New Beginnings - Chapter 175 (Patreon)

“Okay,” Ethan strolled down the line of assembled pokemon, taking in their measure like a drill sergeant. “Now that we have the song picked out, let’s see what you guys can do.” 

He stopped in front of Lotad, who was shaking and staring in two different directions with his lazy, googly eyes. The little lily-pad looked as if he was going to overdose on excitement. “Bust a move!”

“Lo!” Lotad chirped, then… wiggled and flailed about, dropping down onto his tummy so his stubby legs could move freely. Some of them kicked about, hitting the ground and sending him on a slow spin, like a record player. His neck twisted and bobbed in an approximation of coordinated motion. 

It was everything Ethan expected. Lotad didn’t disappoint. 

Ethan snapped his fingers and then pointed dramatically at his pond dweller. “Perfect! You’re in the video!” 

“Lo! Loooo-tad!” Lotad lost his shit at his grand acceptance, spewing tiny bubbles out of his beak as he spazzed out and rotated in circles. 

Right next to Lotad, Skiddo stood still, slowly chewing cud and simply existing in the moment. “How about you?” 

Skiddo lazily looked up to him, then bent her knees about two degrees repeatedly. If you weren’t paying attention, then you wouldn’t even have seen her move. Ethan hemmed and hawed, then moved on. “We’ll come back to you later.” 

His eyes roamed down the line and he stopped in front of nervous or excited pokemon, before slowing moving onwards, drawing out the tension for his next picks. When he stopped in front of a wild Starly, the bird seemed shocked, as if it didn’t think it would ever be picked. “Your turn!” 

Put on the spot, the Starly did what Ethan assumed was instinct. Its wings lifted and fanned out, then it bopped to and fro, sliding side to side in what Ethan assumed was some bird mating dance. It shook its feathers, making a shifting sound. He gave the show a critical eye, then nodded sharply. “You’re in!” 

Down the line he went, eventually stopping on every single pokemon assembled. While he didn’t expect any of the pokemon to know how to dance, they were still fun to watch and it was a nice little game they all played. Even the wild pokemon liked the mock-tryout, as they knew this was exaggerated for fun. Ralts was surprisingly the best when it came to dancing. Though, Tinkatuff did do a fantastic headbang. He’d taught her well.

When Ethan stepped up beside the other smiling humans, who also enjoyed the little show, he gave Joyce an exaggerated look. “Your turn.” 

Joyce snorted at the presumed joke, but Ethan simply smiled wider. “Well? Go on. We’re all waiting.” 

Her slight smile quickly faded as her face paled. Joyce scanned the expectant pokemon who cheered her on. Quickly, she looked to Jessie and James for help, who both wore shit eating grins, leaving her to sink or swim.

“Porygon, please play a song. Maybe Miss Joy needs some help.” Ethan called out with a smile, and within moments, a very different song from the last played. For a solid ten seconds, Ethan thought that maybe Porygon played a local song and not one on his phone. He looked over to the floating digital pokemon in question, and Porygon just looked at him placidly. 

When the lead singer began singing, Joyce, Jessie, and James all stood straighter, losing some of their easygoing fun. They paid very close attention. It was at this point that Ethan realized this was indeed a song from Earth, although he hadn’t even known he had it on his phone. It was probably buried in some playlist he’d forgotten about.

They paid close attention because the song was sung in Japanese. A language he didn’t understand. Although, lots of people would have heard it before. The classic and popular Japanese city-pop song Stay With Me by Miki Matsubara played through the clearing, leading Joyce into her dance. 

Joyce’s dance was something you’d see at a party. It wasn’t wild, just a little side shuffle was bouncing to the music. At one point she threw in a twirl, that was about as out of the norm as it got. She’d fit in at a high school prom or homecoming. When the song ended, Jessie and James were also bobbing a bit, just to the tune of the song. 

“Great! You’re all in!” 

—--------------------------------------------------------

An hour later, the enormous group of pokemon had separated to do their daily business. Ethan, Joyce, and Jessie had picked out some spots to film some of the dance scenes. Later, they’d edit them into the eventual video. Currently, Smeargle was hitting parts of the Cha-Cha-Slide with the side of the barn as a backdrop as Ethan did a terrible moonwalk from one frame of the shot to the other. 

The video was going to be ridiculous. 

Jessie held a camera—a very nice looking camera which they apparently owned for their prior work. Surveiling and monitoring were important aspects of being a criminal, after all. She’d been doing most of the filming, acting as a director, positioning and reordering scenes according to her whims. James was acting as her gofer, fetching ‘props’ and pokemon to come and go for clips. 

It was when the sun was beginning to set, everyone was pretty tuckered out, and food was on their minds, when they ended the fun for the day. They all went to the Pokemon Center to hang out after ‘work’, as it was the largest building on the ranch. Joyce was in the larger kitchen, built for several staying trainers or making food for pokemon patients, while Jessie, James, and Ethan sat around a communal television hung up upon a wall in the communal cafeteria.

The cafeteria, if you could call it that, was fairly small for its name. At most, it could host eight to ten people, but that was more than enough for an out of the way Pokemon Center on a ranch in an unpopulated forest. When Ethan asked about the purpose, she mentioned that trainers traveled in groups. If two or possibly three groups came by the ranch, they’d still be able to comfortably get together, even if they ate at the exact same time. The rules and regulations for what was required in a Pokemon Center were common knowledge to her, but Ethan was still very ignorant about many things—these rules included. 

Carnivine was wriggling around James, practically attached to his back. The large carnivorous plant’s head was resting atop James’, and it seemed perfectly content even when James shifted from discomfort. Jessie paid the plant little mind, chatting about what else would be needed for the music video and where her debut would come in. Meowth was nearby, arguing with Joyce’s Pikachu about something or the other. Pikachu looked smug as a bug, so Ethan assumed the little yellow rodent was just teasing the poor cat.

When Joyce joined them with Chansey on her heels, she carried in several plates of what looked to be curry. Ethan wasn’t much of a curry person, but maybe he’d just never had good curry before. She gracefully served everyone, earning mumbled thanks from James and Jessie, then sat down beside Ethan, scooting her chair just a little closer to his own. 

“Thank you for the meal.” Ethan said softly to Joyce, to not interrupt Jessie’s ramblings and expectations. He was surprised she hadn’t noticed that nobody was really listening anymore. 

“You’ve fed us enough. I thought that it was my turn. Maybe James or Jessie will have us over next time we have a get together.” Joyce replied, then took a big scoop of rice and curry, mashed them together, then took a bite. A large sigh of contentment followed her smile, happy with the taste. 

“...and that’s when we’ll be done. Agreed?” Jessie finished, looking around the table, finally taking in that nobody was actually listening to her. She glared at Ethan, who cringed. Then, suddenly, she hit James right in the shoulder.

“You prick. You weren’t even listening!”

“Ow!” James rubbed his shoulder, displeasing Carnivine who didn’t even care that his trainer just got hit. Several vines and appendages snaked out, putting James back into ‘proper’ position. “I was too! You were talking about yourself, as usual.”

“Oh?! Oh, really?”

Ethan and Joyce ate quietly, side-eyeing each other as the two rockets went at each other like a failing married couple. At this point, Meowth was loudly arguing with Joyce’s Pikachu as well. 

Ethan leaned over to whisper. “Maybe we can skip their turn…” 

Joyce slowly nodded, but still had a slight smile on her face. It wasn’t like Jessie and James arguing was anything new. This one was just… more open. Usually you heard them yelling from a ways away, over the silliest of things. 

As the rockets continued to argue, Joyce continued their conversation. “Um,” She started, then paused. Eventually she collected herself and carried on. “In a month, I’ll be taking a trip back to Kanto for a family visit. I’ll be gone for two weeks.” 

“That’s great! I hope you have a good time.” Ethan finished his curry, then toned out the argument to focus on Joyce. “Will you be flying? Or going by ship?”

As soon as the last word came out of his mouth, he saw Joyce’s apprehension fall away. At first, he didn’t even see it to begin with. “Something wrong?” 

“No,” Joyce waved away his concern with a smile. “I just thought it’d be more of a big deal. Just being silly.” 

“... Okay…?” Ethan felt like this was suddenly a serious topic, but Joyce smiled and grabbed his plate to clean. 

“Chansey, wanna help with the dishes?” She asked her pokemon. 

“Chansey!” The pink blob cheered, scooped up the last of her own meal, then grabbed Jessie and James’ plates from beneath their arguing noses. 

Soon enough, Ethan was ‘alone’---if you could call it that—but a feeling of… wrongness settled in his stomach. He wasn’t sure why, but he felt like he was missing something.