The gentle breathing and occasional snore from the curled up Fire-type pup at the foot of the bed kept Cassie company as she read, eyes flicking across the words and pictures on the page as she studied. She’d returned to the Poke Mart not long after finishing her meal with Kaitlyn to grab a few more things now that she’d firmly decided on her course of action. A few trainer items had been at the top of the list - a few spray bottles of Potion, which she’d been surprised to discover were on the cheaper side of things as opposed to the games at only a hundred credits each. Three Poke Balls, a few more books, and some fresh meat and veggies had rounded out her total and left her bank account depressingly bare, and she’d thought about heading back to work and seeing if she could pick up an extra shift or two for the money. She really wanted one of the Silph backpacks before she left town, not to mention other things like a small tent, some cookware for camping...
The more she thought about it, the more things piled up in her mind as she considered what supplies she wanted. She tried to push the idle thoughts away and focus on the book in her hands. She’d only made it about a hundred pages through Berries and You: A Beginner’s Horticultural Guide so far, but even the somewhat dry, academic-styled text was infinitely more fascinating than any school textbook she’d read before. She’d chosen the book after realizing just how plentiful and omnipresent berries truly were in the Pokemon world, wanting to know more about the strange fruits, and even just the chapter about the Oran was enough to leave her baffled.
Oran berries in-game were a simple healing item - they just healed a small amount of a Pokemon’s HP when used, with no other effects. Here, though? They were a cross between an energy supplement, actual medicine, and a little bit of what she could only describe as magic. Oran berries had natural antiseptic, antiviral, and antibacterial properties, gave quickly-absorbed sugars and nutrients when eaten, and even promoted faster healing of minor wounds along with being a mild painkiller. She’d read the entire chapter twice, almost in disbelief at first, before she realized that it wasn’t all that special compared to things like portable space-bending technology provided by Silph or the matter-to-energy conversion that Poke Balls utilized.
Pecha berries were naturally sweet in comparison to the Oran’s more neutral flavor, but shared its antibacterial and antiviral properties - albeit turned up to eleven. The book went into a bit of depth as to what the properties meant and how they worked more specifically, but the short version was that Pecha berries held properties that effectively made them a generic antitoxin for most weak to moderate poisons such as what moves like Poison Sting could inflict. The more she read, the more she wondered exactly what it would be like if berries like this existed in her own world. They’d probably revolutionize medicine in weeks, she thought as she continued to read.
“They’ve got natural caffeine?” she murmured out loud as she started to read about Chesto berries. “Guess that makes sense...and they taste like mint?”
She felt a sudden urge to visit the creamery and try one of the Chesto Chocolate Sundaes on the menu. She’d figured it was just a normal chocolate sundae with berries for fruit flavor, having not tried one before, but knowing that it was basically mint chocolate made her mouth water. She was debating with herself on whether or not to shut the book and wake Growlithe up for a quick trip when the dog stretched and let out a jaw-cracking yawn, eyes blinking open as he woke up and started to look around.
“Hey there,” she said softly, tossing a bookmark into the pages and closing the book before putting it back on the nightstand. “Feeling better?”
Growlithe tossed his head in a lazy nod, standing up on the bed and leaping down to the floor before stretching out again now that he had more room. He sniffed around for a few seconds, looking over at the bowl she’d used for his food this morning before looking back at his trainer. The gesture wasn’t lost on Cassie.
“Hungry?” she asked, earning a short bark as she started to get up from the bed. “Give me a few minutes, and I’ll make you some food - I thought I’d get you something a bit better after the battle than the premade chow from the store.”
The puppy tilted his head as if he didn’t quite understand what she was getting at, but sat back on his haunches as Cassie wandered over to the small mini-fridge in the room before grabbing a few items out of it. She sat a package of pre-chopped veggies on the counter along with a small package of what looked like ground beef before flicking on the stove and setting a frying pan on top.
Growlithe watched intently as she started cooking, the smells of frying meat and simmering vegetables quickly filling the small room as she tended the stove. Try as he might, the Fire-type couldn’t keep from salivating at the smells, and he started pacing anxiously as he waited on it to be finished. Cassie couldn’t entirely keep from laughing as she realized what he was doing, and she slipped him a little of the beef that was closest to being ready while he waited. He scarfed it down eagerly, enjoying the fatty treat as she finished up with the pan, and Cassie quickly grabbed his bowl before filling it up as much as it would hold along with getting him some water in another bowl. She’d grabbed enough to make at least two meals out of it, depending on how much he ate, and she started to pack away what was left into a container for later as her starter devoured his lunch.
She hadn’t been quite sure what to make for him at first, but after a bit more reading into his species’ typical diet, she’d decided to start simple. Ground beef for protein combined with a mix of peas, carrots, and other vegetables for carbs and other important vitamins seemed as good a place to start as any, given how wide a variety of foods canine Pokemon like Growlithe could eat. She was a bit surprised at first to find that chocolate was perfectly fine before remembering that she was dealing with a Pokemon, not a normal dog. Really, she might’ve been more surprised to find something they couldn’t eat safely.
Growlithe, for his part, found it delicious. He happily scarfed down every bit of the bowl and gave a few quick barks of approval that caused his trainer to grin widely. He’d never had food quite like that, either in the wild or with his previous trainer. Actually, he couldn’t remember his old trainer ever cooking for him at all...
“Not too bad for a first try, huh?” Cassie laughed, sitting back down on the bed and starting to pull on her tennis shoes. “Next time we go to the mart, just let me know if you see something you like, okay?”
She smiled again at Growlithe as he nodded in understanding, padding up to her and sitting down again as she finished getting her shoes on. It was still a bit amazing to her how Pokemon could generally understand people. One of the books she’d been reading had talked about the early days of Pokemon training, way back before Poke Balls were commonplace, and even back then there had been mentions of how Pokemon just seemed to understand human language in a way that bordered on instinctual. It took a bit of time for newly-born Pokemon to properly grasp words and meaning, but they picked up on it far quicker than even a human child. By a few weeks, most Pokemon had a rough idea of basic language, and by a few months the understanding developed into something that was almost seamless.
Pity that it didn’t quite work the other way around. Humans that could naturally understand Pokemon word for word were exceptionally rare, barring human psychics who could simply communicate telepathically with Pokemon. Most trainers developed a good sense of what their Pokemon wanted even without direct translation, and those with stronger Aura could in time use that connection as a means of translating the general idea of what their Pokemon wanted to say even if it wasn’t perfect from a language standpoint. Still, perfect communication from anyone other than natural psychics was elusive at best.
Trainers with Psychic-type Pokemon gained an advantage in that respect, with the Pokemon able to properly translate for their fellow team members. From what Cassie had found after some investigation online, it wasn’t uncommon to see dedicated trainers who had Psychic-types even if they weren’t part of a battle team, simply because of the way that the ability smoothed out communication between the trainer and their partners.
That thought reminded her that she needed to get back to reading the Pokemon League handbook before she set out. Pokemon training was something that everyone figured out largely for themselves, refining their individual styles and their team synergy as time went on, but there were still rules in place for official battling that had to be followed. Some of them made her wonder exactly what had happened in the past that there was a rule regarding it, while others were amusing analogues to game mechanics that she hadn’t thought about, such as the rule of Pokemon only bringing a single item into battle mirroring the held item mechanic of later generation games.
She’d wondered a bit while reading that section about what counted as an ‘item,’ thinking of Pokemon like Farfetch’d that always carried its leek, or Timburr and its length of lumber. As she came to find out, things such as those were a nearly-inextricable part of their species and didn’t count as an item for battle purposes - the rules about items referred specifically to trainer-provided items like berries.
‘So much reading to do,’ she thought with a sigh as she grabbed Growlithe’s Poke Ball and stuffed it into a pocket. ‘Still need a proper belt, too.’
“Ready?” she asked, glancing down at her starter who simply nodded. She’d decided to head to work after all, mostly to see if Steven was there so that she could talk with him about leaving later on.
She still wanted that sundae, too.
“Good afternoon! Welcome to the Snowpoint Creamery!”
Cassie heard the waitress’ voice clearly over the low hum of conversations and Pokemon around her as she and Growlithe walked into the restaurant, the front door chiming with a cheery ding as they entered. She waved as the brunette woman noticed her, waving back with a wide grin.
“Cassie! You didn’t come to work, did you?” she asked as she stepped over, almost instantly kneeling down to look at Growlithe. “Omigosh...who’s this little cutie?” she gushed, reaching out to pet the puppy Pokemon before either he or Cassie could manage to react. Growlithe tried to maintain his aloof air, but it was a lost cause after a few seconds as he leaned into the petting, tail wagging happily behind him.
“No, I didn’t - and that’s my starter,” Cassie replied, grinning. “You’ve got help, right, Rose?”
“Yeah, I do. Josh is helping here and there, but Emma’s here too. She just went out to make a delivery a few minutes ago,” Rose explained, standing again before starting to lead Cassie and her Pokemon over towards a table. “So, what’s up? Come to get a bite to eat?”
“Maybe - how come you never told me the Chesto sundae is mintchocolate?” Cassie mock-pouted, causing her fellow waitress to laugh heartily.
“I thought you read the menu!” she laughed. “It’s not my fault I didn’t know you apparently love that!”
“Weeelll...” she started, her voice clearly teasing. “I’ll forgive you this time.” She laughed, looking down at the puppy obediently sitting at her feet beside the table. “Think you can get me one, and maybe a couple samples of things for Growlithe? I wanted to get him a treat too, but I don’t really know what he likes just yet.”
“Of course,” Rose replied, jotting the order down on the notepad. “That it?”
“Yeah - I ate a little while ago. Got a craving for this thing while reading when I figured out what Chesto berries tasted like.”
“Sounds good, then! I’ll pass this off to Josh and see what he’s got lying around that I can grab for samples.”
Cassie nodded happily as Rose disappeared towards the back, absently reaching over to pet Growlithe’s head. She really did get lucky finding him, she thought. Not even a full day together and she already loved him.
“Hey, Growlithe?” she started suddenly, looking down towards him as his ears perked up. “Do you...want a nickname?”
Cassie had never been one to really nickname her Pokemon in the games, but she’d been thinking about the idea almost since she adopted the small dog. She didn’t really like the idea of just using his species name all the time - too much room for confusion around other Growlithe, she thought. The pup seemed to consider the idea for a few seconds before he said something Cassie didn’t really know how to interpret without any real visual cues to go on.
“Was that a ‘maybe?’” she guessed, and this time Growlithe tossed his head in a ‘yes.’ “Okay, then...how about this. Do you want to spend some time looking at suggestions, and then just pick one you like?”
Another nod came from her starter, and she smiled. “That sounds good, then. I don’t want to give you a name you hate.”
There was another snatch of a strange expression that Cassie couldn’t place as his head tilted again, there and gone fast enough that she thought she’d imagined it at first. Rose’s reappearance with a small tray was enough to silence any questions she might’ve asked her Pokemon, though, and both sets of eyes turned to the tray with a tall glass of ice cream and some assorted broken cookies and other desserts.
“Here’s your sundae, and we grabbed some of the things that just came out of the oven for Growlithe to try. If he finds something he likes, just let me know and we can get him more if he wants!”
“Thanks, Rose - you’re the best,” Cassie grinned, pulling the sundae close to her as Rose set it on the table, along with the small tray of treats for the Fire-type to try. Cassie saw that there was quite a variety of different dessert pieces on the tray - chocolate chip, peanut butter, and what looked like shortbread cookies, along with what she thought was a salted caramel cookie. There were also a few different bits that looked like frosted sugar cookies and pastries, and she was pretty sure that the Alcremie were responsible for the frosting if she didn’t miss her guess.
Which meant those were going to be delicious.
“Alright, which one first?” she asked as she grabbed a spoonful of her sundae. Her eyebrows rose in surprise as she tasted the sweet concoction, and she had to keep herself from digging in straight away so that she could give Growlithe some of the cookie bits first. The chocolate was rich and sweet with just a touch of the bitterness of dark chocolate, complimented incredibly well by the fresh minty taste of the Chesto berry bits scattered throughout it.
The pup stood up again, raising up on his hind legs with paws on Cassie’s lap to get a better angle as he started sniffing at the cookies. He sniffed around for a few seconds before his gaze wandered towards one in particular, and he happily nosed at it for a moment before Cassie picked it up so that he could scarf it down.
“You like that?” she asked, snagging another quick bite of her sundae while her starter munched on his own dessert. He nodded happily, licking crumbs from his chops before going back to sniffing at the tray again. It was nice to see him so happy, Cassie thought. Definitely a far cry from the reserved pup she’d seen just this morning. Her mind started ticking through thoughts for names as she ate, occasionally stopping to help Growlithe with his next choice to taste as she made some mental notes on his likes and dislikes.
He’d greedily eaten each of the treats with caramel flavoring or icing, and had generally liked most of the rest, though he’d turned his nose up at the one frosted cookie that she noticed had mint-flavored frosting. That was the only one left on the tray as Cassie finished her sundae, satisfied and full from her dessert, and they only had to wait a minute before Rose walked back over to the pair of them with a wide smile.
“Looks like you both enjoyed yourselves,” she commented, eyeing Cassie’s empty glass and the near-barren tray left on the table. “Not a fan of mint, huh?”
“Looks like it,” Cassie agreed, “but he loved the caramel stuff. Think I can get a few of those and the peanut butter ones to take with me?”
“Sure - I’ll get them to make some fresh ones if you’re willing to wait.”
“Actually, yeah, I can,” she said, realizing she almost forgot the entire reason she came here in her dessert-fueled distraction. “Steven wouldn’t happen to be here, would he? I wanted to talk to him about...maybe leaving in a couple weeks?”
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
She was hesitant to even say the words, but Rose simply nodded as if she’d expected it and seen the same thing in the past. “Yeah, he’s in the office, I think. Want me to get him?”
“If he’s got a minute, yeah,” Cassie said. “I hate to even bring it up because he’s been so nice to me since I got here, but...”
“Don’t worry - it’s okay, I promise,” Rose said, putting a hand on Cassie’s shoulder. “Cassie, you are not the first person to stay here for a couple weeks and do some temp work before leaving. You’d actually be surprised how common it is, I think. Trainers come through here all the time, and we have a lot of people looking to make a few credits on their way through.”
She put on what she hoped was a reassuring smile. “You said you got handed a flyer at the Center, right? We put out help wanted ads all the time, you know. Lots of people your age wind up taking a shot at the conference - if you’ve got the chance, take it. No one here is gonna fault you.”
Cassie slowly nodded as Rose’s comforting words sank in. She really did hate to leave, though. Everyone had made her feel welcome after she walked into town lost and confused, and a part of her felt like she was betraying that by leaving so quickly.
“I’ll see if he’s got a minute, okay?” Rose said as she started to walk away. “And don’t feel bad about it - please.”
Cassie watched Rose head to the back, mind and heart still conflicted despite her fellow waitress’ attempt to comfort her. She took a long look around the store at the tables of customers quietly sitting and enjoying their food, trying not to think about how much she was going to miss the atmosphere of the place.
“Am I doing the right thing?”
She hadn’t addressed anyone in particular, but Growlithe still nosed her arm and gave her a short, low bark of approval. She gave a wan smile to the canine despite how forced it felt all of a sudden, wondering what she was going to say to her boss. If Rose was telling the truth, though, he’d probably heard the same many times before.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” she whispered, ruffling the fur of his head. “I really lucked out finding you.”
Growlithe chuffed in amusement, but she still noticed the way he sat just a bit straighter beside her nonetheless.
Cassie finally left Snowpoint Creamery around thirty minutes later, her nerves mostly calmed again but still feeling a pang of regret. Steven had come out to talk with her after a few minutes, and true to Rose’s words he wasn’t surprised much at all to hear that Cassie wanted to leave soon to travel around Sinnoh. In contrast to what she expected, he actually encouraged her to do just that. She wondered if it was just a cultural thing for people to expect and encourage young people to try and live out their trainer dreams.
Regardless of the reasoning, Steven assured her that it wouldn’t be a problem at all if she wanted to leave, though he was pleasantly surprised to hear that she wanted to work for several more weeks at least to earn as much money as she could before departing. He’d commented on how responsible she was being to do so instead of running out immediately without much of a plan at all as some trainers unfortunately did. Those kinds of trainers didn’t usually last long on the circuit, he’d mentioned, either running out of money and being forced to return home or back to what they were doing before, or simply hitting a wall they couldn’t overcome. The ones that could adapt to and overcome the troubles and put their nose to the grindstone usually wound up as trainers to be feared, though.
He’d agreed to let her pick up any extra shifts that she wanted as they came up, especially since Rose - as someone who had been there for a while - would likely spend some of her time helping train Cassie’s replacement. Despite how much she genuinely hated to leave, she felt like things had gone better than she expected. She didn’t feel like she was letting everyone down like she had when she’d walked in, at least, so she’d count that as a win in her book.
The real question now was, how best to spend her free time? Training was obvious - she was pretty sure that between training with Kaitlyn and maybe stepping out just past the city limits to train against some of the wild Pokemon that doubtlessly made their homes nearby, she’d have plenty of opportunity to get some proper battle experience before she left Eterna. Once she’d asked herself the question, though, the answer was obvious. She had her eyes on a bunch of supplies for her journey at the mart, most of which were going to be a bit pricey for a trainer just starting out. If money for supplies was her main concern, however...well, that was what the job board website was for, wasn’t it?
She wasn’t going to see Kaitlyn again until Monday, so surely that would leave her plenty of time to check out listings she might be able to do. It was a bit past four, she noted as she stepped back inside the Pokemon Center and headed for the computer area of the lobby, not wanting to bother with going all the way back to her room. That left her time to at least start a task today, most likely, assuming she happened to find one that was within her capabilities. Growlithe was napping peacefully in his Poke Ball, tucked securely within her pocket to sleep off the meal and dessert he’d had along with the exertion from the battle with Kaitlyn. She made sure that the ball wouldn’t fall out of her pocket as she sat down, quickly navigating over to the job board site with a few clicks to take her first real look at it.
The site itself was a little overwhelming at first glance. It was information-dense to be sure, with a large part of the screen showing a slowly-scrolling list of recent postings and the rest of the home page full of links to other League websites, suggestions and articles for new trainers, and more. It took her a couple minutes of rummaging around on the site’s main page to figure out how to search, sort, and filter the results she wanted, but she finally managed to get it narrowed down to just listings in Eterna City and the immediate surroundings. Even that still showed hundreds of listings for odd jobs, errands, and other varied tasks. For a minute, she felt like she was back home scrolling through a mind-numbing slog of job postings, but she quickly tossed the thought aside and forced herself to focus.
Fifteen minutes went by in a flash as she scanned the dozens of listings, looking for something that seemed simple enough for her to handle as a new trainer with no real experience under her belt just yet. For the most part, a lot of the listings appeared to be simple deliveries for businesses or people needing a bit more help because of the increased traffic from the League season’s start. There were enough of those listings that she felt like she could easily take some on anytime, and it would probably help her learn the city streets a bit better to boot. She’d gone through nine pages of results before she finally happened upon one that made her do more than just give it a cursory glance.
Help Wanted
That certainly seemed promising, she mused. Berry picking couldn’t be the hardest job in the world, after all. In all honesty, it would fit right in with her recent reading - something she really wanted to get back to, if she was being honest. Still, she took the time to accept the job, something which required her to create an account linked to her trainer ID before she was able to print off the posting and directions to the address. It wasn't even five o’clock yet, and it looked like the address was barely a mile or so outside of town to the west.
‘Plenty of time for me to get there and back before dark, even if I might not be able to do much more than talk about the job today.’ She double-checked the listing and the address before setting off again, leaving the Center behind as she walked towards the western exit to the city. ‘I wonder why they want Pokemon trainers specifically, though? There can’t be anything to berry picking that would need someone to have a Pokemon for, right?’
Cassie’s multi-mile trek outside of town went much smoother than her first trek into it, largely due to a better choice of footwear this time around. The farm she was headed to was just outside of the city, off on a side road connected to the short piece of 205 that linked the city with Eterna Forest off in the distance. This time, she walked with more purpose, Growlithe prancing along at her side now after waking from his short rest. She had the presence of mind now that she wasn’t distracted by foot pain and uncertainty to take in more of the sights on the outskirts of town, and the best word she could think of to describe it was vibrant.
Beautiful, lush green trees that superficially resembled spruce lined the sides of 205 in sparse woodlands, gradually growing thicker the closer to the forest they crept. The sides of the route were neatly maintained, giving a barrier of short-cropped grass for several meters before you reached the treeline, though a couple of shrubs had been left in place intermittently around the route’s shoulder for decoration. She passed at least one sign warning of wild Pokemon and showing some of the more common species to be found in the area, like Starly, Wurmple, Hoothoot, Buizel, and Pachirisu. All of those were very common, early-route Pokemon she had seen over multiple games, and she wasn’t surprised in the least to know that they had large populations out here.
Though, one thing she noticed now that her mind wasn’t fogged with pain and confusion was the water. Part of 205 crossed a river, with a bridge spanning its length that she could see off in the distance as she approached her turn. There looked to be someone standing on the banks of the river fishing as her eyes scanned the water, and she could see the form of a Pokemon beside them but couldn’t quite make out what it was from where she stood. Maybe another time she’d get to go down and look at the water more closely, but right now she had somewhere to be.
She carried herself hurriedly down the side road that would lead to her destination, seeing not much besides the wilderness around her as she walked. There were one or two houses scattered down the road that she could see, but not much besides that. If there were wild Pokemon around off in the treelines, they stayed away from her; whether that was because of the dog trotting along beside her or the general timidness of the native wildlife, she wasn’t sure. Either way, she was glad for the lack of interruptions.
A few short minutes of walking later, she started to see chest-high fencing around a large pasture off to her right, and she slowed her pace a bit to take a better look. Faintly off in the distance, she saw a shape that looked like it could’ve been either a Ponyta or Rapidash, a horse-shaped silhouette draped in flickering red and orange from afar. With the way Ponyta jumped, there was no chance of that fence holding it in if it ever wanted to leave, she knew. Somewhat closer to her, she could see the donkey-like form of a Mudbray that tossed its head and cried out as it noticed her, lumbering closer to the fence to get a better look as she moved on.
Growlithe was happily sniffing along the path, wandering this way and that to check out the nearby foliage or an interesting tree. Up ahead, she could see the outline of a large house, easily a two-story building but still too far away for her to make out any details. Fortunately, she could see what looked like a mailbox a short distance ahead, as well as a dark sign hanging by chains from a tall post that she also couldn’t read from where she was. It only took her another few minutes of walking before she reached both and came upon the driveway for the property, with the sign beside it stating “Pearson Farms” in cursive script along with what looked like a wood-burned image of a Ponyta head alongside the wording.
The home she had seen was indeed a two-story farmhouse, the white paint and dark-tinted roof tiles a bit cracked and weathered with age but still in rather nice shape overall. A large porch wrapped around the entire front and part of the left side of the house, age-darkened wood contrasting with the red shutters framing each and every window on the country home. Off to the left side of the house, she could see an open barn with some farm equipment sitting within it, but out behind the house...
She stopped in amazement just before entering the driveway, and her eyes widened as she caught sight of the enormous field of berry bushes a short walk from the rear of the building, multiple long rows of the fruit-bearing plants stretching far into the distance and almost to the treeline beyond. It looked like it extended further beyond what she could see, but the house itself was blocking part of her view. There must have been hundreds of them, and Growlithe perked up again as he saw what she was looking at, running off ahead to investigate the plants.
“Growlithe, wait!” Cassie called, causing her starter to turn back and look at her. “It wouldn’t be nice to run off into the owner’s field like that,” she chided gently, causing the dog to look a bit abashed and slowly start to walk back to her. “Lets go introduce ourselves and then we can look around, okay?”
He whined a bit but nodded, letting her take the lead again as they walked up towards the house and stepped onto the porch. She hesitated for a moment before ringing the doorbell, crisp chiming echoing through the inside as she waited for an answer. Heavy footfalls sounded through the house as she heard someone approach the door, and it was pulled open a few seconds later by an older man in overalls and thick work boots, graying hair peeking out from under a hat and wrinkles criss-crossing his weathered face.
“Evening, miss,” the man said, looking between her and Growlithe. “I’m Damon Pearson - can I help you two?”
“Ah, yes...I’m Cassie Blair - we’re here about the job posting? For berry harvesting?” she said, nervousness creeping into her voice despite a lack of any real reason for it. The man nodded in realization after a moment, turning back towards the inside again.
“Liz, I’m goin’ back outside - a trainer’s here about the berry job,” he called inside, a woman’s voice faintly responding before he stepped outside and shut the door behind him. “Let’s go on around back,” he told Cassie, stepping past her and down the porch as he began to head for the berry rows behind the home. Cassie and Growlithe obediently followed, eyes wandering around the property as they walked to take in more of the sights.
“So, you probably saw the berry field out back here when you walked up,” the man started, leading them around the side of the house to get a better look at the plants. Cassie had been right - there were more rows she couldn’t see in the back because of the house, probably close to thirty long rows all total at a quick glance. She couldn’t quite tell what kind of berries each row held, though. “We grow a lot of berries to sell over in Eterna, and we usually take them over to the market on the weekends to sell what isn’t going to local businesses and such.”
He frowned as they got closer, then suddenly stepped towards the fields in a hurry with an upraised fist. “Get outta here, you pests! Leave those bushes alone!”
Cassie wasn’t sure just what he was yelling about at first glance until she saw a flash of brown and cream. Wings flapped and dust flew as what looked like an entire flock of Pidgey erupted upwards from a short distance away in the bushes, beaks full and trailing bits of berries and leaves as they flew away towards the treeline with their stolen cargo. Damon sighed in frustration, taking his hat off and rubbing a hand through sweaty hair before replacing it.
“And that right there is the problem I was asking for help with...damn pests,” he said, turning around again as Cassie walked up towards the edge of the field. “Apparently, a big flock of Pidgey decided they were gonna claim my field as their territory, and they’ve been eatin’ my crops and scaring my Pokemon for a few days now.”
Inwardly, Cassie wondered exactly what might have caused a bunch of local bird Pokemon to try and lay claim to someone’s crops. Lack of food, maybe? Something trying to encroach on their territory or actively predating them?
“So, you were looking for a trainer to drive them off,” she said, realizing why the job listing had specifically asked for trainers. Damon nodded.
“I’d do it myself, but my Pokemon ain’t the battling sort,” he admitted with a shrug. “Most of ‘em are just used to farm work, and that’s a lotta Pidgey to try and get rid of with just three that ain’t ever battled much before.”
“Yeah...” Cassie agreed, looking off in the direction they’d flown before reaching down to pet her starter. “I’ve only got Growlithe here, so I’m a little worried, too...I’m still a new trainer, really.”
“For what it’s worth, I’m pretty sure they’re just followin’ their leader,” Damon explained, turning and scanning the treeline again. “Seen a fat one flying at the head of the flock once or twice, bigger’n any Pidgey I’ve ever seen before. Might be that one stirrin’ ‘em up, so they might settle down and leave if you can do something about it.”
A bigger than normal Pidgey...Cassie wondered if it was just a normal, larger than usual member of the species, or if there was something more to it than that. She vaguely remembered mention in one of the newer games about Alpha Pokemon or something like that, and while those were mostly supposed to be more dangerous versions of normal encounters, they were definitely larger than usual examples of their species.
“Course, I’d also like to get some help with picking the fields,” Damon added. “It gets a little harder every day to get through this, so another pair of younger hands would be a big help. Don’t have much to offer, but I can definitely pay you something for helpin’ out.”
Cassie simply nodded. “Whatever you can spare is fine - I’m just trying to earn some extra money so that I can start the league challenge in a few weeks.”
“Sounds like most of the kids I’ve seen in the past couple weeks,” the old farmer agreed. “It’s a hard road. If you try it, just be careful and keep your team close. Lot can happen out in the wilds.”
“I will, don’t worry.”
“Atta girl. Probably too late in the evening to do much here if you’ve gotta walk back to town, so what say you meet me here tomorrow around eight and we’ll get going?”
Cassie nodded in response, smiling up at the much older man. “That sounds good. I work over at Snowpoint Creamery too, so I’ll make sure of what days I’m working next week and let you know. Other than that and getting some practice in with Growlithe, I should be free.”
Damon gave an understanding nod - he was pretty sure he’d seen her around at the store in question at least once in the past week or two. “Don’t let this take priority over that. You just let me know when you’re able to help out.”
“I will - I’ll let you know when I get here tomorrow morning.”
“That sounds just fine. Go on and get back to town, and we can talk more about this in the morning.”
“Okay. It was nice meeting you!” Cassie said, holding out her hand. One firm handshake later and Cassie was on the road back to Eterna, her steps a little lighter and her mind wandering back to thoughts about the flock of Pidgey she’d seen and what Damon had said.
Pidgey were...well, Pidgey. They were ubiquitous little birds in basically every environment that could support them, and from what she remembered seeing in the anime they were usually docile little things that didn’t bother anything or anyone. For an entire flock to be agitated like that, there had to be some reasoning for it. She didn’t think they would encroach on human territory without some kind of a good reason, at least, though she made a mental note to do a little research on Pidgey and their behavior in the wild when she got back to the Center. Out of habit, she reached for her pocket to grab her phone before realizing she didn’t have it on her.
‘I really need a new phone...’ she mused, wishing she could just type a quick note to make sure she didn’t forget it among the host of other things her mind had wandered between recently. She hadn’t bothered to bring her old phone along given that she had no way to recharge it, electing to simply pack it away safely with her other belongings for the time being.
She sighed - the more she saw, the more topics she wanted to read about and research. Even the mundane stuff was fascinating to her, brand new information in a brand new world to learn about that she never even considered before. Part of her was convinced that she was going out to do the challenge circuit just to find new topics of interest to explore and research, and she almost laughed as she considered the idea of going all the way to Sandgem to meet Professor Rowan and asking to be a research assistant.
“He’d never go for that,” she said out loud, giggling a little at the thought. Growlithe tilted his head, confused by the sudden statement apropos of nothing, and she waved her starter off as she turned the corner back onto 205 proper. She could worry about science later. Right now, all she wanted was to get back to the Center so that she could take a nice, hot shower and curl up with a good book.