New Beginnings - Chapter 172 - The Date (Patreon)

A.N: Sorry for the delay! I wanted this chapter to be one single one, not broken up to split up the date. 4k+ Words! This is my first time writing anything even resembling romance, so please leave any feedback. I know some parts may be cringe or awkward, but that was the goal for two people trying to figure out how their relationship is/will/could evolve. I hope you enjoy! -----------------------------------------------------------Forty-five minutes after he’d sent Smeargle on his quest to get all these people off his ranch, Ethan was elbow-deep into a cooking frenzy: pizzas, breads, french fries, and a very special cake. French fries and bread were easy to make, but sadly, his bread wasn’t very fluffy, as he lacked yeast. Those took little time compared to the pizzas, which needed a multitude of ingredients and toppings to have each of his pokemon be able to eat them. Litten was a good example, as she wouldn’t eat a pizza unless there was Magikarp on it.

Litten would have liked Sardines on pizza back on Earth, Ethan was sure. 

The cake was unique, as it was the first cake he was trying to bake here in the world of Pokemon. Chansey, God bless her heart, had given him eggs that she hadn’t used each day. While he was away, she must have put them into his fridge for him to use later, as there were six in there when he checked. One was giant for a normal cake, so he was saving the rest for breakfast tomorrow. 

The milk for the cake was from Skiddo and he wasn’t sure if using goat milk was going to cause an issue. He’d find out when it was finished. 

Icing was going to be simple, yet colored with a droplet of Shuckle’s berry juices he had stocked away. The flavor from each of the thick berry syrup Shuckle donated would make his simple icing flavorful. It would also let him make it look nice—well, as nice as his artistic skills went. 

Ethan had six pizzas, two large and solid loaves of bread along with some butter, and the fries done. All were kept warm on the stove as the cake went in to bake. Just as he prepared to make the different colored icings, his door opened.

First came Smeargle with a happily wagging tail and a relaxed look plastered on his face. He gave Ethan a yip as he jogged into the living room to relax with some of the other pokemon who were playing around, watching TV, or listening to music. The next to enter was Joyce’s Pikachu, who was frowning and looking behind her as she shuffled in, hands on her hips as her heart-tipped tail flicked and twitched with frustration. 

“Pi! Pikachu!” Pikachu was complaining to someone; Ethan knew the little manipulator enough to know that much, at least. 

Slowly and unsure of herself, Joyce entered next. Ethan's hands, which were whisking away in an attempt to create stiff white-tipped icing, slowed as he took her in. Joyce’s eyes were down, looking at the floor as she fidgeted under his gaze. She wore a vibrant dark blue wrap dress cut just above the knee, revealing more skin that he’d ever seen from her before. The dress was a single piece of fabric, synched at the waist with a tied-off ribbon, and was sleeveless along with a deep plunging V-cut that showed off cleavage.

If she had told him she was preparing to go to one of Cynthia’s galas or to receive an award from some ceremony, he would have believed her… but she was here for dinner.

Now, normally, Ethan thought he was pretty good at picking up signals. He’d been told in the past that this wasn’t true, but those people were obviously liars (they were not). But this? This was a siren ringing d-day alarms through his skull. In what felt like a single second, he thought back on all of their interactions and viewed them from this newly discovered lens. Joyce was friendly, kind, and caring. He’d assumed that was just Joyce being Joyce… but he’d never really seen her interact with too many different people in a casual setting…

Slowly, he looked down at his own clothes, which were his standard affair—a tan pair of cargo pants, a bland cheap t-shirt, and his special vest that held most of his daily things. He looked the part of a rancher, which would normally be a good thing, but right now… he didn’t look the part of someone on a date, which he was now realizing that he was now on.

Another second passed as his thoughts raced and his eyes roved over Joyce. He thought about the fact that he was now going on an unsuspected and accidental date, which was his fault, and found that he didn’t hate it one bit. For some reason, in the span of two seconds, this is what his slightly panicked brain jumped to. Joyce was a woman someone would have been lucky to have, in his humble opinion. She was hard-working, kind, beautiful, caring, supportive, educated, and had her shit together. While he never asked how old she was, she was either his age or perhaps a year or two older. With him being twenty-eight—well, twenty-nine now, he’d missed his birthday—he realized that they were at the age where finding someone else wasn’t as easy as it seemed. She was also definitely not a person for one-night stands, which said a lot about what she thought of him and the date.

Finding someone would have been hard, especially for him, as he lived in bum-fuck nowhere and didn’t know more than ten people closely. He hadn’t really thought about dating or relationships for more than two seconds in the past, as he had his own issues that he had needed to deal with before anything like that even became a possibility.

That being said, Ethan didn’t think that he would be the one going on a date with her, even if he was the one who had accidentally invited her. 

He looked down at his rancher clothes, his messy flour and icing-covered arms, and general unpreparedness. At least he’d taken a shower before cooking; that was a blessing. 

Joyce’s face was reddening like a tomato as her Pikachu looked between them, a slight smirk playing on her lips, probably from his rollercoaster of emotions. Joyce was quickly becoming embarrassed, and Ethan could see the spiraling ‘this was a mistake’ kind of thoughts flying behind her eyes. He’d been there before, he’d know. 

Deciding not to insult her intelligence, as they both now knew that he was definitely not planning on a date, he said, “Well, this isn’t the first time I’ve been dropped into a situation completely unprepared.”

He placed his icing bowl on the counter before wiping his arms with a nearby towel. Once clean, he walked up to her. ”The last time was very unfortunate, but this is definitely a pleasant surprise. You look wonderful, Joyce.”

Joyce took the final step inside his home and literally cringed. “I’m so…” she sighed and collected herself. “I thought that when you asked for dinner…” She trailed off, not needing to continue. 

“Yeah, I can see in hindsight how I sounded.” Ethan joked lightly as he guided her to the kitchen table to sit. “To be honest, the thought had crossed my mind before.” And he wasn’t lying. It was just a flight of fancy he’d quickly disregarded as impossible. “I just thought that you’d be interested in someone—well, I don’t know—someone more put together? You’re giving my ego a pretty big boost right now. If we’re doing this, then we’re going to do this right.”

Thrust into a sudden date, he tried to be chivalrous and pull out her chair for her, but she’d already grabbed the backrest to do it herself, leaving him floundering. Of course, she had noticed, debated on giving him the opportunity, and then continued on when the awkwardness got too much. 

They were off to a horrid start. 

Ethan awkwardly cleared his throat and went back to the kitchen to keep cooking as he spoke to break the sudden icy wall between them. “I’m making a cake for dessert. Do you have any preferences for the icing? I’m using Shuckle’s juice for flavor.” 

“Pecha is what we want. They’re sweet. I don’t think either of us wants a spicy, sour, dry, or bitter cake.” Joyce answered, making a slight joke of her own. Then, she quieted a bit. “Ethan, if you didn’t want this, we can just forget—” 

“No, no, no.” Ethan cut her off, head peeking around the corner. “I wasn’t expecting it, obviously." He looked down at his clothes, pointing out that fact. “But that’s no reason to end it here and now. We’re grown adults; if it ends horribly and doesn’t work out, then that is it. If it does? Then, that’s a great thing.” 

Ethan ducked back into the kitchen, finishing the icing after dropping a few drops of Pecha berry juice inside, turning the formerly white icing into a light peach color. Seeing as it was now a waiting game for the cake, he grabbed two of the pizzas and made it to the table. As he served the meal and the pokemon all approached at random intervals to steal a slice, he continued on. “You know, back where I’m from, there were definitely tiers of dates. Some dates were chilling at home with a movie in your pajamas and as much junk food as you could eat. Other dates were a fancy night out at a reserved restaurant and a bill that would make your head spin. Sometimes, it was a picnic at a park.” Ethan grabbed himself a slice of pizza, then took his seat beside Joyce. “Are they any different here?”

Joyce took a bite of her pizza slice, then smiled at the taste before answering. It seemed that having something to talk about eased her anxiety. “That sounds about the same as what’s normal here… It kind of makes me feel a little silly for getting all dolled up.”

Joyce played with a fry in her hand, then said, “You don’t talk about where you’re from a lot, you know.” 

“Nobody asks," Ethan simply replied. He truly didn’t mind people asking about Earth. Hell, he had expected it during nearly every conversation. Nobody really asked, whether that be due to people not wanting to bring up some sensitive history or not; he wasn’t sure. Not even his own pokemon cared about where he was from. They simply accepted that he was an alien from a different planet with a blink and a change of topics. 

“You can ask whatever, you know. I’ve accepted that it’s gone, and I know people are curious.” Ethan gave her a smile as he continued eating. 

“Ba-ba!” Tinkatuff’s shout from his knees pulled him away from the conversation. She was looking up at him, hammer on her shoulder and with a hand on her hip. 

Joyce was thinking about what to ask, so he had a few seconds to give her attention. “Yes?”

“Ba-ja Ti-Tinka Tu!” Tinkatuff stomped the ground once, then nodded to herself with a smile.

… Ethan had no clue what she just said or meant. Before he could ask, Tinkatuff turned away and walked back into the living room to join the other pokemon, who he noticed were peeking over the armrest of the couch, spying on them while stuffing pizza into their mouths. Chansey was even with them, a happy smile on her face as her massive form failed to hide properly.

“Do you have siblings? I have three.” Joyce’s questioning voice pulled him back to the moment.

He tilted his head off to the spying pokemon, letting Joyce know what was happening, then answered once she scoffed playfully at their spying. Her scoff sent them running for new cover like children.

“Nope. I’m an only child—” 

The start to Sexual Healing by Marvin Gaye started playing loudly in the living room. 

“Chatot, I swear to god. Find a different song. Stop teasing us.” Something in his voice must have done the trick as the song swiftly changed to something more appropriate. Baby Blue Shades by Bad Suns. 

He sighed, giving Joyce an apologetic look. “Sorry about that. I’m an only child. It was just me and my mom. I had grandparents and some cousins, of course, but only us two for the immediate family.” He ignored the obvious questioning look from her at not mentioning a father. It wasn’t the first nor the last time he’d get that look. “I’m sure you get questions about your family all the time. Instead of asking about them directly, can I ask why you all look very similar? Is it strong genetics or something? The Jennys are the same, right? Two of the officers today… I couldn’t even tell the difference between them.” 

Joyce was obviously used to this question, answering very… diplomatically at first. “It is genetics, yes. The Joys and the Jennys are the oldest clans in Kanto. We Joys have very dominant genes in nearly every category. Our pink hair, for example, is so dominant that ninety-three percent of all children with at least one parent that has the gene gets it as well. We are not clones or Ditto in disguise, like some children guess.” She laughed, probably thinking of several times some younger trainers or random children had the gall to ask about it. “When it comes to our bone structure and general looks?” She shrugged, “Probably genetics as well. We don’t all look the same, but we do have similarities. One of my younger sisters, Kohaku, is nearly identical to me.”

“So… and you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, no, Dad?" She hesitatingly asked. While it could be considered rude if they were on their very first meeting, he’d known Joyce long enough for her to deserve an answer. 

“He passed away when I was five. He worked in a gift shop, and the building he worked in got hit by a plane.” Ethan left it at that, not wanting to explain 9/11 to her unless she asked.

Thankfully, she didn’t ask. Instead, she swiftly swapped topics as she went back to her food. “If I remember correctly, you worked with data on computers?” 

“I worked in a cubicle changing rent prices for buildings according to data provided to me. It wasn’t anything grand or a lifelong goal of mine. It was just a job. Sadly, most of the time the prices were going up. So, a lot of people probably secretly hated me if they knew my job even existed.” Ethan spared a glance to the pokemon, finding them no longer spying… they were just openly paying attention now. “I was a very normal person. I lived in a city that would dwarf the largest in this world by orders of magnitude, so I was just another face in the busy streets most of the time. Last I remember, my world had over eight billion people on it.”

“Wow…” Joyce seemed stunned at the number, and he knew why. The world of pokemon had less than half a billion, last he checked. Turns out, when humans can’t endlessly expand, they don’t grow to insurmountable numbers. Pokemon were the dominant force on this world; they kept humans in check.

Then, she leaned forward, very interested in her next question. “You had animals? Not pokemon, but something similar? We have records of animals, as we had them long ago before they went extinct. What were they like?”

“Take a pokemon, remove all their moves and abnormal strength, make ninety-nine point nine percent of them sentient, and you have animals. They were everywhere, just like pokemon, having their own habitats and environments they preferred. My favorite were cows… Think of a quadruped Milktank the size of a Tauros, but white with black spots. It produced milk for most of the world.” Ethan smiled, seeing how interested the pokemon nurse was into simple animals.

“We had pets as well. I know some people here have some pet pokemon. The most common were dogs and cats. Dogs were like Growlithe, Houndour, Mightyena, Herdier, and Rockruff. Those are just some examples. All fur-coated, different sizes, and temperaments depending on the breed.”

Joyce had pretty much forgotten her food. She leaned forward with a smile, listening intently. Ethan stared at her eyes, ignoring the dress and forward-leaning Joyce. “Cats were similar to some pokemon as well. Purloin is basically a clone of a cat with its personality; just get rid of its purple color, moves, and power. Pyroar would also be a cat, but we would have called them big cats. They were not pets and were predators in the wild. Glameow would have been more like a household cat like Purloin.”

“The worst animals were bugs,” Ethan continued. “If I remember correctly, the animal that was most lethal to humans was the mosquito.” Seeing as Joyce was still enthralled with the topic, he smiled. “They were tiny—smaller than any pokemon.” Ethan used two fingers to show the approximate size. “They had a proboscis—a weird snout-like needle that acted as a syringe—they used it to suck blood from everything to eat. I don’t know for sure, but I think that they had something that dulled the pain so you didn’t notice they were sucking your blood. Afterwards, you had a small itchy bump on your skin. The reason they were so dangerous is that they could contaminate other people with someone else's blood and also carried a disease that was very dangerous. I think they killed close to a million people a year.” 

“Wait,” Joyce looked confused. “They killed only a million people a year? With a population of humans over eight billion? That seems very low.”

“In the grand scheme of things, it was very low. But we also had, like, a million different species of animals, not like the thousand or so different pokemon. Most of them weren’t threats to humans at all, but they still got a few here and there, I’m sure.” Ethan explained, then asked a question of his own. “Do you know what pokemon causes the most deaths?” 

As she thought for a second about the question, Ethan mentally cringed at talking about killing people on their date. It was probably not the best move.

“Gyarados, Beedrill, or Sharpedo. It all depends on where you live. I don’t have the statistics, but Gyarados are feared globally for a reason, Ethan.” Joyce idly continued to eat, as she thought about how to explain. “Beedrill kill many trainers due to their negligence. They’re by far the most territorial pokemon I know of and are fairly common in every single forest in the world. There’s some here in Eterna Forest as well. In Kanto, Viridian Forest is the most well patrolled and looked after area in the whole region due to their activity.” 

“Sharpedo prey close to beaches, often targeting humans swimming off and away from others. Traveling over the ocean on a pokemon also draws them in, and they hunt in packs. They’re also territorial but thankfully are unable to travel on land.” 

“Gyardados are just… natural disasters most of the time. There have been studies about their rage, but nothing much has come of it because of how dangerous they are to study. Wild Gyarados are closely tracked, and the Rangers try their best to map out their patterns. Still, a random Magikarp evolving into a Gyarados is a disaster, usually killing many people before it’s taken down.” Joyce looked sad at that, but Ethan saw it was just that humans didn’t have another way. 

“Well, my little Magikarps won’t be murderous machines when and if they evolve. I’m sure those trainers who have Gyarados took care of them when they were small," Ethan said, while thinking about his pond.

“It’d be best if they do not evolve at all, Ethan.” Joyce looked uncomfortable saying that. “It’s an unnecessary risk.” 

“Hmm.” Ethan hummed noncommittally. He disagreed, but that was okay. 

Next, they spoke at length about fish, ocean animals, and the terrain and ecosystems of Earth. Well, as much as he could remember at least. He was in no way an expert in animals, but he knew enough to teach someone else about the basics. The food chain was similar enough in the world of Pokemon, but the main difference was that humans were at the top on Earth.

When the cake finally finished cooking, both he and Joyce decorated the cake together. Considering the majority of the cake was going to be a pinkish-peach color due to the Pecha berry flavoring, Ethan tried to make the circular cake an off-colored pig, all while explaining what a pig was. 

There wasn’t a Hallmark movie scene about one of them getting icing on their cheek and one of them playfully whipping the icing away. It was all fun and informative, less a date and more two friends finally talking about new things of interest. Their pokemon stayed away on the outskirts at the beginning, but slowly came to join in on the fun of making cakes. Emolga in particular was very interested in the sugary dessert, causing Ethan to swat at her to keep her away from licking the icing bowl. 

The cake turned out… okay. He definitely messed up one of the ratios in the ingredients, probably the egg, but it was still edible, and the icing saved the day. The cake was gone in less than two minutes, with everyone getting at least one slice. 

Afterwards, both Ethan and Joyce ended up on the couch, watching some random movie that Ethan had never heard of before and that Joyce had probably seen over a dozen times. As the pokemon lay about around them, mostly silent except for the giggling sugar high Emolga in the rafters, Ethan looked over to Joyce as she watched the movie. 

She didn’t notice his staring; her face had lit up with a small smile as she watched. It was at this moment that Ethan decided that this would be nice if it worked out. He reached over and grabbed her hand, interlocking his fingers with hers to hold, saying nothing and letting the action speak for itself. 

He felt Joyce stiffen for a second before slowly looking away from the screen. Her eyes looked down to her hand, then slowly to Ethan, who still stared at her with a slight smile. 

Her face reddened almost immediately, and she looked back to the screen with haste. 

An hour later, Ethan walked Joyce back to the Pokemon Center, hands still held together. Joyce’s Pikachu looked so… smug at the ‘success’ of the date. Chansey didn’t seem to mind, although she knew what was happening due to Ethan’s empathetic ability. When they reached the doors to the Pokemon Center, the moon was full and lit up the surroundings, a cloud having moved to reveal it in all its glory. Pikachu had pushed Chansey in through the automatic doors with a fervor formerly unseen, much to Chansey’s confusion, leaving both of them alone. 

“I enjoyed our date.” Ethan slowly started, “It wasn’t much, but I think we did a good job.”

Joyce’s hand tightened within his own as she stayed suspiciously silent. Ethan let the moment linger, waiting for her to respond when she was comfortable. 

“I—I had a wonderful time.” She turned towards him, letting their hands separate. 

Suddenly, Joyce got on her tippy toes and placed a very chaste kiss onto his cheek. After she lowered back down, she looked to the ground shyly. 

“Ne—Next time, maybe we’ll go into town for a night out?” Ethan offered, now looking forward to said ‘next time.' 

“I think that’d be great… Goodnight, Ethan.” Joyce stayed rooted in place, unsure how to end the date cleanly. 

Ethan leaned forward and gave her a kiss on the cheek in return. “Goodnight, Joyce.” 

At that, she finally turned and walked into the Pokemon Center with speedy steps. She only looked back once with a red face and a bright smile before the doors closed, leaving him alone in the night.