The merchant

Finally arriving at the village, the young man.

"Alo... I mean hello, I'm from the Ginkgo guild." The young man said with a smile towards the guard guarding the gate. Fishing out an emblem from his backpack, the young man smiled as he showed them a golden emblem belonging to the members of the merchant guild he was a part of.

"Oh? Wait here and I will verify this with the logistics guild." The guard said as he nodded towards the other one before leaving.

Humming to himself, the young man just waited until it was over. Basking in the awkward silence, the young man dug out a small book from his bag and opened it, to reveal a well-worn book, as if it was read a lot of times.

"Boo!" barely stopping himself from attacking the person, the young man looked in annoyance towards a blonde-haired young man.

"Seriously, Vo?" The young man asked as he looked at the older, taller male. He finally got to join up with the boss and this guy is here...

'Why? Why God? Why? What did I do to deserve this.' The young man thought, mentally kicking himself while remaining stoic outside.

"So... What should I call you this time?" The Blonde asked, Lone gray eye focusing on his tanned colleague. "I can't exactly keep calling you, John Doe. After all, that is not even your real name."

Dark eyes stared at gray. 'This guy...'

"Nemo. Call me Nemo." The tanned male, now named Nemo, answered as he looked away from the taller, older blonde.

"Nemo? Interesting..." He said with a smile. "Well, 'Nemo' I should be heading off now. I still have to travel."

"Sure. Stay safe, Vo." Nemo said with a smile towards his irritating Fri- Colleague. There was just something about him that... better keep that on the backrest of his mind. For now at least.

"Sir, you're free to enter." The guard said.

"Thanks, man," Nemo said with a smile as he watched Volo walk away and disappear from view. It was still in the afternoon, a good few hours before the sun sets and rests, giving way for the moon to shine

"That was amazing! " A voice from someone called out as he passed by the bridge and near where the Galaxy expedition team headquarters is located.

After a few minutes of walking, Nemo the merchant smiled as he saw a food restaurant.

'It's been a while since I ate something warm. I hope they have something good.'

Seeing a green-haired man wearing a casual kimono with an apron. Dark eyes met with tired dull ice blue eyes. Looking at the symbol on the man's apron and the building.

"Excuse..."

"The wallflower's for Galaxy team folk only. We don't have seats for outsiders. Move along!" The man said, before turning around.

A frown formed on the merchant's face, gloved hand clenching the strap of his pack...

Sighing, the young man turned around, to try and find a place to eat, only to stop as a figure flew towards him.

"Wait up!"

"Rowlet!"

A small beige spherical figure with wings flew towards him. Looking at it, the young merchant reached into a pouch before stopping as he recognized it.

"Kroo!" Smiling gently, the young man raised his hand and let the figure land on it. The creature is a small, avian Pokémon resembling a young owl with a round body and short legs. Its plumage is primarily beige with a white underside and facial disc. The facial disc itself is in the shape of two overlapping circles. It has large black eyes and a stubby beak. The top part of its beak is white, while the lower half is orange-brown. Its feet have two forward-facing toes and one backward-facing toe; they are the same color as the lower half of its beak. Two leaves sprout from its chest arranged to resemble a bowtie. Additional leaves form its tail and line the undersides of its wings

"Oh, my," Nemo said as he looked at the owl. Dark eyes met with black orbs as he stared at the wonderful, adorable creature. "Alo... I mean hello. What are you doing out here all alone?"

"Roo! Roo. roo!" The Alolan grass starter cried out before it looked at him. Chuckling at the stranger grass type, Nemo looked around and saw a pair. They looked around 16 or so, with the girl having a different feel to her than the others.

"Rowlet!" The girl called out, hearing her voice, the grass/flying owl chirped happily and looked at the girl.

"Roo! Roo!"

"There you are! Don't do that again, you scared me!" stopping to a halt, the girl panted a bit as she noticed the familiar clothes, Nemo wore. "Oh!"

"Akari!" The boy called out as he stopped. Looking in awe at the man effortlessly holding and getting close with a pokemon. What's more, judging from his build, he was only a few years older than them or so.

"Hello! You must be this Rowlet's tra... partner." Nemo said as he looked at them. Noticing the different colors of their clothes compared to the red ones of the others. 'Survey corps. and this young? Impressive.'

"Y-yes! I'm sorry for the trouble Rowlet caused you!" The girl, Akari if he heard it right, bowed in front of him. He can feel the way the owl's talons' grip on his padded sleeve loosen a bit.

Letting out a small chuckle, the young black-haired merchant smiled as he looked at them.

"It's fine, I don't mind. In fact, this is kind of nostalgic for me." Hearing this, the duo, Rowlet not counted, relaxed a bit. Raising his hand, the young man started to scratch near the grass type's beak.

"Roo!" Cried out the Rowlet as it leaned to the merchant's touch.

"Aww, aren't you a cute little thing?" Nemo said while the Rowlet just cooed happily and leaned into his touch. "Yes, you are."

"Impressive." The boy said as he looked at the merchant and Akari's partner in awe.

The girl, Akari, on the other hand, just looked at the young man. He felt... familiar to her.

"Those clothes... You must be a merchant like Mr. Volo." She said. the clothes they wore were similar, with the difference being that he wore a white shirt instead and it was under a jacket. He gave her of an islander feel.

"Yup! I am one of the Ginkgo guild's traveling traders. I'm Nemo, nice to meet you." Introducing himself with a smile, he gently pulled his hand back from Rowlet, earning a small quiet cry of disappointment.

"Hi! I'm Akari, and you have already met Rowlet." The girl introduced herself and took her partner from the male's shoulder. She had to step on the tip of her hoes to do so because of their height difference

"I'm Rei, I'm from the survey corps." Noticing something on the boy's clothes, the young man hummed.

"Let me guess, you have a." A loud growl from his stomach interrupted the conversation. A large blush erupted from the man's face. 'Fuck! I wanna die! Kill me!'

Hearing this, a chuckle erupted from the two teens, adding more fuel to the fire that is his embarrassment.

"Well, Mr. Volo had helped me so it's time for me to help you," Rei said with a smile. "Wait here, I'll get us something to eat." The boy said, no doubt being friendly to get some sort of favor from the merchant.

"Roo!" The Rowlet cried out as it wriggled from Akari's grasp and landed on the ground.

"Rowlet!" Calling out her partner, she watched as the grass/flying approached the man and looked up at him.

"Aren't you a sociable guy?" Kneeling down so the grass quill pokemon can look up at him easier, he raised his hand and gently rubbed the pokemon's head.

"Roo! Roo!"

"Well, sorry for mixing it up," Nemo replied with a smile as he gently scratched near her beak and earning a cry of happiness. "You, girly."

"Y-yes?"

"You're quite a skilled... partner." The merchant said, earning a look of confusion from the faller.

"Really?"

"Yes. look." Nemo said as he pointed towards her Rowlet. Curious about this, Akari leaned in, resting her hands on her knees to support her body. "see this?"

Akari observed where he was pointing at and saw the leaves on her partner's neck. "Yes."

"Rowlets store energy from the sunlight using its leaves. With her leaves having a bright and even color, I can see that this Rowlet is pretty strong and well-cared for. Also... you just got her recently" Hearing this, the young faller was amazed. She just got her new partner and his man was able to know this. "Judging by her wings, she is close to evolving by now." The young man muttered quietly.

"Do you have pokemon too, Mr. Nemo?" Akari was quite curious of this man, only someone who has a pokemon or someone probably insane enough in this time period will approach a pokemon on their own.

"Please, call me Nemo." The merchant said as he stopped playing with the Rowlet and stood up properly. "Well, I do have a pokemon but he is rather shy."

"I see." Akari shivered lightly. 'Is it just me or did the temperature just drop for a bit.'

"Drop it," Nemo said before looking at Akari. "Well, I do have him with me, would you like to meet him?"

"Really?"

"The order should take a few minutes. We can have some as snacks for later." Rei said only to look at the Merchant. "What's going on?" Somehow, before he exited the building, Akari's partner had found its way on the merchant's shoulder with Akari trying to pry it off.

Strangely enough, the merchant was more bothered by Akari's closeness to him rather than her partner pokemon's talons.

"Oh, Rei! I was just asking Nemo here if he can show us his pokemon."

"A pokemon?" Looking at the merchant, Rei's brow rose at the sight of his attire. Merchant Nemo's clothes were good enough for the cold weather of the lower to middle parts of Hisui but not good enough for pokemon attacks. Yet, he was able to reach Jubilife village without any notable damage other than the dirt on his boots.

"Yeah, I have pokemon with me," The merchant admitted as he gently yet firmly pry the pokemon off his shoulder and hand her back to her partner.

"May I see it?" 'If he has one, then he might make a good member of the Galaxy team.' Rei was curious as to what kind of pokemon the merchant have. Peeking out of the slightly opened sliding door, the cook of the wallflower, Beni, used his keen eyes to keep an eye on the merchant.

"Sure!" Digging out a Pokeball hidden inside his jacket, the young man smiled as he pulled out a Pokeball. It was strange, not only was it different from the wooden Pokeball, it was all blue with four circles on it. Holding the ball lightly, the male lazily threw it to the sky and held his hand out to catch the Pokeball.

Landing from the air, the light turned to a figure as it reached the ground.

Seeing the creature, Beni's eyes widened as he stared at it. It might be a small creature but it would be able to defeat one or two of either his or Kamado's pokemon. Years of training and raising his pokemon let him roughly know the potential of pokemon. But this young man...

The light died to reveal a small creature with bluish fur on top of its body and cream-colored fur on its underside. It has closed eyes, a long, thin snout, short arms, and slightly more developed legs with a single nail on each foot. It also has four red circles on its back.

"A Cyndaquil?" Akari and Rei called out, already knowing about this Pokemon due to seeing it in the professor's lab. But this one was a bit larger and its fur is well-groomed.

"Qui?" The fire-type lazily called out as it looked around. Spotting a pair of people that wasn't its trainer, it looked around. "Cynda!" It cried out as it ran towards Nemo and affectionately sent a small and weak stream of flames on his legs.

Beni, seeing this, stood up one hand on a Pokeball but stopped as he saw that the merchant's pants were not burned, just lightly covered with soot.

"Are you alright?" Rei asked, eyeing his leg. He had been hit by attacks and he knew how it hurt.

"I'm fine. This is just how Mustang greets me." Nemo said as he gently caressed the pokemon and smiled at them.

"Hey, kid. Here's your order." Dark eyes met Beni's green. Suddenly, the temperature around the old man got colder, only for a split second before returning to normal. "Mustang, no." Nemo said as he saw the way how his fire-type looked at the old man.

"Cyn!"

"Sorry about him, he gets a bit cranky at times." Nemo said with a nervous smile. He did not want his pokemon to burn down the building and have his guild blacklisted. No way!

"Just eat." Beni said as he came back to his restaurant.

"Man, Mr. Beni sure does not like people." Akari pointed out as she watched the Cyndaquil named Mustang. It was cute!

Spending around 15 minutes eating the warm snack, Nemo wiped his mouth with a handkerchief and looked at the duo.

Smiling brightly, he looked at the two.

"Thank you, Akari, Rei! You two saved me from hunger!"

"No need. Mr. Volo often brings us many wares to help the village along with the rest of the guild." Rei said with a smile.

"Besides, it's the least I can do for Rowlet troubling you." Akari said with a bow. They have returned their pokemon before they started eating s they wouldn't cause trouble.

"It's fine! I like pokemon! besides, Hunger is way more important than trouble. Trust me, starvation is one of the worst ways to go." setting his bag down, Nemo looked at the two and nodded. "Let's see. Rei. You have a Pikachu, right?"

"I do? How do you?"

"Know? Simple, you have some yellow fur on your uniform and you have a slight static in your clothes."

"Woah."

"well, here," Nemo said as he pulled out a small yellow ball. "As proof of our budding friendship, I want to give you this."

"Shiny? What is this?" Rei asked as he held the ball. It gave a slight feel similar to his partner pokemon.

"That, my friend, is a light ball!" Nemo said as he showed it to them. "Those light balls are made by Pikachus who can condense their electricity to small spheres, allowing them to gain stronger attack and special attack as long as they are holding onto them."

"I can't take this!" Rei said as he looked at Nemo. "This thing is very rare! I can't buy this!"

"Oh? My dear friend, I don't want to sell it to you, I want you to have it as thanks for treating me to some hot food. I have been eating berries in the wild for weeks now. So, I insist." Seeing his reluctant look, the merchant smiled. "How about, you just spread the name of Merchant Nemo and I'll consider us even."

'Seems like he is a merchant, alright.' Rei thought as he noticed how more enthusiastic this mysterious trader was at Rei basically endorsing and promoting him. Now that he has the light ball, maybe he can be stronger and catch up to Akari. 'Wait... did I just!'

"And for you, I want you to have." Pulling out a small box, the merchant showed a small plain box with a sun emblem on it. "This! It's a grooming kit for Pokemon. You have a natural affinity with them so this will help you a lot in your journey."

Taking the box, Akari opened it to reveal a group of items. A brush, a comb, a towel, a fan, and some wound cleaning items.

'Woah, this is one of Alolan Grooming kits!' Akari looked at the box and at the young merchant who was this guy? He was familiar to her but not enough for him to know his name.

"I'll give you the same offer as Rei, here."

'The only lead I have for a way home is my Arcphone and a grooming kit will help me out nicely and I just have to promote him... I think we just got scammed.' Akari thought as she knew she had no choice but to accept. 'Besides, he knows about Rowle so, maybe befriending him will be a good thing to do.'

"Oh, there you are." A familiar Female voice to Akari and Rei said. Immediately standing up in respect. "at ease. Merchant. So you are here for the arrangement with the Ginkgo guild."

"Yes, Ma'am. I'm Nemo. Member of Ginkgo Guild. We have a meeting later in an hour." Nemo said with a smile as he stood up.

"There will be no need to wait. Now, follow me, we will discuss this with the rest of the captains." The Survey corps captain said as she turned around and walked back to the headquarters.

"Well, it was nice meeting you both, see you later." Picking up his bag, Nemo walked towards the headquarters of their team, and both couldn't help but think of something at the same time.

'is it just me or did someone just laugh.'

"Come on, Akari. We have to help Mai from the Diamond Clan."

Time skip: A few hours later.

Up n the branches of a tree, Young Nemo and his Cyndaquil, Mustang can be seen on a tree with a pair of binoculars. He was leaning his back on the tree as he watched Akari defeat the Alpha. and be approached by the Noble Pokemon.

"Oh? Interesting." He said as he saw the Wydeer walk away. Dark eyes widened as he saw Akari pull out a phone. "Oh my? Who would have thought." From behind him, a figure emerged with red eyes and a sinister grin. Hanging upside down on the branch he was on, a purple round pokemon, snapped its eyes open and looked at the girl.