After the visit to Isolde’s ranch, Ethan spent the next hour roaming about the flowerfields looking for pokemon. Ever since his arrival in this world, the only time he’d ever gone and searched for pokemon was when he scoured Eterna City for his very first—Chatot. Even then, it was Chatot who found him, not he who found her.

  It was odd that the flowerfields weren’t as populated as he imagined. While there were some pokemon to be found, they were alone or stayed far away from any trainers making their way to or from the town. He tried to approach a fluttering Butterfree to just say hello, but it quickly left once it noticed his approach. During these little tests, Ethan tried to judge the range of his empathic ability, quickly finding that it was actually smaller than he had feared.

  The first pokemon he actually managed to approach was simply stumbled across by chance. A little green Bedew was soaking up the sun next to the stalks of the tall flowers which they called home. It spared him a glance, and its chevron-like smile didn’t move an inch before it closed its eyes once more to soak in the warmth of the sun in the chilly weather.

  Ethan gave the small pokemon a berry before moving on.

  After passing by a Bounsweet—a pokemon Ethan had pretty much forgotten about—Ethan made his way towards the edge of the flower fields to scan the edge of the forest alongside the handful of other trainers scouting about with their friends. It was fairly awkward to search so close to others as they were literally ten years younger than him and in groups, throwing side-eye glances in his direction, but they could stare all they wanted. He was enjoying himself.

  Eventually and predictably, their paths eventually crossed. As he was asking Chatot, the only pokemon he had out at the moment alongside Ralts, to enter the forest and see if she spotted any pokemon that would want to live at their ranch, a trio of young—to his eyes—trainers approached. Ethan stalled Chatot’s departure with a wave of his hand as he turned to give the three teenagers his attention. Ralts, who was sitting on his shoulder, judged the approaching group for only a fraction of a second before ignoring their presence entirely.

  He wasn’t too worried about them causing him any trouble, but he was outnumbered three to one. As much as he’d like to say he fully trusted Ralts’ silent judgement… It was better to be safe than sorry.

  The young man leading them gave him a hesitant smile and raised a hand in a lazy wave as they grew closer. “Hey there! Sorry for bothering you, but Christine noticed that you had a Chatot and we were wondering if we could ask a favor?”

  Christine must have been the short girl alongside them, as she fidgeted with her glasses and flashed him an awkward and embarrassed smile. Judging by her appearance, she looked to be somewhat nerdy in comparison to her companions. It wasn’t a bad thing, but she had long curly brown hair and a pair of large, thick, and definitely prescribed glasses sitting on her button nose. She wore a bright red turtleneck sweater and a black scarf which wrapped around her neck several times, keeping her warm.

  The young man who asked the question was also wearing winter/autumn clothes, but it was more functional for the wilderness. A simple jacket, adorned with many pockets, sturdy boots, and a pair of blue jeans. Their other friend was on the taller side, yet lanky, and wore similar attire.

  Judging them as the type to not make trouble (unlike some of his acquaintances) Ethan raised a hand to allow Chatot to hop onto his arm and held her out to his side like a falconer. “Depends what the favor is, but ask away.”

  Before the leader of their group could reply, Christine cut ahead in a flurry of words. “That’s a Chatot, right? Wow… I’ve been thinking about trying to find one for weeks that can actually translate, not just copy words like a recorder. Most of them can only mimic, but a few—like, the really well-trained ones—can actually understand what they’re repeating, which means they can kind of act like a go-between for trainers and pokemon. Does yours speak? We’ve been trying to figure out what our pokemon actually think, you know? Like, does my Starly enjoy flying drills, or is she just humoring me? And Jared’s Stunky keeps laughing at us mid-battle, but we don’t know why. So, um, has your Chatot ever done that before? Like, real conversations, translating both ways? Because if it can, we’d love to ask just a few questions—nothing weird, I promise, just... scientific curiosity!"

  After she finished her word vomit, Christine looked around at the silent stares of her friends and Ethan, then shrunk down into herself. “Whoops… I rambled.”

  “? Chat-toooot! ?” Chatot trilled. “Whoops… I rambled.” Chatot mimicked Christine, then laughed in Ethan’s voice, causing the three trainers to snap their gaze to his colorful bird. “? Chat-toooot! ?”

  As the trio of trainers looked on with looks of amazement, Ethan tapped Chatot on the head in admonishment. “Don’t mock her.” He said sternly. “That’s mean.”

  As Chatot ruffled in displeasure, Ethan clarified Chatot’s experience. “Chatot can understand and translate. We worked very hard on it. If she wants too, she can try and speak with your pokemon.” He shrugged, causing Ralts to give him a dirty look from the bobbing. “It’s up to her, but I don’t think she’s the type of bird to say no.”

  All three of the trainers quickly reached for their… singular pokeballs hanging on their belts. “But!” Ethan cut in. “We should probably introduce ourselves. I’m Ethan, a Move Tutor and Breeder.”

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  Christine nodded as her hands never stopped moving towards her pokeball. With a gentle toss into the air, the pokeball opened, releasing the aforementioned Starly, who fluttered down to the ground in a slow swirl. “Christine, and this is Starly. We’re… just enjoying our journey…”

  Christine seemed to wait in a dreaded suspense once she finished talking, but Ethan didn’t know what that was about. “Gotcha, and what about you two?”

  The leader of the little group flicked his thumb as his face and stuck a very childish pose. “Jared. I got a really wily Stunky! I want to get at least one badge before we all go back home to Canalave City.”

  Ethan nodded in understanding. These three seemed to not take their journey with all too much seriousness. If they wanted to just wander about having fun, then that was a fine plan. This world wasn’t some kid show anymore. It had real dangers around for all of those who wandered. “Sounds like a good plan.” Ethan looked to the last member of their group. “And you?”

  The tall and lanky teen—the last of their group—must have felt fairly awkward, as he stuttered just a tad as Jared released his Stunky. “I’m Ja—Jason.” Without more words, Jason very carefully released… a very pink Shellos.

  From what he could recall, Shellos had two different forms—The West and East Sea variants. Since they were the same pokemon and only slightly different in appearance, it didn’t matter too much. Cynthia had a West Sea Gastrodon… and since these teens were from Canalave City, then the Shellos near his home would have all been pink.

  Where did Cynthia catch hers?

  As that thought crossed his mind, Chatot fluttered down to stand before the three new pokemon and started to do what she did best.

  Chatted.

  Deciding to let them get to know each other, Ethan turned to Ralts. “You want to meet these three as well? Or, are you going to be a stick in the mud?”

  Ralts narrowed her eyes, but Ethan had grown to know the little psychic pretty well. With a small ‘humpf’ Ralts hopped down his body and joined the others on the ground to join in on the very sporadic meeting. Ethan couldn’t help but chuckle at how Ralts was standing cross-armed like an angsty teen.

  “So,” Ethan started. “While they get to know each other, why don’t you tell me about what you’re doing out here looking for more pokemon? I get the impression that you’re all leisurely going about your journey.”

  As he finished his words, he saw that all three seemed to cringe downwards. Noticing that he must have said something wrong, Ethan quickly reassured them. “I personally think it’s great. That’s what I would do if I went on one.”

  “If?” Christine questioned.

  “Well,” Ethan paused. “I never went on one.”

  The three looked bewildered, and Christine, who must have found her groove in the conversation with a stranger, spoke again. “But… aren’t you a Move Tutor and a Breeder? Don’t you like, need a bunch of experience for that?”

  “Do you think going on a journey means you’re instantly more experienced than those who didn’t?” Ethan asked, eyebrow raising upwards.

  “? Chat-toooot! ?” Chatot saved the trio from his question as she trilled and fluttered up back to her spot on his right shoulder. “Ask.” She said, using her own voice.

  Jared bulldozed ahead, stepping forward with a little too much fervor. Well… it wasn’t like Ethan didn’t understand. Getting the chance to talk to your pokemon and have a conversation was something he bet all trainers wanted. It just so happened that he could do so whenever he wanted, not that he necessarily needed too. Most of the time, it was Chatot clarifying the wants of his pokemon when he didn’t get the full picture.

  Jared swapped his gaze from Chatot to his Stunky, then spoke to his pokemon. His eyes were wide and filled with expectation. “Do you love me? Do you think I’m a good trainer? Do you think we’re going to get our first badge? Why do you laugh when battling? Am I too hard on you? Am I not hard enough?”

  “Okay, let’s calm down with the questions.” Ethan cut in, mirth filling his tone. “One at a time.”

  Chatot looked to Stunky, the purple skunk pokemon, as it rambled its name in poke-speak. Eventually, Chatot nodded. “I love you. You’re good trainer. Yes, first badge is good. Intimidation to my foes. I like you the way you are.”

  “Ah-hahahahahah!” Jared swooped down and scooped his Stunky into his arms in a twirl of joy.

  “And I thought you were strange.” Ralts’ telepathic message earned her a glare from Ethan, but Christine was already striding forward with Starly in tow. “Okay, Starly! It’s time to talk! Firstly, what do you think of your flying drills?”

  Starly chirped out the familiar sounds he’d heard from his ranch. The Starly that visited all sounded just like the one before him. Just like before, Chatot listened and repeated. “Make harder. Change drills often.”

  “Mmmm-hmmmm….” Christine murmured, rapidly tapping notes down into her phone. “Is your food good?”

  “...” Starly paused for a moment, then sadly chirped again. Chatot listened carefully, and nodded sagely. “No. It’s bland and ugly.”

  Ethan winced when Christine nearly broke down into tears of panic. It was obvious that she expected a positive answer, but the one she got wasn’t what she expected. “But… the bag said it was the best for you..?”

  “I…” Ethan started, but was unsure if he should give advice. Eventually, the awkward pause grew a tad too long, so he carried on. “Maybe mix in some fresh food with its normal poke-chow? I assume that's what you feed Starly. The Starlys at my ranch like Pechas the most. Chop up a few into slices and toss it in to give its food some flavor.”

  “Ralts, check my bag for some Pechas please.” Ethan asked, but Ralts didn’t budge. She crossed her arms and stared at him judgingly. He sighed. “... and whatever you’d like as well.”

  A bright smug smile spread across her face as she began to rummage through his pack. She pulled out some Pecha berries and two Cherri berries for herself.”

  Christine went on to ask a few more questions, which Chatot easily answered. Then, it was Jason’s turn. Jason looked at his Shellos, and asked a single question. “Do you like being with me?”

  Instantly, Shellos answered, and it was the answer that was expected. “Yes.”

  Shellos seemed to be a very chill pokemon, and judging by the shy nature of Jason, they seemed to mesh well.

  “Mr. Reed.” A voice called, causing everyone to turn.

  It was one of the ‘suits’ that had been following him since the events of Team Rocket. The stern man gave everyone a once over before hesitantly speaking. “Cici wants a word in town.”

  Picking up what he was putting down, Ethan nodded. “Well, best not to keep her waiting.” He turned to the trio of strangers before whipping out his phone. “When you travel through Eterna Forest, come visit my ranch.” He quickly shared his website and noted the path which they should take. “I have fields of berries and your pokemon can eat their fill.”

  After pleasant parting words, Ethan followed Mr. Suit into town to speak with Cynthia.

  Hopefully, she had good news.

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