“Okay, that’s all for today guys!” Ethan shouted out from the sidelines of the training field towards his pokemon. It wasn’t often that they trained, but he was trying his best to give them exercise and teach them new moves. He had been training with them, but training usually happened in between busywork. Currently, they were all waiting for the sugar to cool down to try his homemade candy.

  Ethan had pulled the still hot, but not scalding candy. It shined and glistened, changing colors during the process into a silky cyan-blue. It was still much too hot to start cutting into bite sized bits to enjoy, but it should have cooled down enough by now. Those fancy cooling tables would have been a blessing, but alas, he didn’t have any.

  Chatot immediately trilled out her name and fluttered off towards her bird bath with Emolga floating off to join her. Emolga didn’t actually bathe, usually opting to spray water everywhere like she was playing in a pool. There had been many times where Ethan had to properly wash her down in his bathroom immediately after her playing.

  His colorful bird had been working on her vocals, spamming her moves to strain her vocal cords. Ethan wasn’t a battling trainer, but if he was to hazard a guess, Chatot could probably get away with using Boomburst without hurting herself. She’d used it before with Cynthia, but it was a one time use that winded her dearly. Maybe she could get two or three uses before she was strained now.

  Munchlax was learning to use his own powers as well. After a quick plop into his healing machine to look at all of Munchlax’s available moves, Ethan learned that judging a book by its cover was a rookie mistake. His little glutton had a wide repertoire under his belt, and all of his moves had been learned without Ethan’s help from before they met. Lick, Tackle, Covet, Bite, Body Slam, Flail, Helping Hand, and even Encore! Munchlax would put in some work in a doubles battle! He spent the day practicing his known moves, as he hadn’t used many of them in a long time.

  Emolga worked on Acrobatics, which Ethan had to help with. Tutoring his own pokemon came more naturally than tutoring a stranger’s, and he was proud to see her improvements. Although, she still had a ways to go before it was a proper move, as she kinda just did fun flight patterns while pretending to attack an invisible enemy for now.

  Shuckle was working on widening his attacks, as he only really knew Wrap and Rock Throw for offensive moves. The move Ethan had chosen for his berry buddy wasn’t a move Shuckles could typically learn, and it was proving hard to teach. Return was a move that increased in power alongside a pokemon's friendship. The stronger the bond, the more power it dealt. It was the counterpart to the move Frustration, which an idiot had once tried to get Ethan to tutor.

  The issue for Ethan… was that he didn’t really know how the move worked. Was it just a smack? Moves like Flamethrower were fairly easy to picture as the move itself had a very defined action. Return, though? Ethan had never actually seen the move used in a proper setting. The issue for Shuckle? Well, hitting things wasn’t his strong suit. He also shouldn’t be able to learn the move, to Ethan’s knowledge.

  That didn’t mean it was impossible, though. The Oddish were proof of that.

  Skiddo didn’t seem to want to train, opting rather to wander about and watch the others as she hunted and munched on the tiny sprigs of weeds that had sprung up across the barren dirt covered field.

  Her birthday sister, Tinkatink, was learning a move that was… aggressive.

  “Tinka!” Tinkatink shouted, giving one final sweeping blow with her hammer in a very forceful, dark, but successful Brutal Swing. Tinkatink had taken to the move like a fish to water, easily grasping the concepts and Dark type energy. She was extremely enthusiastic when it came to training, and Ethan knew that one day she’d want to battle in a proper setting.

  Ethan was both proud and slightly worried about that.

  Pachirisu was learning a move Ethan had suggested, but it was apparent that the move itself wasn’t much to Pachirisu’s taste. When someone from Earth imagined the pokemon Pachirisu, they either thought of Dawn’s from the anime, or think ‘Oh yeah, Pachirisu won the world championship.’ And the reason Pachirisu won? Well, Follow Me was a disgusting move.

  His proud squirrel did learn the move, but Ethan could tell that he’d rather learn a new attack. Follow Me wasn’t something that would help if you were in a singles battle, and that was all Pachirisu knew. Soon, he’d breach the subject with his pokemon… He had some plans.

  “Alright, let’s go try some candy!” Ethan shouted, earning cries full of expectation. As he watched his pokemon wander off, chatting with one another, he turned to his two spectators. “Well, what did you think? Was it good?”

  Joyce flashed him a bright smile and nodded, her pink hair bobbing with the motion. “That was great, Ethan! There is no right way to train your pokemon! It was clear they like spending their time with you and improving—very heartwarming.”

  “Seemed a little unorthodox to me.” Jennifer shrugged, earning an irritating glare from Joyce. “Most of my training involves pushing my pokemon to their limits in a workout, strengthening them. It seemed to me like Chatot and Munchlax were the only two properly training. The others were just learning.”

  Jennifer glanced toward Joyce and finally saw the glare thrown her way. She coughed, backtracked, and gave him a very obviously forced smile. “But!!! This was a good start. Everyone starts somewhere! Heh…”

  Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

  Ethan gave her a flat unimpressed look as he approached. “I’m twenty-nine. I don’t need false platitudes.”

  Jennifer held her hands up in surrender as they all fell into a group, heading back towards his home.

  ---------------------------

  “Okay, here you go.” Ethan said, placing a small cut piece of blue candy in front of Emolga. It was clear as day that she didn’t fully understand what candy was, but from how everyone else was acting, she knew that it was something special.

  Emolga used one of her tiny hands and grabbed the piece of candy, gave it a few sniffs, then gave it a careful lick. “Emol!” She smiled, then stuck it inside her mouth, creating a small cute bulge within her cheek.

  Ethan was about to turn away to begin handing out some more to his other pokemon when he caught a troubling sight. Emogla had stilled her pupil growing wide, eyes shifting over to the small pile of candy beside her.

  Emolga… flying squirrel… sugar glider… candy…

  Realization hit Ethan immediately. “Don’t you dare—”

  Emolga dove into the pile of candy, shoveling as many bits into her mouth as she possibly could before scampering away from Ethan’s lunge. She floated up into the rafters near the ceiling, sounds of clinking candy moving within her, now massive, cheeks. Slurping and sucking, she feasted on her hoard of sugar from beyond reach.

  Joyce had started giggling as soon as Ethan agreed to her recommendation to have Emolga try some first… He should have seen this coming. Now, Joyce was full on cackling. “You knew…” Ethan accused, with a slight smile.

  After finally calming down, arms wrapped around her stomach to push through the pain of laughter, Joyce wheezed out a reply. “I did!”

  Ethan knew Emolga well. She wasn’t going to let him take back her prize. “No more for you! Bad girl!” He lightly chastised, amused and not mad. Emolga didn’t even bother responding. She’d gotten what she wanted and continued to suck on the sweet sugar treats like a fiend.

  After handing out candy to every pokemon, which included Joyce’s and Jennifer’s, Ethan plopped a piece into his own mouth. It was… okay. The candy was fairly bland after the first few seconds of taste. Next time, he’d have to add much more berry juice into a batch.

  Joyce took a handful of the candy and wrapped it up in a small napkin. “I’m going to give some to Jocelyn. That's okay?”

  “Ye—Yeah, that’s fine. Good thinking.” Ethan stammered, caught off-guard from his lack of awareness. He should have probably thought about sharing with Jocelyn to repair their frayed relationship.

  After a few seconds of deep thinking, Ethan raised a hand to stop Joyce from leaving. “Actually… I’ll give it to her. I gotta make my way down there anyways to share with Jessie, James, Meowth, and the wild pokemon anyways.”

  Without a second of hesitation, Joyce walked up to him and placed the small bundle in his hands. She patted his shoulder comfortingly and whispered. “Smart choice.”

  After requisitioning his berry basket to carry the candy, Ethan waved goodbye to his pokemon and made his way to the Rocket’s cottage, stopping along the way to offer sweet treats to any wild pokemon that crossed his path. All of the Oddish were still asleep, so he did what he usually did and placed a piece of candy in front of them to enjoy when they woke up.

  Other than the Oddish, a few lone Starly, a Caterpie, and a Wurmple enjoyed some candy as well.

  After a few solid knocks on the door of the cottage, it creaked open. “Whad’ya want?” Meowth asked, causing Ethan to dip his head downwards. He held up his basket of candy. “I made some candy. Do you guys want some?”

  Meowth suddenly jerked back with an annoyed grimace as the door opened with a powerful pull. “Woooobuffet!”

  The large blue pokemon shuffled forward on his weird ball-like feet and for the first time, Ethan got to see Wobbuffet’s eyes open up from its permanent emoticon-like slants. Shockingly, Ethan admired the vibrant blue eyes of Wobbuffet, very similar to his own. They were wide and clear, appearing like gems that sparkled as he focused on the candy.

  Without further ado, Ethan offered the pokemon a handful of candy. “Just a reminder, don’t take candy from strangers in the future.”

  “Wooob!” Wobbuffet turned around with his prize, shuffling back inside. The large pokemon’s tiny black tail wagged like a dog as he disappeared out of view.

  “He likes ya,” Meowth remarked. “Now, gimme some too.” Meowth stuck out a hand like he was collecting his mob protection fee. With a breathless laugh, Ethan handed some other for him as well as for Jessie and James. “Share them.”

  “Sure… Thanks.” Meowth finished, slowly closing the door and ending their conversation.

  Before Ethan left, he grabbed a single piece of candy and lifted it towards Chimecho, who dangled from its spot above the door. The wind-chime pokemon opened its mouth, and Ethan plopped the sugary treat inside.

  As he left the cottage, gentle chimes and bells played from Chimecho’s wiggles.

  When he finally made his way into the Pokemon Center, he wasn’t surprised to see Jocelyn manning the front desk. She didn’t notice his approach, as she was too focused on her small tablet in front of her.

  When he stood in front of her and she still didn’t notice his presence, he placed his basket on the countertop, right next to her tablet. Jocelyn jerked to attention and smothered down her hair and outfit, expecting a traveling trainer, most likely.

  “Hello, Jocelyn.” Ethan said lamely and uncertainly.

  “Hello, Ethan…?” Jocelyn questioned, surprised by his appearance.

  Ethan thought about what to say for a moment, before deciding that honestly was the best policy. “I made some candy and wanted to see if you and your pokemon wanted to try some…” He shuffled in place, “I would also like to apologize for exploding on you and making you cry. While I do not think I was the only one at fault, I was indeed a part of the blame. Living on my ranch isn’t a glorious position, and I am sorry that I have avoided you when you have nobody else around other than Jessie to hang-out with.”

  He gently shoved forward his basket. “Peace offering?”

  Stunned, Jocelyn looked between him and the basket of candy. Ever so slowly, she reached out and picked up a piece, plopping it into her mouth. “I would also like to apologize. It was… unprofessional of me to trap you like that. I only ever meant to do good, but in my inexperience I failed and took the completely wrong approach…”

  She held out a hand, very formally. “Friends?”

  With a slight smile, Ethan clasped her hand and gave it a shake. “I don’t think we're friends quite yet, but I hope to be one in the future.”

  Jocelyn let out a little laugh. “Fair.”

  With the niceties out of the way and a less heavy heart, Ethan asked a question he’d been dying to ask. “So… How does that machine work again?” He threw a thumb over his shoulder, pointing to the GTS—Global Trade System.

  Maybe it was time to see what type of pokemon wanted to live on his ranch and help out?

  https://discord.gg/T6AD3E2qVR Feel free to join!