whims.

Once back inside, Ethan placed Shuckle on the table and took his own seat. After scooting his wooden chair forward, he clapped his hands as he looked around at his family. “Okay! Let’s eat.”

Ethan took a bite out of his normal, non-berried rice as he watched his pokemon dig in with varying attitudes. Chatot pecked at her food as she hummed a tune. Pachirisu, like always, inhaled everything on his plate, stuffing his cheeks full of yummy goodness, making him look like a proper squirrel. And his calmest friend gummily chomped on his sliced Durin berries as he slowly liquified them with his acid.

His pokemon chatted with one another around the dinner table, talking about god knows what, but Ethan didn’t care. They were happy, healthy, and enjoying the moment. He wasn't going to spoil the moment.

Predictably, Pachirisu was the first to finish his meal. The bundle of boundless energy looked at Ethan with what he was sure was the move Charm, and Ethan waved him off with a smile, accusing him from the dinner table.

“Pachi!” Pachirisu rocketed out of his chair and sprinted right out the open patio door, off to explore the forests and have some fun.

Chatot finished second and Ethan waved her off before a mimic’d version of Charm could be used on him. She calmly hopped off the table and flew outside, singing as she left.

“♫ Chaa-tooot! ♫”

Ethan was already finished eating by the time Shuckle finished, and Shuckle hadn’t managed to eat all three of the berries Ethan had cut up for him. Instead, Shuckle grabbed the leftovers and shoved them into his shell. Perhaps cutting the berries for Shuckle would help make berry juice faster? He’d have to test it later. He still needed to buy some of the weird corks he was recommended online.

Ethan cleaned up the dining room, washed the dishes, and then took a stroll around his ranch. The sun was crossing over the tops of the trees, creating a yellow orange hue in the formerly light blue sky, as he strolled through the meadow to his pond, a berry filled pot in hand.

The Feebas quickly rose to the surface as he drew near, their mouths opening and closing rapidly with little cries of their names as they anticipated the incoming food.

“Fee-Fee”
“Fee”
“Fee-Fee-Fee-”
“Feebas”

As Ethan tossed some berries over top the water, he watched as each of the four Feebas rocketed through the water, each going after separate berries. He’d been trying to figure out each of their favorites, but it was still a work in progress.

The two Marill paddled over the water and come for their own share, which he handed to them. They each adored the yellow-green, orange dotted Liechi berries, and apple-like Leppas. The Liechi’s were as spicy as they got, so it was always fascinating watching the two super calm pokemon dig in with smiles. They would have loved the hot-sauce from Earth.

The Magikarp still hadn’t adopted any personality or individuality, but they did come up to the surface for food once they noticed the others were eating. They ate anything and everything, she he tossed out a random assortment of berries to de-stock his cellar to let Shuckle have some more work.

Krabby, the grumpy, self-proclaimed boss of the pond, sat stalwart on his rock as he glared at Ethan. With snips and snaps, scuttles and stomps, Krabby made his message clear. He did not appreciate Ethan’s presence. Ethan still threw some berries toward him, which caused Krabby to snip them out of the air, cutting them into pieces.

Next, he strolled back home to place an Oran berry in front of each of the Oddish as they slumbered away. Their little snoozing snores barely audible even from a foot away. When they woke up, they would have a little present waiting for them.

Finally, Ethan went to check on Max and his team. Along his walk down the cobblestone path, he ran into Lopunny, who was returning from a delve into the surrounding forests. He didn’t know too much about the pokemon, but he waved at it with a smile. When it waved back, he nodded his head toward his berry trees with a grin, causing the pokemon to grin back and sprint off to grab some berries.

It was the fastest pokemon he’d seen so far, but that wasn’t saying much when he had a Shuckle on the list of baselines.

Past the training field, and near the path that leads off to Route 205, laid the camp. Max had set up a large tent and had put the firepit to use. Max sat around the firepit, which had a huge cauldron hung over it, and was chatting with his pokemon as they each ate meals from bowls.

Max sat next to Smeargle who looked to be doing much better than he was earlier as they laughed and chatted.

They hadn’t noticed him yet, and Ethan thought that was for the best. He quietly observed their comforting companionship for a minute, before turning around and going back to his home. It wasn’t his place to intrude when Smeargle was going to be splitting from them tomorrow.

He didn’t want to ruin their final night together.