C012 - Bonding time

AN: I made a very basic map to help out with where we currently are where we're currently going. I got the actual map on wikipedia and painted on it in red.

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"Oh my, oh my. Look at you three. Meganium, could you please try your best to calm down the Zorua? And Rapidash, could you try to calm down the Blitzle? Feraligatr, please keep a look out on the... that's a Golett, right? A color-variant even?" Professor Elm ordered, and the pokemon softly stepped forward. Rapidash even carried a bowl of Pete's food with her because both Zorua and Blitzle looked very starved. Their ribcages were clearly seen through the taut fur lining their chests.

"Uh, Feraligatr, I think it's okay. Golett, could you please come over?" Pete ordered in an unsure tone.

The shiny Golett wasted no time and walked over with its stubby legs. It looked hilarious, but Pete swiftly noticed that its supposedly heavy steps made no sound at all. It didn't even leave any footprints. Ghost pokemon are truly a breed of their own.

'Wait, this pokemon has no gender. Can they breed in this world? Did I mention it in my story at all? Golett and Golurk were in the mineral egg group, were they not? Arceus, what were you thinking?'

'Ugh, mineral egg group. Why are you the way that you are,' Pete thought bitterly.

"It listens to you already? Why?" Professor Elm was immediately intrigued once more.

"When it looked to me, it somehow felt like a bond between us snapped into place. It's very much different from what Solosis and I share, but I'd have to take a while to describe it in more detail," Pete explained with a warm smile.

"An instantaneous bond? Fascinating! I think I've read an old book once that this particular pokemon seemed to be a manufactured pokemon made out of clay that serves and protects their master without question. So it made you its master on first sight? Did it not have one before? Ah, so many questions!"

Professor Elm excitedly ran around Golett and looked at every part of him, already losing his initial vigilance toward the unflinching automaton.

"I'll rely on you in the future, Golett. Anything you need me to do? I don't think your kind requires regular food?"

The golem moved its head left and right to indicate it didn't need anything.

"Sweet! You're quite the sight, by the way, you know that?"

The golem nodded a full-body nod as an answer, which only brightened Pete's smile. It looked a little robotic overall with magic parts instead of metal, but Golett was not an unfeeling piece of clay. That was great news to Pete, who wouldn't want to trust another cold robot anytime soon after his untimely demise.

"Alright, thanks for choosing me as your master and you do you for a while. I'll go calm down these two over there," Pete said while patting Golett's shoulder. Solosis had already confirmed their genders, so he wouldn't mess up his address in a moment. Zorua was a young boy while Blitzle was a young girl. Who knew? She might just hit it off with Rapidash's foal in the future. If she decides to stay with him, that is.

Blitzle was a little overwhelmed right at this moment. When she hatched, some mean people had caught her in a pokeball after putting her to sleep, and she was rarely released. She was only given tasteless kibble and plain water and no affection at all.

Having Rapidash, who looked a little like her, fuss over her made Blitzle's heart flutter for the very first time. Of course, she was smart enough to know that Rapidash was a different species. Somehow, all pokemon knew that by birth.

She was enjoying some amazing food for the first time in her life, and Rapidash had even hurried over with a bucket of crystal-clear water for her.

"Ah, hey Blitzle. You seem to be enjoying the food, hmm? Hope you like it. Here, I'll make the water tasty, too," Pete greeted with a warm smile as he diluted some carbos and freshly pressed Oran into the water.

Blitzle was very much wary of Pete. She really didn't have the best of luck since she was born. But not only were all the grown pokemon around her very calm, one look to Rapidash told her that Pete might be different. The bigger pokemon looked at Pete with clear adoration in her eyes.

"Hey Rapidash, how about you bring Ponyta over? You left him in the pasture because we didn't know who was inside the pokeballs, but now we know we have potentially found him a playmate, no?"

Rapidash's eyes shone like flood lights, and she immediately sprinted off to get her son.

"Don't worry, I think you two will hit it off, Blitzle," Pete softly spoke when the little foal was a little startled by Rapidash's sudden escape. He tried reaching out to pet her, but the little zebra flinched back.

"Ah, I see. No worries. I'll give you your time before you realise I'm quite the nice dude. Keep enjoying your food and remember to drink something. Nobody's gonna steal your portion. Well, maybe Ponyta will, but I could just make you more," Pete assured Blitzle and calmly stepped back.

He didn't know, but Blitzle was inwardly already counting her blessings for having met Pete. Since apparently he was the one who could make more of this delicious food, Pete's standing in Blitzle's little heart was immediately elevated. She'd have to ask Rapidash to be sure. Since she was more or less starved and fed tasteless dregs since birth, food was very important to her.

"Ah, there they are. Calm down, Ponyta. She's still enjoying her food. You two can bond once she's done." Pete looked back to see Rapidash and Ponyta running over, but Ponyta wasn't slowing down, so he reprimanded the young foal a little.

Rapidash nodded toward him to tell him that she would make sure he would behave, so Pete walked over to the last of the three pokemon.

Meganium and Professor Elm were making no headway with the little trickster. It was backing off for every step you would take forward. It also eyed the food greedily but didn't show any signs of wanting to eat it.

'Hey, Solosis, could you check what's bothering the little Zorua besides the obvious?' Pete asked inside his mind, addressing his trusted psychic pokemon.

Solosis nodded from her floating position a step behind Pete and flew forward in Zorua's direction.

The dark type pokemon eyed her just as warily as the rest, but eventually, his guarded stance lessened.

"Ah, the blessings of having a trusted psychic pokemon around. I still mourn the day my friend Hypno passed away," Professor Elm sighed with a sad smile.

"Oh no, what happened?"

"He was my father's pokemon and died of old age. It wasn't a tragic kind of death, but he had really helped out a lot in my early years as an assistant. I miss him dearly," the professor explained without looking away from Solosis, who was doing her best to calm down Zorua.

When she turned around to look to Pete, pictures of teeth appeared in his mind along with a feeling of hurt. Pete could guess from there what Zorua's problem with the food was.

"Hey, professor. Do you happen to have your pliers with you in your coat? The ones you used on Granbull's teeth yesterday?"

"Ah yesyes," the professor exclaimed as he hurriedly patted down his lab coat and took out some pliers from his pockets.

"Hey Zorua. If I understood Solosis correctly, your teeth hurt, right? That's perfectly normal because sometimes they grow the wrong way or they get inflamed when you're not healthy. You probably didn't get a lot of good food since you hatched, just like Blitzle, right? That's why it happened," Pete narrated his theory while calmly stepping closer with a warm smile to reassure the pokemon. Solosis had explained to him her opinion on Pete, so Zorua's vigilance was lessened by a lot, and his word made sense to the foxes' limited understanding.

"If I pull the problem tooth out, it's going to hurt a little bit more for a short moment, but I promise it will immediately get better after. I'll even give you some soft Oran berry pieces that will reduce the pain and help you get better more quickly, alright?"

By now, Pete sat down on the ground a little over an arm's length away. He didn't want to force the pokemon as much as possible, so he sat down and would make Zorua come to him. The pokemon was smart enough to decide on its own. And Pete had Solosis in his corner, so he had good chances, he judged.

Zorua slowly and cautiously walked to Pete, who had gotten an Oran berry from the front pocket of his hoodie. Pete peeled it and put the pieces on a bowl he had brought with him.

Pete left a few pieces whole but mashed a few others to get some juice for Zorua to lick and some berry mush to place where he pulled the tooth. According to his story, that would help lessen the pain of a pokemon for a short moment, and that's what he hoped for.

"Here, lick some of the juice. It should help with the pain," Pete suggested as he held the bowl over and tilted it in Zorua's direction so he could easily reach the juice.

With one last look to Solosis, Zorua did as told.

"Okay buddy, great job enduring. If you feel you're ready, sit in front of me, and we'll get the problem tooth out together, okay?"

Zorua didn't wait this time and sat in front of Pete's crossed legs.

"Alright, bear with it. Try your best not to bite me, but don't worry if you do. I'll understand. Just don't use a dark-type move like Bite. That way, my hand will survive," Pete explained as he calmly reached forward to look inside Zorua's maw.

"Ohh, yeah. That's gotta hurt. Okay buddy, I found the problem. I'll pull on three, and it's gonna hurt. But if you calm down, we can apply some of the berry mush, and it will quickly get better, you savvy?"

Pete was probably... well, let's say half. He was half as scared and anxious as Zorua, so he was starting to spew nonsense.

"Okay, 1 - 2 - 3!"

A short yowl and a long wimper later, Pete, who had survived the ordeal without losing a drop of blood, had some Oran berry mush on his index and middle finger and looked toward the hurting Zorua.

"Hey buddy, you've done great so far. I have the mush here, open your mouth one last time, and I can apply it," Pete said as he regarded Zorua with a sympathising half-smile.

With tears in his eyes and a healthy amount of ire in his glare that wasn't truly directed at Pete, but the two teeth he held in his pliers, Zorua opened his mouth.

"There you go, buddy, is that better?"

Zorua was still glaring and was very tense. But when he heard Pete's question, he blinked. He looked at Pete's finger that had applied the mush, then at Pete with a reverent gaze, and nodded his head.

"That's great! Do you want more mush, or do you think you can eat the berry pieces as they are? I think you'd want to wait a little before you eat the food I made," Pete offered and advised as he put the bowl toward Zorua. He started peeling a second Oran for the young fox while waiting for his answer.

With a short look to Pete, Zorua put his head in the bowl and cautiously ate the piece instead of waiting for more mush. He did, however, chew with the side that wasn't affected.

"You've quite the tenacious spirit, eh?"

Zorua enjoyed the praise but was too busy finally eating something.

"That was great work, Pete! You really have a way with pokemon," Professor Elm praised as he stepped closer.

"Thanks for letting me do it, professor," Pete thanked sincerely.

"Nonesense, they were your find! And really, I wanted to make extra sure that I chose right, haha," the professor quipped with a wink and a cheeky smile.

"Haha, oka-"

Pete had wanted to stand up as he quipped back, but the moment he touched his hand to the ground, fireworks went off in his mind. A whole new sense started to take root among his other senses.