New Beginnings - A Pokemon Slice of Life. [OC/Isekai/Move Tutor/Breeder] - Chapter 41
Lo and behold, Munchlax had woken up before Joyce deemed herself ready to function—the non morning person that she is. Ethan had gathered Chatot and Pachirisu just in case Munchlax wasn’t as friendly and carefree as the PocketDex said they were, but thankfully, the information provided was accurate. The first thing the Munchlax did, other than scratch their belly and smack their lips together with a satisfied smile, was look around for breakfast.
When Munchlax noticed the bright light from Ethan’s phone and looked up to see what the annoying light was from, Munchlax met his eyes and gave him a sheepish, guilty grin and a little wave. It was at this point that it knew it’d been caught in the act. First and foremost, Ethan laid down some ground rules. “Firstly, I am disappointed that you snuck in here to feast on my storage of berries when there is a giant field of berry trees outside ripe for the picking. Secondly, you will not harm any of the pokemon here on my ranch. Is that understood, Munchlax?”
Munchlax nervously looked over their shoulder to see Dunsparce flapping his wings aggressively, then back up to Ethan who had Chatot and Pachirisu on his shoulders. “You’re not in trouble, as all pokemon who come by my ranch are welcome to the berries I grow, but sneaking into my cellar and scaring my pokemon and myself wasn’t necessary. So, do you acknowledge my rule?”
With a quick nod and a simple ‘Munch’, Ethan had his answer.
“Allright, can you climb the ladder and come up here? I’ll cook everyone some breakfast.”
At the mention of cooking food, Munchlax scrambled to the nearby wooden ladder and climbed up at a shockingly fast pace. Once at the top, Munchlax scrambled onto the floor and looked around Ethan’s home, finding Growlithe and Smeargle watching calmly from the dining table.
Seeing the tiny bit of apprehension in Munchlax’s face, Ethan talked aloud while he moved to prepare a huge portion of breakfast. Thankfully, Gloom and the Oddish made sure to keep all the nearby trees and his small farm of fruits and vegetables growing permanently. He’d be okay to cook a nice meal for everyone, including Munchlax, but he’d be low on supplies for his own needs. He couldn’t do this everyday for Munchlax, if the pokemon decided to stay around, but he could at least make a nice meal one time. Hopefully, it would be something for the pokemon to remember him by if they decided to leave.
“This is my ranch. Lots of pokemon come by to have a fun time, be taught moves, or settle down. Nobody will hurt you here, as long as you don’t hurt them.” The sound of Ethan’s blender jolted Munchlax to alertness, and the pokemon watched as Ethan threw a bunch of Sitrus berries inside the machine, creating a colorful orange and yellow smoothie.
“Go ahead and say hello to everyone while I make breakfast. It’ll be done soon.”
Munchlax looked around at the pokemon surrounding them, then waddled over toward the kitchen table and hoisted itself up onto a chair, flailing its short, dark blue, and furry legs as it righted itself up on a seat. It looked to Smeargle, then copied the way he sat.
“Munch Munchlax.” Munchlax gave them a small wave as it sat and looked uncomfortable.
“Smeargle Smear.” Smeargle gave it a simple greeting and a nod, his tongue sticking out making him look pretty friendly.
“Gro!” and Growlithe wagged his butt excitedly as he stood on top of the table, a new playmate had arrived!
Pachirisu and Chatot both abandoned his shoulder, joining the poke-chat around the table, and soon enough Munchlax’s apprehension faded away. Pachirisu kept pointing to Ethan as he spoke, causing Munchlax to glance over toward him, which caused Ethan to smile and nod.
It was a curious thing, watching pokemon talk to one another. Sometimes—well, most of the time, Ethan wished he could understand them. With Nurse Joy around, he had someone to speak to and have a proper conversation. Unfortunately, that wasn’t always the case. All of the conversations he usually had were one way, but maybe once Chatot got some practice in, she could help bridge the language gap they had. He’d been working with her on her songs at least once a day, and he could see her improvement, but she was still a long ways away from properly having a conversation.
After fifteen minutes of cooking, the fragrant smells of an enormous amount of fried rice, filled with celery, carrots, and even some berries, made its way through Ethan’s home. Munchlax was drooling, looking like Gloom, but had enough willpower to stay in its seat as it awaited its meal. As the smells suffused his home, the guest room door swung open, revealing Nurse Joy in her pink pajamas. She rubbed her eyes as she mindlessly walked over to the kitchen table, which was full of pokemon sitting in all the chairs or on top of the table itself, and tried to find an empty seat, which didn’t exist.
Munchlax looked from Nurse Joy to the seats around, then scrambled up onto the top of the table, giving Nurse Joy a seat. She mumbled out a quick, ‘thanks’, sat down, then tried to scoop up Munchlax to sit in her lap. Munchlax wasn’t an overly large pokemon, but it definitely didn’t go into the ‘lap pokemon’ category.
“Uhh… Joyce, that’s a wild Munchlax.”
Joyce blinked her bleary eyes, then did her best to stare over the top of Munchlax’s head, which was blocking her view. Then, recognition dawned and she locked eyes with Munchlax, who looked confused at the attempt to pick it up..
“Munch?”
Without a word, Nurse Joy looked around the table, then to Ethan. “Good morning.”
Ethan nearly dropped his pot of fried rice in complete bafflement at her lack of concern. “As I said earlier, there was a Munchlax in my cellar.”
Munchlax raised its hand with a smile. “Munch!”
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“Yes, we’re talking about you. So… any advice?” Ethan asked as he brought out bowls and plates, beginning to set them out on the table.
Nurse Joy, now fully awake, looked Munchlax up and down with a critical eye. “Everything appears to be handled. What do you want me to do?”
Ethan started to give out helpings to all the pokemon and Nurse Joy. “I mean, I don’t know. Aren’t Munchlax like, super rare or something?”
“Thank you for the food. But, to answer your question, yes and no. While they’re rare for trainers due to the amount of food that they need, they’re not too rare out in the wilds. If a trainer wanted one, they could find one given enough time. Snorlax, on the other hand, is very rare.” Nurse Joy dug into her meal, and smiled with appreciation after taking a single bite.
Ethan grabbed Shuckle’s pokeball, and released him next to a plate on the table. Shuckle appeared in his shell, and stuck his yellow, noodly head out of one of the holes cautiously, scanning around the room to find a jovial breakfast underway. He spotted Munchlax, but watched it wait eagerly for its helping, then deemed him not a threat. “Shuu?”
“We got everything sorted out. Here, eat your food.” Ethan shoved the small bowl toward Shuckle, who eagerly buried his head inside, taking big gummy chomps of rice, vegetables, and berries, out with every bite.
“I will say, for such a simple dish, you’re doing well for yourself. I hope you’re getting some more variety in your diet?”
Ethan winced and shook his head. “No, not really. Ideally, some wheat or some other kind of grain would be nice. I could make bread, and go on from there. Beans, and other sources of protein would be ideal as well. Eggs, milk, honey… the list goes on.”
Nurse Joy nodded along, eating her meal without any complaints. “Well, eggs will be a challenge for you, as Chansey and Blissey are the two pokemon who supply eggs on a normal basis. Unfertilized eggs, that is. While I would like to say you could easily get one for your ranch, I’d be lying.”
Speaking of the pokemon, Chansey walked out of the guest room and waddled over to the couch. She grabbed the TV remote, and began watching the news. Nurse Joy smiled and pointed her spoon over toward the pink pokemon. “Chansey are bred, born, and raised by the Joy Clan. While there are some in the wild, they’re the really rare type of pokemon. I could name on one hand the amount of Chansey’s I’ve met owned by trainers.”
Ethan thought that’d be the case, but he was hoping that he still had a chance. (Pun intended.) “Are they in Kanto’s safari zone?”
Nurse Joy laughed at the question. “Yes, I bet you’d never guess where those Chansey come from?”
Ethan sighed as he filled himself up a bowl of breakfast, then handed the rest, still in the pot, to Munchlax, who’s sole focus was on the food.
“Munch-Munch-Munch-Munch-Munch-Munch” Munchlax, shoveled handfuls of food into its mouth, only stopping once it had to scrape the sides, stick its head inside the pot, and lick the corners. Smeargle helpfully pulled the pot off its head once it was finished.
“The Joy Clan?” Ethan answered.
“Got it in one!” Nurse Joy finished her meal, then took her dishes into the kitchen and place them in the sink. She leaned up against the counter next to Ethan, and watched all the pokemon chat about and have breakfast together.
“For honey, you’d actually have an easy time. Down south of here is Floaroma town, home to many Combee. I’m sure you could get a few of them to call this place home. They’d love it in your meadow. If you’re lucky enough to pull in a female, they’d evolve into a Vespiquen, capable of commanding the males. They’re well known to share their honey, and with the wide assortment of berries you have, you’d have many different flavors of honey to experiment with.”
Ethan took a bite of his meal, and soaked in the information.
“For milk, Miltank is the premiere pokemon you’d want. While in the future, Skiddo will be able to provide milk, that’s a long time to wait. You could easily get a Miltank or two online. You’d have to stop by the pokemon center to grab them after the transfer, but you could do it with ease.”
Ethan frowned. “I’d want to make sure that they’d like it here. It feels wrong to get a pokemon strictly for using them for their milk. They’d need to want to be here, and provide.”
Nurse Joy patted his shoulder with a smile. “That’s a great way to think. I believe any Miltank would love to call this place home. They’d share their milk with you without any fuss. They need to be milked at certain intervals or it causes them discomfort, so it’s a win-win. Remember, all pokemon either traded or sold want to go somewhere else. You wouldn’t be stealing them away or taking them from their homes. You’d be doing them a favor by taking care of them here.”
Ethan finished his meal and let loose a held breath. “Of course, you’re right. It’s just… new to me. As someone who wasn’t around pokemon all my life, pokemon are something special. To you, or maybe others, they’re just something that’s a constant. A fact of life. To me and many people from my world, they’re what we dreamed of.”
As Nurse Joy was about to reply, Ethan’s phone buzzed and vibrated itself along the counter. Ethan picked up his phone, and read the text he’d received.
Looking over to the rowdy fire-dog, Ethan smiled. “Growlithe, your trainer is coming by today to pick you up! Be ready to show him your new move!”
“Gro!” Growlithe jumped off the table, then went over and sat calmly by the door, his tail wagging excitedly. Ethan snorted and opened the door to let the pup outside, and watched as the orange bundle of energy launched floating white stars into the sky as he sprinted around the ranch.
Looking over toward the meadow, Gogoat and Blitzle were walking toward the berry trees. “Gogoat! Blitzle! Your trainers are coming by today!”
Both Gogoat and Blitzle smiled and did excited stamps of their hooves as they looked at one another.
Apparently, the three trainers who’d left their pokemon in his care had become friends. They’d be traveling together for the rest of their journey.
“Dun?” Dunsparce said his name questionably from behind him.
“Not today, I can ask them when they’ll come?”
Dunsparce gave him a nod, so Ethan sent a text to Dunsparce’s trainer asking when they’d come to pick him up. “Annnd, sent. I’ll let you know when they respond. In the meantime…” Ethan knelt down to the ground to whisper in Dunsparce’s ear. “Try to let Shuckle know you’ll be leaving… I don’t want him to be so hurt if its too sudden. He likes you, you are his first friend. Can you do that for me?”
Dunsparce flapped his pearly white wings and gave Ethan a resolute nod. “Dunsparce!”
“Ethan! The eggs!”
The shout from Nurse Joy caused him, and all the pokemon to scramble toward the guest room, where Nurse Joy had wandered. Inside, a newly dressed Joyce, in casual wear, stared at the three pokemon eggs bundled in a mound of blankets. One egg, the one with yellow bolts of lightning and gentle white wind currents shook rapidly.
The next thing Ethan saw was a bright light.
