▲

Pauli scrambled out of the bag and onto Akane’s shoulder as the trainer unzipped it. She rummaged through the bag, shoving the cardigan further down in order to get to the food- which thankfully, the minccino had stacked at the top thanks to their shiny wrappers. Using both hands, she fumbled to pull out her stash of snacks, mulling quietly over which one to eat. What was better for headaches again? Salty food, right? But a protein bar would give her the energy to make it down the route… Or to hell with it, there was nothing stopping her from eating both.

She was reaching for a bottle of water when Vector screeched out a warning. Akane’s head shot up, just in time to see what looked like a fluffy cloud drift into Pauli. The pokemon’s cotton-y body latched onto her long fur, sticking fast. <Eep!> Pauli yelped, twisting around, trying her best to dislodge the newcomer. She flailed and shoved at it, entangling one of her paws in the fluff and managing to wrap two of Akane’s braids into the mess as well.

With a wince, the woman grabbed at the roots of her hair to prevent the squabbling pokemon on her shoulder from yanking it from her scalp. “Hey!” She barked in a loud voice. She hadn’t even seen what the wild pokemon was, and now with her hair twisted up in the mess, she couldn’t turn her head even if she wanted to see. “You two cut that out!”

<It’s not me!> Pauli whined. With a grunt of effort, she retrieved her stubby paw from the fluffy white mass that was threatening to consume her and let loose a flurry of pound after pound.

<Well if you- ow! -cut your fur, this -ow! -wouldn’t have happened!> The grass type replied, instinctively using growth, though it only served to exasperate the problem as the white fleece fluffed up as well. <Why do you even need- ow! -such fancy fur, anyway!>

<If you keep struggling, it’s only going to get worse!> The zubat said, alighting on the ground with a less than graceful landing. She pulled herself into Akane’s lap as the trainer struggled too. The bat cringed, unsure of how else she could help. The last thing she wanted was to become ensnared as well.

By the third punch from the minccino, Akane had enough. Still holding her hair with one hand, she scrambled for a pokeball- any pokeball, at this point it didn’t matter, she just wanted the yanking and the shouting to stop. Her hand closed around a sphere, and after a bit of fiddling, her thumb pressed the button.

A white light absorbed Pauli’s form just as the Cottonee let loose a stun spore, apparently inspired by the zubat’s earlier words to stop struggling. A gust of wind blew most of it away, but Akane’s shoulders tingled under her long-sleeved shirt at the spores. At least the chinchilla pokemon was free, and now that there was less weight clinging to her braids, the woman swung her hair around to the front of her face. She came nose-to-nose with the Cottonee, still dangling upside down from the locks of hair.

The Cottonee gulped nervously at the trainer’s irritated grimace and narrowed brown eyes. It wasn’t like she could control where she went floating- that was all up to the winds. Even so, she was starting to regret it.

“So you’re the one I’ll have to blame for my headache, hmm?” Akane questioned. Sure enough, a dull ache radiated from her forehead. “Do you have anything to say for yourself?”

<Um… sure, that’s fair. And I’m sorry?> Cottonee offered tentatively. She was the one tangled in the lady’s hair, after all (though again, if only they’d just cut it! Why did they need such elaborate styles? She bet this wasn’t the first time a passing Cottonee was snagged by a trainer’s hair!)

The woman seemed to accept her apology with a sigh, and began digging in her pocket. The Cottonee was on full alert, her eyes wide and watchful of what the human might pull out. What if it was a knife? Or some scissors? Sure, she might just slice off the few locks of hair that they were joined by, but what if she meant to use it for some nefarious purpose?

<Ah, wait!> She called as Akane’s hand emerged from her pocket. The woman raised an eyebrow, but the pokemon was a split second too late- she had already pressed the button on the pokeball, hoping to free herself from the cotton pokemon’s grasp the same way she had freed Pauli.

▲

The Cottonee was sucked neatly into the pokeball in a bright flash of light. Her face slackened as she breathed a sigh of relief. At least the tangled mass of fluff was no longer perched upon her head- though now several of her braids were coming loose, black strands of hair tugged free in the tussle. She’d take the time to redo them once they reached Ara Village- she wanted to make good time, and besides, no one really cared what you looked like when hiking down a route.

Swapping a few pokeballs around, the trainer released Pauli once more. <Did you hear what she said about my f-!>

“Shhh,” Akane shushed the pokemon, placing a finger to her own lips.

<Oh, sorry! Did you hear what she said about my fur?> The Minccino was careful to whisper her appalled words this time. <I mean, what's wrong with it? Besides the fact that it's all messed up now...> Pauli started smoothing down her fur with her paws, picking bits of fluff out of her pelt and patting down the occasional cowlick. She winced as she reached to fix the tufts around her large ears, pain throbbing in her wrists.

The trainer saw her flinch out of the corner of her eye, and though she said nothing, there was a twinge of sadness in her chest. Not quite pity- the normal type wouldn’t want that- and not quite despondent, either; something halfway between the two. Sorrow, perhaps? Whatever the feeling was, it settled thickly in her heart and the hollow of her chest.

They had a few minutes of peace and quiet as Akane finished her snack, Vector resting on the woman’s lap and Pauli grooming the fur of her tail with intense focus. For now the chaos of the previous moment was forgotten, replaced by warm sunlight and the occasional distant pokemon call. Vector had been right; now that she’d had something to eat and drink, she was feeling better. The panging in her head faded to a manageable dull background ache. But Akane was now much less concerned with how she was feeling than how the minccino was, as the little normal type kept pausing in her grooming efforts to rub her own arms.

“Alright, time to get going.” She stood, picking up the zubat in her arms and tossing her a few feet in the air. It was a practiced maneuver, giving Vector just enough lift that she could take to flying without having to generate her own momentum and saving her some energy. Akane slung her bag over her shoulder, and held out her pink cardigan so Pauli could see. “Want a ride?”

Normally Pauli would have refused, but the soft fabric was too much to resist. She held up her short arms as the trainer scooped her up and draped it over her like a blanket. Pauli snuggled down into the cardigan and Akane’s arms, all but disappearing save for her ears poking out of the bundle. She was still a little sore, but at least she was cozy.

<I’ll fly ahead. Try to avoid any more mishaps,> the zubat said with a faux exasperated tone as she flapped ahead.

Akane smirked. “Isn’t that what I keep you around for?” She teased.

<One of many reasons!>

▲

It was only his third shed, and the ekans had already decided it was a pain in the neck. Even if it was an important, necessary, unstoppable pain in the neck. He was nestled between two rocks, the rough surfaces helping to slough off his old, dull, itchy skin and reveal his new bright colors underneath. Every couple of seconds, his tongue darted from his mouth, tasting the air. He didn’t like how close this spot was to the trail frequented by trainers, but it was the best spot he could find.

A zubat flew overhead, and the ekans’ bright yellow eyes followed it. Small enough to eat? Yes, but too high- even if he wasn’t in the middle of shedding, there was no way he’d be able to launch himself that high from the ground. His tongue darted out again, and this time, he tasted a human scent in the air. Bad news. But he couldn’t go anywhere- he was so close to finishing his shed. Maybe if he curled on himself and sat real still, the trainer would pass without noticing him…

The trainer in question appeared a few moments later, following the zubat, carrying something wrapped up in what looked like a blanket. Wait- the snake’s eyes narrowed at the thing nestled in her arms. An egg? Tempting. Eggs were tasty, and he was hungry. There was no eating during a shed week, that was the worst part about shedding. Maybe he could get the egg from the human.

A rattling sound filled the air as his tail shook. The human paused in her walking, looking for the source of the sound. The ekans picked his head up ever so slightly as her gaze came to a rest on him. “Vector, hold up,” she called.

Still eyeing the bundle of fabric in her arms, he wiggled his body between the rocks. Unbeknownst to the trainer, the last little bit of shed on his tail came free. <Stuck!> He cried, wiggling again, bidding the woman to come closer. Never mind the fact that he wasn’t actually stuck, just looped around the rocks, free to move as he pleased. But if he could take her by surprise… <Stuck!>

It was working- she stepped a little closer, crouching to see what was wrong with the snake. His tongue flicked out of his mouth. It was tempting to go for the egg now, it was just within his reach- if only she would come a little closer…

The ekans let out a little whine, shimmying his body around the rocks for emphasis.

“Are you sure you’re stuck?” She leaned over him, peering at his coils. The zubat was back, fluttering overhead, but that was no concern for his- he only had eyes for the bundle in the woman’s arms. He sprung, uncoiling around the rocks and striking for his mark.

He miscalculated in two areas: for one, the fabric wrapped around the egg was quite dense, and without teeth he’d done little to no damage to it, let alone pull it from the trainer’s arms as she reeled backwards. And two, it wasn’t an egg at all, as a minccino’s head popped out of the fabric to see what was going on. Too furry to eat.

<I think it’s a baby,> the zubat commented overhead. The snake whined again- this time for real, as he curled up on himself and rested his chin on his coils. He was hungry, and now, at the mercy of this trainer. And with fall already in full swing, it was going to be harder to sneak up on pidgeys and their nests…

The trainer sighed. “Well, I don’t think I can just leave a baby out here on its own. Even one as sneaky as this one.” She reached behind her into her pack and pulled out a small, red and white ball.

Egg? The ekans thought, lifting his head to get a better look. Maybe the human knew he was hungry?