Paldean Knights - Chapter 12 (Patreon)

“-and so it looks like Father is going to commission a secondary access shaft off to the north side of the property. I managed to get him to agree to a third of the value of any tera crystals sold as well as reserving a single larger one for my personal use in my stable, so... overall a pretty eventful little trip,” I explained idly, popping my neck and yawning tiredly.

Morning was coming soon.

And as all good nocturnal creatures would tell you, it was high time to be in bed.

Lucia Joy chuckled behind a hand, one of her Chansey carrying along a case of medical supplies, but very obviously listening with one ear to my story. “Eventful? I suppose that's one word for it, Aznaro. Anyway, your checkup is clean and your pokemon should be done any moment, so you'll be clear to sleep through the day, as per usual.”

“Thanks, Dr. Joy,” I nodded, sighing.

Lucia gave me a smirking nod in reply, dipping her head as her pink hair loops shifted in time with the motion. “Your carbink was an especially interesting challenge. They're rare even in Kalos, unheard of here in Paldea. You probably have the only one in the entire region.”

“An interesting claim to fame,” I snorted.

“What's going to happen with the cavern, by the way? Not that it's my place, but sableye are voracious geovores. If there are tera crystals down there...” She let the observation hang.

“Father put in an emergency call to the rangers and a team is already heading down there packed with more mundane crystals for the sableyes to gorge themselves on, which should distract them from the carbink and the tera crystals until they can get a barrier put up between their habitats,” I shrugged.

“Well, I'm glad he called the rangers and not the knights,” Dr. Joy sighed, shaking her head. “I've seen some brutal documentation of what they can do to wild pokemon when they set their minds to it.”

I nodded, the knights were more of a specialty police unit for responding to criminal 'Team' activity anyway. “They'll help make sure the crystals are harvested ethically and that the underground cavern is disturbed as little as possible.”

She breathed out in relief, adjusting her glasses and smiling lightly at her reports as we talked.

So, yeah. The Joys.

And Jennies.

They weren't identical. I'd met several Joys and a few Jennies over the years – all very nice people – and there were slight differences in facial features, builds, body types, hair color, things like that. I was leaning away from the whole 'clone' theory, which was kind of a stretch anyway, and more towards there being some weirdly-resistant inheritance in their respective families.

Honestly, I was betting on some ancient civilization – Pokelantis for example – had probably cooked up a way to magically splice pokemon traits into the human genome to create a human that retained a pokemon-like lineage. IE: Their children were all of the same 'species' even if they could procreate outside of their 'egg group.'

And, no, I hadn't asked whether they were actually hatched instead of born.

That would be pretty rude.

“So, I do have to ask... do you want me to write you a letter of reference to the medical department of Uva?” Lucia Joy asked, turning away from me and busying herself with a few mundane chores around the private pokemon center built into the palace.

Which, hey, just because it was where royalty and their staff got their pokemon healed didn't mean the place was somehow immune from cleaning.

“Ahh... I mean, I was going to test for my certification as soon as I could,” I hummed thoughtfully.

“Just remember that having your certification doesn't make you a fully-fledged caregiver,” Dr. Joy stated firmly, giving me a wink and a smile to ease the chastisement. “It's one thing to go around treating wild pokemon, but even with a provisional license you won't be able to offer legitimate pokemon healthcare advice.”

“Yes ma'am, I remember,” I nodded obediently.

Listen, I might be a bit flippant here and there, but... you didn't fuck around with Nurse Joy.

You especially didn't fuck around with one who'd gotten her doctorate.

One bad word from her and you'd never get anything but the bare minimum service at a pokecenter ever again. And if you were in good standing with the Joys, they could offer a lot of extras that would make a trainer's life a lot easier.

“But... I've been thinking about it, since I got accepted early into Uva Academy, and... well, I might try a journey sometime during the year,” I admitted haltingly. “And having a certification for emergency care would help a lot out in the wilds.”

“A journey, huh...” Dr. Joy murmured, giving me a curious look. “Do you mean the Galar-type journey or the Kalosian-style?”

“More like... Hoenn? Or possibly Unovan,” I admitted carefully.

“Well... that's certainly different,” Dr. Joy smiled. “I take it you haven't informed your parents?”

I cleared my throat and looked away. “Ah... not yet?”

She clicked her tongue at me. “As long as you don't put me in a position where I have to lie to the royal family, Aznaro.”

“I remember,” I reiterated with a sigh. “It's always difficult being friends with the boss' kid.”

“My employer's grandchild, specifically, since His Highness Julian underwrites my research, I'm happy to contribute to the intellectual growth of one of his grandson, but-” She explained.

“-but if he ever lodges a formal complaint, we'd have to discontinue my lessons,” I nodded obediently. “Still... it's been, what? Three years?”

“Since you're turning nine, almost four years,” Dr. Joy replied absently, then chuckled with a sly smile. Almost a smirk. “I have to admit, when a five year old child wandered in here after midnight while I was collating my doctoral thesis, I didn't think much of you.”

I snorted. “But you changed your mind pretty quickly once I proved to you I could understand your research model.”

“And you even had the gall to critique it,” Dr. Joy scoffed quietly.

I chuckled quietly. “Your experimental model was flawed.”

Her eyebrow twitched. “You know... you could be a bit more grateful for letting you use the showers here when you get done down in the catacombs.”

I frowned and plucked at the medical smock I was wearing at the moment. “I mean, it's not like anyone else uses it. Anyone who comes here lives at the palace, basically, and trainers aren't allowed on the grounds without good reason, so...”

It was the reason the 'Royal Pokemon Center' attached to the palace was either heaven or hell.

Depending on who you asked.

All told, there was about a hundred members of the regular staff who used this pokecenter. But that number was deceptive when you took into account that barely any of them were battlers. There were a few pokemon used to tend the grounds and do yardwork, a few more that helped on repairs and moving heavy materials like bricks, wooden beams, and tile, and some others that worked on various domestic tasks such as Alice's deerling.

Injuries were rare, treatment was easy.

On rare occasion, some pokemon got sick or overdid it on the job. And the royal family's 'mon got regular checkups, but the entire job was incredibly routine.

A Nurse Joy who wanted to help pokemon would probably find it the epitome of boring. Maybe even miserable.

But Dr. Joy styled herself a researcher, first and foremost.

“For being so conscious of your cleanliness, your sableye is an odd match. He crawled up the wall and hissed at Chansey when she tried to rinse all that muck off him.” Dr. Joy observed blithely.

I sighed, leaning back in my chair. “Yeah... he, well... he has issues. We're working on it.”

“Not to mention the unusual coloration of his eyes,” she continued, picking up a notebook and flipping through it to find whatever she was looking forward to.

“Either ask or change the topic, I'd rather avoid pointless speculation and word games,” I replied pointedly.

Dr. Joy pursed her lips and turned to look at me fully. “You know you'll have eyes on you then?”

“I'll have eyes on me anyway,” I replied.

Dr. Joy sighed and pushed her chair back. “That's not what I meant and you know it, my stubborn little student.”

“Then I'll just have to become powerful enough that it doesn't matter,” I informed her, narrowing my eyes.

We locked gazes for a long moment-

“Chensey-chance!”

We both breathed out heavily through our noses, an exhalation of irritation as I stood and reached for the tray of pokeballs Chansey was carrying.

“Thanks for the pokemon care grooming sets you ordered,” I told her, shouldering both my bad and my egg incubator.

“I'll have something for your sableye and carbink before you leave for school. Just be careful. You're too useful for me to bounce ideas off of to lose,” Dr. Joy sighed, rolling her eyes as I collected my pokemon.

“You're all heart, doc,” I snorted. “Oh, you want me to save you a place on the trip for my birthday? The professors will be there...”

Dr. Joy paused in her immediate refusal, frowning before sighing. “I'll contact your parents, then?”

“Cool. Thanks again chansey! Awesome as always!” I waved at the nurse pokemon.

“Chan-sey!” She giggled, waving back.

…

“Okay!” I clapped my hands as I released my full team inside my over-sized bathroom.

Very over-sized, actually.

As a younger child, when I'd just started sleeping in my own room, I'd been a bit confused by the fact that there was a small swimming pool in place of the bathtub. Not really quite that large, but it was at least the size of a hot tub. Which I'd initially put down to royal privilege and a status symbol. I'd been wrong on that note.

It was about pokemon.

Because of course it was.

Really, at this point, I needed to just make the assumption that anything eyebrow-raising from my point of view boiled down to 'because pokemon.'

“Mankey!” The pig-monkey called out, bouncing over to the deep depression filling with water.

“Mroo~oow,” Sprigatito growl-purred at the running water, but it was Sableye who outright hissed, scuttling backwards... up to the locked door. Nincada and Carbink, likewise, didn't exactly look pleased by the presence of water, though their reaction was much more muted. Simple distaste.

I ignored Smoliv. He seemed a bit confused at what the hubbub was about, breaking into friendly chatter with my cat as to why everyone was upset.

Instead, I turned on my three 'mon who'd tried to make for the door.

“You are getting a bath,” I stated, going so far as to flex the power within me to inject it into my voice. “Sableye, you are absolutely filthy and – yes – I know that's the point. I have a purple shirt for you to wear outside once we're done, okay? If you're good and don't fight me.”

I plucked my own medical smock for emphasis, even as I began removing my own clothes.

“Nin!” My only ground type chittered.

I sighed and nodded. “Yes, I know you don't like water. You don't have to be in there very long, just enough for me to wash all the dirt off you. I'll even use the sprayer head instead of putting you in the tub-”

I grabbed the too-complicated waterspout and gave it a few twists before it turned into something like a spray-nozzle on a garden hose.

“See? You don't have to get in the tub if you don't want to. Same goes for you, Sableye. But you are all getting a proper shampoo, I'm going to check you all for mites and tics, then I'm going to spray on some stuff that's good for your skin – or exoskeleton,” I explained patiently, motioning towards the rolling cart-table I'd brought in with me.

“Sable!” The grimy-gremlin hissed, making clawing motions.

“Oh, you'll try to fight me,” I agreed, staring down the green-gem-eyed pokemon. “But here's the thing! I have cleaning-focused OCD and know how to channel my frustration into something constructive. So if you leave this room without a bath... if you actually claw through that door and get away from me, I'm breaking your pokeball and taking you back down to your pack in the cavern.”

“Sab-sable-eye-ey,” he muttered, his shoulders slumping.

I crossed my arms over my chest and stared down all three of my water-avoidant pokemon. “That goes for all three of you. I am your trainer, that means I'm responsible for making you stronger. To get stronger, you need to be healthy. To be healthy, you need to get cleaned and groomed every now and then.”

The three of them turned and looked at each other, not even sableye's voracious appetite distracting him towards carbinks delicious gems.

“Now, I am going to give smoliv and sprigatito-”

“Mrow!” The aforementioned cat cried.

My gaze turned upon her like the unblinking Eye of Sauron. Our gazes met, she froze, and then wilted, laying back down submissively.

“Good,” I growled, not in the mood for that shit as I turned back towards the others. “-and then I'll scrub each of you down one by one and let you relax on a towel to finish drying off. Once you're all clean, we'll try some berries as a treat.”

The I turned to the tub and found Mankey just vibing in the still-filling pit, looking pleased and relaxed as he floated slightly. “Enjoy the soak Mankey, you'll be up last once I get everyone else done.”

“Man-man,” he waved me off, and I nodded, sighing as I dropped my pants to step in the water.

“Smoliv, you're up,” I called out, the olive pokemon bouncing forward at the command.

It was a long night, but eventually everyone was cleaned, groomed, judged to be free of various wild-pokemon parasites, and given a treat of their newly-discovered favorite berries. Mankey, Sprigatito, and Carbink all settled into bed with me while Nincada and Sableye – the latter clad in his new purple child-sized hoodie – dove under the bed with a few clean towels as makeshift bedding. Smoliv, I settled into a large pot of soil by the window just as the sun was coming up.

And then I passed the fuck out, utterly exhausted.

…

“It's adorable!” Mother squealed, cooing over the conic rock pokemon as it chimed and tinkled in crystaline tones in her lap. “I never thought I'd see one up close!”

“Carbink!” One of my newest captures chirped happily, flexing its... ear-antenna things.

Still needed to look that up.

“It's an amazing find, Aznaro,” my grandfather smiled as Mother cuddled the rock pokemon. “Especially the tera crystals. I've already signed off on an expedited dig for the carbink's chamber and we'll be having a number of rangers on-site, trusted ones of course, to evaluate the cavern underneath the palace. To think, we were sitting on such a horde all these years and never knew...”

“Thank you, Abuelo,” I dipped my head, sprigatito sitting in my lap and content to receive my attention.

“Honestly, I'm more concerned about all those poison types underneath our feet. If there's ever a problem...” Grandmother Aldonza shook her head, clicking her tongue in unhappiness. “I hope you'll instruct the rangers to draw up plans to relocate the populations in an emergency.”

I twitched and, surprisingly, so did Ximen.

“Abuela... if I may?” I asked tentatively, my cousin's gaze laser-focusing on me from across the room where he and his brothers had received the news of my find with... varying degrees of excitement. “The pokemon living down in the cavern have been doing so for hundreds of years and made no issue of themselves. Perhaps it would just be better to post a guard to police access to the area and leave it at that unless there's a problem?”

Ximen took a breath, relaxing slightly and looking away from me.

Grandmother frowned, but before she could reply, my uncle spoke up. Leonis clearing his throat as he looked over the initial estimates of the discovery, his eldest son Ruberte standing next to him in quiet conference. “I think Aznaro has the right of it. The cavern is simply too large for any kind of relocation project to be feasible or reasonable.”

Aldonza pursed her lips, obviously unhappy, but sighed in resignation. “Very well, as long as they don't make a nuisance of themselves, I suppose you do have a point.”

“Father,” my youngest cousin spoke up, jolting his elder brother Sabastian next to him – and earning a look of warning for his troubles. “If I may... I only have Pawniard, wooper, and trubbish so far. Some of the pokemon down there sound like interesting prospects for my team.”

Leonis frowned.

Grandfather – Julian – frowned.

Grandmother – Aldonza – frowned.

Then I did something I would receive absolutely no gratitude for. “Many of the pokemon down in the cavern could be powerful if trained properly. The qwilfish in particular is a rare variant that could earn Ximen acclaim.”

Sabastian sent me a look of mild scorn while Ximen's face went blank.

The adults' expressions grew complicated as they exchanged looks.

Mother, Arceus bless her, hummed in approval. “I think it's a quite splendid idea. Just look at what Aznaro has already brought up!”

“Mama? Can I see the pokemon?” Lehonor asked, edging closer to her and the glittering crystals.

“You have to ask the pokemon trainer in charge of the pokemon, Lehonor,” Mother chastised her.

Which meant my little sister looked to me. “Big Brother?”

“Don't tug on its ears,” I warned her, receiving a vigorous nod in return.

“It?” Father asked, walking over and taking a look at the carbink. “You haven't checked its sex?”

“Ah... it doesn't have one?” I replied awkwardly, to confused looks from many of the people present. “At least... not the way we understand it.”

“Ah, I'd heard of a few pokemon like that,” Mother nodded, watching as Lehonor held Carbink and tickled the crystal bits. “There are quite a few ground and rock types, electric ones too, that are like that. Carbink are just so rare there's little publicly-available research on them.”

“Huh,” Father muttered, then shook his head as he turned back to Leonis. “Well, as his father, it's your call brother. But Aznaro seemed to be capable of navigating his way around down there. And since his partner is a pawniard...”

Translator's Note: Pawniard is a steel-type, therefore immune to poison.

Leonis frowned as Ximen tried not to look anxious over the decision. Finally, my uncle sighed, “As long as you take one of your brothers down there, I suppose it's fine. There will be rangers on duty, at any rate.”

“T-thank you, Father,” Ximen smiled in relief, a rare expression from the usually dour and serious boy. Then he turned to me. “Cousin... Aznaro-”

If anyone else saw the flicker of distaste at my name, no one spoke of it.

“-you said there were skrelp?” He asked intently, shifting in his seat.

I nodded as I swept my fingers through sprigatito's grass-like fur and scratched at her mossy undercoat. “They're another good pick. Very strong once they evolve. They tend towards the cove at the right of the entrance. Be careful, the rock path is slippery and the water is very cold. I think the main source must be either an underground river from mountain runoff or a deep spring. Either way, don't be fooled by how warm the cavern is.”

He pursed his lips unhappily, but nodded.

“I'll make sure he's fine,” Sabastian grunted, frowning at me.

“And I think I'll come, too,” Ruberte smiled, his expression nearly overjoyed at how his brothers and cousin were actually 'getting along.'

Heh, joke's on you Ruberte. They just want something from me and you should know better.

But... I didn't begrudge the ten year old the help, not in this instance. He was a mouthy little brat at times, it was true, but... there was hope for him yet. And, as strange as it was for someone who usually only gave me grief, I was proud of the little asshole.

Not that I'd admit it, of course.

“I suppose it will give us something to focus on given you and Lani will be taking Aznaro and Lehonor away for the party,” Leonis stated, still frowning slightly, but seeming to accept matters. “Maybe we'll all go down? I should take a survey of the cavern, at any rate.”

Both Ximen and Sabastian positively lit up at the announcement, and even Ruberte looked almost pathetically excited at the idea.

“I'll make a copy of some of my notes on the cavern so that you-” I blinked, as part of what my uncle had said registered. “Wait, away for the party? We're... not having it here?”

Uncle Leonis blinked, then... blushed?

After etching that strange image in my mind for posterity, I turned to my slightly-sour looking parents glaring at the crown prince. Father cleared his throat and spoke up. “Ah... we'll have a dinner here, at the palace, a few days before your birthday. For family, of course.”

I nodded, 'family birthdays' and 'friend birthdays' weren't an alien concept to me. I'd guessed as much for this year as well, having expected that my grandparents wouldn't want to interact too much with a group of children and students. Likewise, having the sitting king and queen of the region at the table while you're opening gifts might dampen the mood, just a bit.

“But we're having another party... somewhere else,” Mother explained, and I thought about reaching out with my other senses to question it, but... “And it's going to be a surprise, even if your uncle let the shinx out of the bag.”

Ah, that's extra funny because uncle is actually a luxray trainer.

I pursed my lips, then nodded. “Huh... okay?”

Grandfather cleared his throat. “Now! To change the topic slightly, Aznaro... you've done your family a great service. It's a little short-notice, but... is there something special you'd like for your birthday?”

I stared at the older man blankly for a few heartbeats. “Um... like a few technical machines? For my collection?”

Grandmother sighed and leaned forward. “Your grandfather was implying that you could ask for a pokemon, Aznaro. As long as the price isn't too absurd or the distance too great, we could likely make something happen.”

“Oh, ah... can I think about it?” I asked, my leg beginning to jump nervously at the prospect of a nearly blank check on a pokemon.

“As long as you get back to me within the next day or two,” Grandfather nodded. “Or, if you don't, just know it won't be ready in time for your birthday.”

“I understand,” I nodded, my mind already racing.

~~~

Cavern Time is over! But family time is not!

Also, a peek into another one of Aznaro's relationships, specifically one of his 'tutors.'

That, and the general aftershocks of all of the pokemon he's captured as well as the cavern he thought everyone knew about becoming actual public knowledge.

Eventful things happening, and Aznaro didn't even have to leave home!

Once again, I'm sorry this came out a little late. I had hoped to get it out last night, but... well, it's a long story, but my AC is out and I had to get a window unit which is just barely making it comfortable enough to sleep in my area of the house. So that's fun.

Next update will be... Mind Games, I think. I want to get a New Ron chapter out at some point this month, so look for that, too. Not sure if it's this week or not, but it should be coming up.