Chapter 14: Finding worthier opponents and the murder

"Damn kid, are you okay?" Barry asked once Joey walked into the south gate building.

Rolling his eyes at the number of times he'd been asked that question the youngster went up to the desk to reassure the friendly guard and his worried-looking Growlithe.

"I'm doing fine, Barry. Thanks for asking. You should see the other guy," he joked lightly, but it wasn't apparently wasn't very funny as Barry just frowned.

"I did, actually. Never ran faster in my life when I got that alert, came to the clearing just in time to see you lift off on that massive Pidgeot. I helped the rangers clean up," the man explained.

"Ah, so you saw the Arbok then," Joey remarked, getting a grimace.

"Ugly thing," the man muttered. "Good, it got you, if nothing else. Other trainers would have just died."

Joey nodded. "It was definitely a bit hit or miss there," he admitted. But, he'd been safer than everyone assumed due to his Shadow Sneak. Metapod, not so much. Really it had mostly been her life in danger. After having her on his team for a few weeks now, he was absolutely pissed at the close brush with death she'd experienced, mostly because of him. He'd likely led the Arbok to that clearing. "You're a fast runner though, the ranger flew me off like 35 seconds after I hit the S.O.S button."

"Not fast enough," Barry grumbled. "But anyway, thanks for coming by and showing you're alright. Rangers said you were but their definitions of all right are a bit blurry sometimes. Missing a limb still technically means you're alright, and therefore ok in their book."

The youngster gave a queer look at that. "What's weird about that? Losing an arm is shit, but considering humans don't do any of the fighting themselves it's not the worst thing that could happen."

Barry gently laid his face in the palm of his hand and leaned on the white table dividing the two humans. Growlithe gave a confused whine. "You're something else, you and those rangers."

"If with something else you mean awesome," Joey gloated. "Anyway, I'll be going now," he said and made his way to the exit.

"Wait, you're going back to the route?" Barry shouted after him, seemingly shocked by Joey's completely rational decision to try and find an Oddish or something for Metapod to battle.

"Yeah, see you later," Joey said and waved a hand as a goodbye.

"You're a braver man than me," Barry muttered as the youngster exited the building.

Of course, it wasn't that easy, and as Joey stepped onto the gravel path he felt some vertigo and the memories of the fight to the death that he'd had with the Arbok resurfaced. The smell of the trees, the gravel and the grass. The vast green that hid more dangers than it showed. Joey was scared. Of course, he was scared. But scared people never got anything done, and it was very unlikely that he'd meet another dangerous wild Pokemon out here. Already the Arbok had been a complete statistical anomaly. He gritted his teeth while his legs refused to budge. But his arms did, and he punched himself straight in the face.

His head flew to the left. He'd used his right fist. Head hanging down his eyes became covered by the shadow thrown by his cap.

"There is nothing to fear, but fear itself, because it is by its very definition, irrational. It is the mind-killer. The thing that makes us seek comfort, where our dreams go to die. A body without victory is not inhabited by any soul. It's just an empty husk," he muttered to himself as he laid a hand on his Pokeball belt.

He suddenly looked up with a manic grin and turned to the right, walking straight towards the clearing where he'd caught Metapod and killed Arbok, leaving behind him a few slightly confused trainers who were hanging out in front of the gates trying to get some battles in.

It was a short walk and thankfully it was accompanied by the usual sounds one would find in a forest. Chirps, scratches and Pokemon cries. Not the violent ones, thankfully. Throughout the entire walk, Joey didn't meet a single opponent that he was comfortable with facing. He came to the clearing without having accomplished much of anything and looked around to check if there was anything there. The area was just on the outskirts of where he was allowed to walk, so if he didn't get anything here, he'd have to look elsewhere.

"Caterpieeee," a green bug suddenly said confusedly from one of the trees. Joey glanced at the Pokemon, which was lying splayed out on the tree next to the one that had been knocked down by the violent snake a few weeks ago. He cracked a sardonic grin at the fact that even this clearing was inhabited again. He double-checked the ground he was standing on, boggling at the fact that it was completely different from what his most recent impression of it had been.

Completely and utterly covered in blood.

He threw his head back and laughed. "How ridiculous, truly, nothing can show the cosmic irrelevance of our struggles quite as well as the scene of our near death being completely cleansed after so few days," he crowed. The Caterpie looked at him oddly and backed off a bit, probably wanting to remove itself from the vicinity of the clearly insane human. "You," Joey suddenly said, snapping his head towards the little bug with an intensity it probably wasn't used to, if the way it shrank even further back was any indication. "If you bring me an Oddish to battle I'll give you an Oran berry. The Oddish gets two if it loses, and three if it wins."

The Caterpie stared at him uncomprehendingly for a moment, before quickly nodding, shooting off a String Shot to an adjacent tree and jumping off its branch. "Caterpiiiii!" it shouted as it swung to the ground and wiggled off faster than some humans could walk.

He laughed to himself. Berries truly were a great motivator for wild Pokemon. He'd already gotten Metapod as a training partner back then before he'd captured her. Now, he would be getting another. What was some currency in comparison to the ability to bribe the local Pokemon population? Money was ephemeral, but strength was forever. Also, if Metapod hadn't helped with Rattata's Detect training back then, it would have been entirely possible that they would have lost to Kong. That would have cost them dearly, several times over what they spent on berries.

Scratching his chin Joey went to a tree to sit down and lean against it. "Am I a genius?" he wondered curiously as he released Metapod and settled for a bit of a wait.

"Meta," his Pokemon mumbled at his words. He hadn't had her for very long but he understood a 'no' when he heard one.

"Hey," he complained. "Who's the one trudging along this wretched wilderness in search of a good opponent for you? I can call myself a genius whenever I want."

The bug gave him a queer look, before glancing demonstratively in the direction they'd come from. The gate was less than a kilometre away.

"Any place that you've almost died is wretched wilderness," he informed the bug-type, at which he finally got an understanding blink.

They waited like that in silence for a few minutes, and it was just about when Joey thought that he should start training his Pokemon to not waste time that Caterpie came back to the clearing, followed closely by not just one, but by three Oddish. Although, two of them were quite small and cute, while the third was large, looking like it was close to evolving. However, no matter the age, the purple/blue onions couldn't look intimidating in any way.

Joey stood up, getting a berry from his backpack and throwing it at the Caterpie which had made its way to him. It quickly gobbled up the blue treat, before looking at him entreatingly, as if asking for more.

"What?" the youngster asked.

"Cate, cate, Caterpie," the bug Pokemon replied.

"I asked for one Oddish, why would I pay for three," Joey said with a laugh, at which point the Caterpie reared back to Tackle him. "Okay, okay, you got me," he said and threw the bug two more oran berries, after which it quickly retreated to the top of the tree where he'd found it to savour its meal.

"So, which one of you wants to battle?" Joey asked, turning to the group of Oddish who were looking at him curiously. He guessed he was the human, and thus the odd one out. Surprisingly it was the smallest Oddish that stepped forward. The one that barely reached up to Joey's knee.

"Dish!" it said cutely and walked to the middle of the clearing to face the Metapod from its front. It kicked back its weird little feet against the ground, kicking up a very small cloud of dust. Joey snorted at the same time as the largest Oddish giggled. The two of them shared a look and rolled their eyes.

Going over to stand behind Metapod, Joey considered how to start the battle.

"I don't really feel like there is a point in fighting until a knockout here," he proclaimed. "So how about we just set a condition." He looked around, making sure that everyone was focused on him. "Metapod can only win if she manages to drag Oddish towards her mouth to apply her only damaging move, bug-bite. If she can't manage that after three minutes, then she loses the battle. But, Oddish," he said, turning to the little vegetable. "That still means you have to try and knock her out, not just running away, alright?"

After receiving a nod he put up an arm, before dropping it. "Battle start," he shouted, to the excited cheers of the Pokemon watching. It seemed that some more of them had come out of the bushes to get a piece of this prime-time entertainment. It was just that… Nothing was happening. The Metapod was just sitting there, since she couldn't move anyway, while Oddish was just standing there, menacingly.

It was probably its first battle. Joey wasn't going to judge. Normally in this situation, he would have Metapod use Harden, however, considering that her win condition was to get the Oddish close enough to bite it, it was a bit redundant how much damage she took doing that. Nothing physical the Oddish was capable of would be enough to seriously harm her, buff or no buff.

"Alright Metapod, let's show them your String Shot," Joey thus shouted. The enemy seemed petrified at the possibility of being hit by the powerful move and didn't even attempt to dodge as the white attack came barrelling at it. It did however quiver in place, its leaves shaking, before opening its mouth as well. A large glob of purple acid was spat out, hitting the String Shot in mid-air and dissolving it, growing a gross white and purple puddle on the ground. The Oddish looked at Metapod triumphantly, only to find that it had disappeared from its spot.

It was a move that Joey and Metapod had been working on quite a lot. When the Oddish had blotted out its own eyesight to block the String Shot, the youngster had ordered his Pokemon to String Shot a tree branch and pull itself towards it. The end goal was to have Metapod swing from tree to tree, remaining essentially in the air through the entirety of the battle. But a simple repositioning was already a great success considering how non-agile Metapod were.

The Oddish looked around, confusedly for its opponent. It was distracted, and Metapod blended into the foliage well enough that Oddish was unable to locate the branch it was perching on. For its trouble it was blasted with a String Shot from an unexpected angle, the stream didn't stop, and while Oddish started spilling acid out of its mouth it wasn't enough to dissolve the String Shot faster than it was coming. It ended up being covered completely in a cocoon.

"Pull," Joey ordered. As discussed, Metapod jumped down from its perch as it started reeling in its prey. The Oddish, light as it was, was quickly reeled in, its acid not fast enough in dissolving the cocoon to avoid being brought straight to Metapod's mouth, which at that point stopped using String Shot, and glowed a sickly pale green reminiscent of puke. A Bug Bite gently slid down the string enveloping Oddish, releasing the Pokemon from its bindings.

"Match end," Joey said triumphantly, sharing a happy look with Metapod. The Oddish just stood there for a few seconds, seemingly not understanding what had happened.

Then it sat down and started crying.

"Od, oddd, ish, ish," hiccups wracked its small frame, and the whole scene turned quite awkward. Metapod just looked at the young Pokemon and likely realised that she had just won against a baby. The bigger Oddish ended up having to waddle over and calm down its progeny, or its younger sibling with a few gentle headbutts. Joey similarly came over and gave the little blue onion an Oran berry.

Those two things seemed to calm it down a bit, and it ended up going to a tree with the berry in its mouth and sitting down. It seemed to be sulking.

"Oddish," the older of the two said with a sigh, before turning to Joey challengingly. "Dish, dish!" It shouted at him and demonstratively trotted to the middle of the clearing where it tilted its head down as if trying to threaten a head-butt.

Joey laughed. "Fool! You're 10.000 light years too early to challenge me," he said, before turning to the bummed-out Metapod who'd fallen into a funk from its beatdown of a literal baby. She was sitting there,

sadly. "You have a new challenger Metapod, let's show them the error of their ways."

That seemed to perk her up a bit, and the battle quickly commenced.

-/-

Joey had ended up losing the subsequent battle against the older Oddish. A petal dance had disoriented Metapod too much to hit any of her String Shots, and the mixture of Acid, Razor Leaf and Tackle, a decent move pool, had eventually caused him to recall his trusty bug. However, it had been a highly productive day, and if nothing else, Metapod had gotten her first win. She was over the moon on that, albeit a bit confused about the fact that she'd beaten up a child.

However, Joey knew exactly how important that match had been as a proof of concept, and as a way to let Metapod experience something positive about her current state of evolution.

Training on the way and a group of Oddish and Bellsprout established for sparring purposes, it seemed like there was only one more thing to do before he could board the bus to Celadon and get himself his second gym badge.

He needed to find Sabrina.

-/-

Walking into the Pokecentre Joey swivelled his head, looking for psychic. For all that she'd said they would have a battle today, they hadn't actually specified a time or place. His understanding of the situation was that, as creepy as it was, she would find him.

She was supposed to be a powerful psychic who had an enlarged sense of her surroundings. Sure, due to his ghost typing he couldn't be pointed out through those methods, but she'd just have to go to the signature which she couldn't make out. What was the issue?

Of course, instead of anything that simple happening he'd just been walking around town trying to catch a glimpse of horrible purple fashion sense or green hair.

It was pedagogically important that they have this battle today, so he was sort of running out of patience. He knew that he most likely didn't stand a chance, which was why he wanted to get this loss out of the way. He and Metapod had been going out to the wilds a lot recently, finding wild grass types to battle. It was a hit or miss what the result was, but one thing was sure.

The Pokemon around Saffron appreciated the seemingly endless supply of Oran berries.

Joey's wallet did not.

He needed to be saving for a technical machine, not bribing 15 grass types a day.

He knew that he'd likely lose against Sabrina because neither of his Pokemon had a counter to just being held up by Psychic and repeatedly smashed into the ground. Sure, Metapod had Bug Bite, and Rattata some semblance of Bite, but neither was going to save them from the fate suffered by Kong's Mankey when Sabrina had challenged his gym. Joey's Pokemon would channel the psychic cancellation move, Abra would drop it, then start it up again. Since it was an older Pokemon that had more training its TE was well-developed, and Joey's Pokemon would run out of stamina first.

How the fuck did people generally counter-act psychic types? Reviewing VODs hadn't been that helpful since from what it looked like Pokemon generally channelled an anti-psychic move that brought them close to the psychic, or just flexed their muscles and broke through in some cases? Maybe that was the solution? Without using TE and just straining against the bindings with one's body, technically only the psychic would be using up their type energy reserves, which would lead to them dropping off first.

"Never gonna figure that out unless I find this dumbass," he muttered to himself looking down at the Pokecentre lobby and trying to find a blob of green. He gave up after a minute, no blob of green to be found. Deciding on one last try Joey took the moving stairs down and went up to nurse Joy. He didn't have to wait in line for long, because while more trainers had been arriving to challenge Kong, they generally seemed to train more for the challenge and thus needed less intensive medical care afterwards.

After Sabrina, he would boost Metapod's confidence by going out and trading pointers with some youngsters. His girl was feeling down from all the self-poisoning she was doing and needed a motivational boost. Hard to keep a good mood when you spend significant amounts of your day in pain. Frankly, they should have assigned his Metapod a Pokepsychologist. Or was that Psychomon?

"What can I do for you, Jonathan?" Nurse Joy asked once he came up in the line.

"Do you know where Sabrina is, maybe? You know? The obnoxious green-haired psychic-typed girl with social communication disorders I can't name? Usually carries an Abra, has a superiority complex," Joey asked and explained while the nurse's eyebrow twitched more and more with every word out of his mouth.

"We're a Pokecentre," she hissed, leaning over and grabbing him by the ear. Coming over behind her counter, not letting go of him, she led him past the trainers hanging out in the building and exited with him in hand.

He kinda just let himself be dragged along. The pain was transitory, and the nurse had nice smooth fingers. Some people would probably pay for treatment like that. Not him of course, he wasn't into that goon shit.

Nurse Joy deposited him outside and put her fists on her elbow. "What's wrong Joey, you're not usually this annoying. Other than when you ask me for Chansey eggs, that is."

"Sabrina promised me a battle, now she's not showing," Joey said with a pout and looked away from the nurse as she facepalmed.

"That's not the issue though, is it?" she asked.

The youngster looked into himself, wondering what she meant. Then he realised that not being able to find Sabrina wouldn't actually make him behave like this usually. Sure they'd set up a match and whatever, promised they'd beat each other's ass and all that. But, in another life, he'd been a man actively dating in the 21st century. He was used to getting flaked by chicks who frankly weren't that much of a catch. It didn't usually rile him up that much. He'd scheduled dates at cafes for a reason, worst case he could just order some tea and read in peace, have an evening for himself.

"I don't like seeing Metapod in pain all the time. We've been using that Toxic Orb Koga gave us a lot," he eventually concluded and crossed his arms. "She's in an understandably bad mood, and I can't help. I'd suggest slowing down but she wants to keep going to finish this as quickly as possible."

"I was told about what you were doing, just in case I had to treat Metapod for a training accident," Nurse Joy said sadly, giving him a pitying look. "Are you being there for her?" she asked.

"Of course I am!" Joey replied, slightly hurt at the accusation? "I make her favourite food, help her train, distract her by putting on movies and battles. I try to help her, but the Everstone in her stomach is physically weighing her down, and the poison isn't helping."

"You don't think you can do anything more to lift her spirits?" Nurse Joey asked quietly and took a few steps towards Joey, putting a hand on his shoulder.

The boy looked down at the paved stone road at his feet. "I don't think so. She's a really hard worker and battle enthusiast, we want the same things. She just got unlucky."

"Sometimes," the nurse said with a sigh, looking up at the slightly cloudy sky. "If we're already doing our best, we just have to keep doing that, for however long it takes. Everyone can get dragged down by circumstances beyond their control sometimes. That's when we rely on our friends. I've seen many Pokemon who needed longer therapy. A Hypno I once worked with described the psychology of it as if… As if the Pokemon are in a black ball from which they can't see out. They can only helplessly flail their arms about outside of it until they accidentally get a grasp on someone. It's when that someone isn't there for them to rely on that the biggest tragedies happen."

"I'm not giving up," Joey said. Giving up had never been an option. Metapod had tried saving his life. That gave her a green card for his help for at least a couple months before he considered alternative options. She was still trying to help herself, which was the stage he was willing to endure for the rest of their time together. "I'd regret it forever if I did anyway. Not trying, not enduring with her."

"You know Joey," the nurse said with a sigh, enveloping him in a hug. "You're a good trainer. You have the thing every trainer needs. Heart. Guts. Compassion. I don't know what to call it. Don't lose that," she whispered, as she ran her hands through his hair.

The hug lasted for another few seconds before Joey pulled away.

He hadn't been hugged in a while, at least not by a human. He wiped some sweat from underneath his eyes. "Don't worry," he muttered. "I'm quite attached to my heart, couldn't live without it, really." He exhaled. "Fuck Sabrina, she can suck on a knob anyway. Psychics ghosting these days as well, nasty."

Nurse Joy looked at him reproachfully for his language, before rolling her eyes. "That girl," she sighed. "She should be in front of Macy's Pokedoll store. She took a job from the board to get rid of some pests. Maybe she forgot your battle in the excitement." She informed him, before looking behind her at the poke-centre. "Duty calls, though. Have a nice day, Joey, and good luck against Celadon," she said, before departing.

"His name is Tadghsiobhan," Joey shouted after her.

The nurse just waved him off. He didn't think she cared. Kinda rude.

-/-

It didn't take Joey overly long to find Macy's Pokedoll store. Mostly because it was a very noticeable place that he'd heard of before. It was a completely pink building made to look like a Clefairy. It sold dolls depicting all kinds of Pokemon, going from the fairy-types to Eevee, to Marill. The general rule was, if it was cute, there was a doll made out of it. Very noticeably there was no Rattata plush. This made Joey not care too much about it. They obviously didn't know what real cuteness meant. A Rattata that behaved like a fighting type was obviously the height of Gap Moe.

He leaned on a corner, watching the situation that had apparently kept Sabrina occupied. A trio of Murkrow were sitting on one of the building's Clefairy's ears, and they had seemingly built a nest there. Sabrina was standing on the street looking up with clenched fists, abra by her side.

The story seemed pretty clear. The Murkrow had built a nest on top of the store, which either irked the owner or harmed the business in some way. The owner had gone through the official channels and posted a notice on the job forum in the Pokecentre. This is where all the jobs went that weren't important enough for the police to take notice, or too above their pay grade while at the same time not necessitating a proper ranger response.

The jobs ranged everywhere from scaring off Pokemon that had taken up residence where they were not welcome, finding lost items or pets, to training up a Pokemon for someone too rich and busy to do it themselves. These jobs generally paid well, and they were a good way to truly understand what sort of relationships humans and Pokemon had in the spaces they inhabited together. They were also a good way to find new team members, as most Pokemon that weren't scared off by someone waving a broom at them were usually decent battlers. Even if their attitude was probably a bit abrasive due to the way they'd come under one's eye in the first place.

Joey was still in the phase of his career where training and battling others gave him enormous returns in terms of cash and experience, but he could imagine taking such jobs in the future. They were also probably good preparation for when one accepted a gym task, rather than a gym battle. After all, a fire-type trainer didn't really have much of a chance against the Cerulean gym. It was much kinder to give them a task, in which the success indicated the required level of skill. People generally didn't go for those tasks, however, since it was seen as cowardly, and the traditional route was preferred.

Watching with some amusement at Sabrina trying, probably for the umpteenth time to affect the Murkrow with her psychic powers, he considered if he actually wanted to battle her. He'd likely lose, and her skillset didn't at all match the challenge he'd faced in Celadon. It just seemed a bit dumb to be in Saffron and not battle Sabrina. Realistically, however, there would be many more chances in the future. Getting Metapod's confidence up was probably more important at the moment than teaching her a lesson about how some matchups were just a loss. He didn't trust her to have such a strong mentality as Rattata at the moment, she was going through too much pain already.

"Does that mean I should leave?" he wondered, as Sabrina picked up a rock with her psychic powers and threw it at the Murkrow. The birds simply dodged and postured at the girl with raised wings for a few

seconds after that, before sitting down again to laugh at her. One of the Murkrow was smaller than the other two, he could already tell from a distance. Watching the sad scene repeat itself a few more items, he decided that it was probably better to intervene. Bring this to a resolution.

Pushing himself up from the pillar he slowly approached Sabrina and the small area of non-interference that passersby created around her. She looked frazzled and frustrated. Understandable. He still remembered how she'd reacted to meeting him for the first time.

"Dark types, amirite?" he asked instead of a greeting, getting a side-ways glare from the twelve-year-old girl.

"I don't have time for a battle, go away," was the brusque reply.

"I don't want to battle anymore, anyway," Joey replied. "But I got curious seeing this scene. What's happening?"

"There was a job to get rid of the three birds, I'm getting rid of the birds," Sabrina said and crossed her arms, the abra sitting by her side demonstratively doing the same.

"Truly, a ranger in the making," the boy said sarcastically. "Do you have any idea why they don't want to leave?" he asked and the silence told him everything he needed to know. "Whatever, I'll go talk to Macy and do some basic detective work, solve this issue so stones can stop raining from the sky."

"Don't," Sabrina said glaring at him, as he went towards the entrance of the store. Her eyes lit up with psychic powers, but nothing happened. She couldn't touch him and hold him back.

"I need the money," she eventually whispered.

Joey tilted his head at the girl. Social incompetence. Powerful psychic abilities that could easily be used. Going by the display with the Murkrow, she didn't quite know how to solve problems that didn't involve using her natural gifts as a hammer. As an adult, it was technically his responsibility to educate her. But… He hated teaching. And if he already did the work he wanted the reward as well.

The way she looked at him though, with a blank stare. There was a deep well of pain behind those eyes, and he inadvertently thought about himself, in a different life. He'd have appreciated someone reaching out to him back then.

Anyone.

Sabrina would be a gym leader in the future anyway. Perhaps.

"Keep the money, but if I can solve this, then you owe me a favour, okay?" he stated, causing the girl in question to blink at him slowly, before eventually nodding.

"Alright." She agreed.

"I'd recall Abra, I suspect we won't be needing Pokemon to resolve this," Joey said with a sigh.

Unexpectedly, Sabrina did as he recommended and when he went inside the store, she followed him.

The store truly was a disquieting display of overall cuteness. Button-eyes stared at him from all sorts of shelves, dissecting his very being. The woman behind the counter was dressed as one would expect, in a horribly frilly pink dress

"Macy, I presume?" Joey asked lazily and leaned forward at the counter, seeing now that the woman was sewing something with fingers that betrayed too much dexterity for their normal human size.

"Yes, that's me!" the woman said in a high-pitched voice and smiled. "Have you gotten rid of the Murkrow yet?" she asked, before tilting her head. Long brown hair tied in two side tails shifting at the gesture.

"Wasn't there just one of you before?"

"We're close to fixing the issue," Joey said but refrained from mentioning any actual numbers. "But first, can I ask you some questions?"

"Sure!" Macy replied, and continued sowing, apparently she was good enough to do so while involved in a conversation.

"How long have the Murkrow been coming?"

"About a week, I generally wouldn't mind, but they scare away the customers so I want them gone."

"How do they do that?" Joey asked curiously. "Aren't they just nesting?"

"Well, every now and again they come in front of the door and do a little dance. They drop some coins on the ground and then stay there for a bit. I have to keep going out to shoo them off, at which point they scream at me but eventually leave."

"Is it angry shouting?" Macy put a finger to her chin. "Maybe more excited, really."

"Alright, thank you for your time," Joey said.

"That was it?" Sabrina interjected as he made to leave the store. "But you didn't get any useful information," she protested.

"Well, we haven't gotten both sides of the story yet, have we?" Joey asked rhetorically, summoning Rattata once he'd exited the building and putting the rat on his shoulder. "No fight today, buddy. Just some investigation first." He turned to Sabrina. "Maybe stay here for a bit, you probably pissed them off by now."

"What?"

But Joey was already gone, clambering up the building, Rattata holding on for dear life on his shoulder with his little claws and chittering excitedly at the literal upward mobility. Thankfully the building being built in the form of a Clefairy gave him sufficient handholds, and he was soon pulling himself up onto the rooftop.

The three Murkrow looked at him curiously as he clambered to his feet, probably secure in the knowledge that they could just fly away if he turned out to be hostile. They all tilted their head to the left in a synchronised gesture. Now that he was closer he could see that one of them was smaller, and seemed better groomed. Glossier feathers.

"Hey guys."

An offended knowing commended.

"And girls," Joey corrected himself. "I came here because I have a few too many berries, and I was wondering if I could give you guys some in return for some answers."

The Murkrow exchanged glances before the two burlier ones hopped forward. Their black feathers drank in the sunlight and their yellow crooked beaks soon caught two berries that Joey threw their way. They returned to the third, letting, presumably her to have a nibble on both the berries before the two males swallowed.

"Are you three siblings?" Joey asked curiously and received a series of enthusiastic nods, little bird tongues flicking out to finish the juices running down the beaks. "You two are boys, and you're a girl, huh," Joey muttered, pointing his fingers appropriately, receiving more nods. "I thought you were native to Johto, what brought you here?" he asked next, kinda curious. If there had been a proper migration, there would have been more than just three Murkrow. From what he knew they were intensely social creatures, so just finding three of them was a bit odd.

"Krow, krow, krow," the three tried to explain, all speaking over the other, and Rattata, who had at some point jumped off Joey, nodded in understanding. His trainer wasn't so blessed, unfortunately. And the hops and head bobs weren't really helping him figure that out. Perhaps that question was a bit complicated? He wondered before the female Murkrow hopped away towards the large straw nest and pulled out a pink blob. She hesitantly brought it over and dropped it to the floor in front of Joey, who gave her another berry as he analysed the object. It was a Clefairy doll, he noted, the tag on the back designated it as having come from Macy's.

But, if the thing had taken a trip to Johto and back, it sure looked like it. Misshapen and more brown than pink, the clefairy's smile was missing some stitches. "That's a very pretty doll you have," Joey complimented. "Did you perhaps come here to purchase a new one?" With the story about the coins, were the Murkrow perhaps trying to purchase a new doll for themselves?

Vigorous shaking of the head, crowing and general disagreement met his ears, which hurt a bit at the noise. Just in case the three Murkrow hopping around and bobbing their heads up and down didn't communicate their intent well enough, Rattata also looked at Joey quite seriously and shook his head once.

"Thanks, buddy," the youngster muttered."So if you're not here to get a doll, and you're not here just because you enjoy living on the building…" he trailed off, letting the Murkrow shake their heads again. "Why are you here, and why do you keep giving Macy change?"

The Murkrow exchanged glances, before lining themselves up, girl in the middle. They nodded at each other, said something and it was apparently something interesting since Rattata was paying close attention. Then the two brothers suddenly stepped forward, started bobbing their heads in tune with each other and stretched out their wings towards each other, covering their sister from view.

"Murkrow!"

"Murkrow!"

They shouted and started vibrating their wings in place, before suddenly hopping away, revealing the female Murkrow standing in place with wings spread out and bobbing her head up and down. With closed eyes, she took one step forward, then another. She jumped, turned around and wiggled her tail in Joey's direction. Another jump, she turned around, brought up her wings to cover her eyes and slowly retreated them. But instead of normal red pupils, there were hearts in her eyes, and with a wink, a big pink heart made of energy flew towards Joey and Rattata. The former was left unaffected, but the latter stood up and vibrated in place, his pupils turning into hearts. Joey quickly gripped his rat starter by the tail before it could jump at the female and recalled him. Then he promptly started to clap.

"Wow," he said with a big smile. "That was a wonderful performance," he praised and meant. It was incredibly cute watching these birds jump around in their little dance. It definitely made his day.

The Murkrow puffed out their chest and put their wings to their hearts, before releasing in his direction. The gesture was universal.

"Such a cute performer should definitely get a doll made in her image, so more people can appreciate her cuteness."

If a Murkrow could blush, then this was probably it. The female looked very embarrassed and hid her face behind her wings. But, the krowing was definitely in agreement.

"How about I go talk to Macy, and discuss with her how to go about it?" Joey proposed, and upon getting some nods turned around to go down the building again. He was surprised, however, to find Sabrina standing there at the edge, looking at him with a tilted head and uncomprehending eyes. He went over to her, pulled in all his ghost energy and held out a hand.

"Come on, teleport us down."

The girl looked at his extended hand as if it was an ekans, before reluctantly taking it. With a flash of blue light, they suddenly reappeared in the store, once again surrounded by a bunch of dolls. Macy, who'd been sewing, put a hand to her heart.

"Ah, you scared me," she exclaimed. "So, what did you find out?"

"The Murkrow actually came here all the way from Johto because they admire your work," Joey said, causing the large woman to blush. "But what they'd like is a Murkrow doll. They don't feel represented. That's what they've been trying to pay for."

Macy sighed and brought up a hand to her face. "I get it now. You know, they showed me that Clefairy doll once. I guess I'm just not that good with Pokemon to understand what it meant. One of my earlier designs, very scuffed," she said chidingly.

"You think you'd be willing to make a doll based on the small Murkrow? She's quite the performer," Joey proposed.

Macy hesitated. "I don't know, they are dark-type Pokemon, they don't generally sell very well. It's not really worth it for me to create a design…" she trailed off, looking around her store, filled with dolls of very stereotypical Pokemon. Her eyes suddenly hung themselves on something above Joey's right shoulder. The boy turned around to see the three Murkrow standing outside in front of the glass door. The two brothers were flanking the little sister, who was clutching the scuffed Clefairy doll in her wings and looking at them hopefully.

"You know, Macy. I actually really like your dolls," Joey said suddenly.

"Oh, thanks," the woman said distractedly.

"But I've never bought one, and I'm not planning to," he admitted. "It's because you have only a certain type of Pokemon. The cute ones. I'm a boy, so I want something cool. Like a Charizard, or a Marowak. I bet most of your customers are girls, right?" he asked, receiving a hesitant nod.

"From a business perspective, you're shooting yourself in the foot. Why not have dolls of each and every Pokemon? The designing would take a while, but then you would be catering to literally every base. If a doll doesn't sell well, keep selling, it just means you won't have to produce them that quickly." He explained.

"It's tough, the first time I make a specific doll it always takes a long time. It's only after that I can create some pre-cut matches that just need stitching together. I run this business alone, and it just makes sense to go for the things that are immediately profitable."

Joey leaned on the counter and looked at the woman who seemed genuinely sorry. Resting his chin on his fist he proposed something. "How about I fund the production of five Murkrow dolls, and five Rattata dolls," he suggested. "You give the Murkrow one of themselves, you give me one of the Rattata. I'll pay for your time, so you can put the other eight in your store. If they sell you know that my idea has merit, if not, then you earned some money anyway."

Macy looked at him sceptically. As if wondering how much money he really had.

"How about 2000 Pokedollars, should be good compensation for a day of your time, which is how long this would presumably take."

A strange gleam entered the woman's eye, and she couldn't nod fast enough. Without hesitating Joey slapped the money on the table in bills. "I'll go get you your model then," he said and went to the door, opened it and bid the Murkrow inside. They'd been too polite to ever enter before, feeling the fact they were unwelcome, but now, they curiously hopped inside.

The reactions of the two brothers were muted, but the sister of the trio looked like she was in plushie heaven, krowing away like mad and hopping around to check every design from up close. "Focus, girl," Joey said with a smirk and pointed to Macy, who was cutting a large swatch of black fabric from a roll. "You have to show that woman what you got. In other words…"

"POSE!"

What followed was a blur of activity, the little Murkrow striking poses, bobbing her head and waving her wings as she spun on her axis. Macy, meanwhile, was similarly dynamic, she stitched, she sowed, she cut and bound together. It looked like both of them were having the time of their life, really. Joey meanwhile, had just sat down with his back against the wall with the two brothers and spaced out. Sabrina was loitering around elsewhere, awkwardly looking at the poke-dolls, going back again and again to the Eevee one, before slapping her cheeks and shaking her head rapidly.

In two hours it was done, one Murkrow clutching a doll in her likeness and looking like she'd never let go again.

"You know," Joey said absent-mindedly. "In Hoenn, they have Pokemon competitions that aren't based on battling as much. Rather, Pokemon put on a performance and are rated on their elegance, cuteness, and such stuff. I think you'd be a pretty good fit."

The two Murkrow brothers exchanged worried looks. Before they were done their little sister was already out of the door and taking off, a doll clutched in her beak. The two brothers quickly hopped after her and took off as well, crowing angrily at the suddenness of the departure.

"Fucking whipped," Joey muttered and quickly got smacked in the head by what felt like a basketball. He looked up, annoyed, only to see Macy grinning down at him. Strong hands that one.

"Language," she chided. "But really, thanks for helping me out. I haven't had that much fun making a new doll since…" she trailed off and creased her brows, before putting a hand in her pocket and retrieving the bills he'd given her earlier. "For getting rid of the Murkrow, as much as you didn't, really, here's your reward. 4000 pokedollars." She pressed the bills in Joey's hand with a laugh and went back behind the counter. Idly picked up an Eevee doll and shoved it in Sabrina's face as she did so, starting to work on another doll Rattata. Joey would pick it up later.

Joey idly handed the money to Sabrina as they both exited the store. The girl looked at the cash with furrowed brows for a bit, before eventually clutching her new Eevee doll tighter to herself and shaking her head. "What you did there…" she trailed off. "You…" A pause. "Arrggghhh," she groaned, and disappeared in a flash of blue light, leaving Joey alone on the streets of Saffron.

The boy for his part sighed and looked up at the sky. The sun was already starting its zenith. With his search for Sabrina and the unexpected Murkrow mission, he hadn't actually trained or battled today.

"It's okay, I guess," he muttered and started his trek home.

Maybe there was a slight skip in his step as he did so.

Maybe.