Zac dropped the bags of Lavaridge Ash at the end of the nearest row and stood up straight, stretching his back. "Oh boy that'll wake you up!"

He laughed, stomping gently on the bag. "Nice bag of Ramsay's special mix, straight from my backyard."

At Michi's request he sent out Trapinch. She sure has taken a liking to the little anklebiter. He thought happily. I'll have to use him more.

Zac set TBD to work burrowing along the row, mixing the thick, mulchy Petalburg soil with his ashy mix. 'The perfect combi!' As Michi would probably say.

"Don't worry about wild pokemon, I've got something to protect the garden." He said, sending out Serperior. The broad, regal snake blended right in with the grass, despite its size, and it set off slithering around the perimeter of their plot, keeping watch.

"I've even got a scarecrow!" He said happily, reaching for Mimikyu. Then he remembered the terrifying, shambling visage that had almost ruined their walk. "Uh...Devin, you do a pretty good scarecrow impression right?"

Devin did his best Matchan impression instead.

[attr="class","wildbgsaf"]

[attr="class","wildtitle"]A WILD PARAS APPEARED!

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[attr="class","wildbgsaf"]

[attr="class","wildtitle"]A WILD CHANSEY APPEARED!

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Still chuckling at Devin’s scarecrow impression— Zac was such a funny man— Michi turned to oversee the Trapinch’s work. She folded her arms as she watched the little tire-biter churning through the loamy ground, warming diligently to its task. The Trapinch actually seemed to be doing a good job, so she turned away without making any unwanted comments and busied herself helping Matchan unload all the supplies they’d brought. 

”Shovel, please!” <Machaaa!> “Rake, please!” <Machaaa!> “Nikujaga, please!” <Macha—Ma? Machamacha?> “Ohoho, Matchan, you are so silly— There’s no nikujaga! Only gardening supplies. Wailmer can, please!”

The Machamp handed her the cutest gardening supply of them all and Michi held it up happily. After she’d left the plant nursery where they’d decided to rent this little garden together, Michi had gone back to get a little watering pail of her own. Character goods were gimmicky, but they worked. Maybe Michi didn’t eat fast food so often, but if they were giving out limited edition Mimikyu bowls... well, maybe she would come get family-size special just that time.

But they didn’t need water just yet, so Michi pulled on her gardening gloves and got to work. She’d worn practical clothes today, long sleeves and a big hat to protect her skin from the sun. “No biting,” she warned Trapinch, careful not the get her fingers caught in the ant lion’s churning jaws, and moved down the line of freshly tilled soil, shaping it into long, mounded rows with her hands.

“If they are like this, the rain will not bother them,” she explained vaguely, straightening up. “Ooh, where did Serperior go?” The grass snake was so beautiful, but she’d been so busy watching Trapinch she hadn’t been able to admire it. Oh well. “Do you have the seeds? I think maybe it is ready to plant,” she said, looking approvingly at the newly-turned soil. 

As they worked to shape the mounds of dirt and plant the packets of seeds, there was a commotion nearby. "Sounds like our little garden snake has found an intruder already!" Zac said, looking up from where he had been hammering in the guide stakes. 

There was a dull crash, a long, drawn out hiss, and then a THWACK, THWACK as Serperior sent the would-be berry snatchers flying with a dual application of IRON TAIL. A plump, round, pink pokemon went flying into the nearby trees, followed by a small, fungus covered crab.

"I'll have to double his pay." Zac joked. "Now, where did I put that trowel."

[attr="class","wildbgsaf"]

[attr="class","wildtitle"]A WILD ZANGOOSE APPEARED!

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[attr="class","wildpkmnbox"]

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[attr="class","wildbgsaf"]

[attr="class","wildtitle"]A WILD TURTWIG APPEARED!

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Michi had actually been worried that wild Pokemon would disturb them while they were gardening, but knowing Serperior was so good at its work put her completely at ease. She was free to focus completely on gardening, sorting with her fingers through piles of freshly-churned earth to ferret out clumps of weeds and grasses that might take root and outcompete their seedlings.

She was tugging at a particularly stubborn sprout, actually needing to wrap both hands around its base to pry it out, when a shower of dirt flew up in the air and Michi actually uprooted a full Turtwig. “Eeeeeh!” She cried as she fell backwards with a thump, the little turtle still dangling from her gloved hands.

“A Poturtle was here!” Michi exclaimed, amazed. Had someone forgotten to dig it up when their garden lease was over?  “I am so surprised... maybe she is sleeping already for winter?” She felt terrible for pulling it out so rudely. “I-it is OK... I will just put her back...” Turtwig cradled in her hands, Michi looked around frantically for a good place to re-bury the grass-type for the winter.
 

No sooner had Zac turned back from the the commotion of Serperior's garden defence, than Michi was screaming! "Eeeeeeh! A Poturtle was here!"

And here it was! "What a fantastic little flora friend you've found! That's true buried treasure right there." Zac said, brushing some dirt off of the Turtwig's head. He helped Michi replant the pokemon, vowing the dig it back up again after it was done hibernating.
"If we water this little guy all through winter, he'll big nice and strong come Spring." Zac said, pouring a little sprinkle of water on the Pokemon's protruding frond.

HISSSSSSS 

"Oh! Sounds like he's found something else already! Buy this place is thick with Pokemon!" Zac said, running towards the sound of Serperior's fighting. He arrived just in time to see Zangoose launch itself at the big snake and sink its claws deep into the body of the serpent.

Serperior reared back, hissing in pain and slamming its body into the ground to try and get the attacker off. 
"LEAF TORNADO !" Zac shouted, and the autumnal foliage surrounding the fight lifted off, pulled into the air by a sudden updraft. As the pair fought, the hurricane of fallen leaves tightened, slicing at Zangoose with sharp edges until the attacked jumped off of its prey. With a foul glare and a savage hiss it retreated into the forest.

[attr="class","wildbgsaf"]

[attr="class","wildtitle"]A WILD MORELULL APPEARED!

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[attr="class","wildbgsaf"]

[attr="class","wildtitle"]A WILD SKITTY APPEARED!

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The earth was warm over the dormant Turtwig and Michi patted it down firmly, making sure the sprout would get plenty of sunlight over the winter. While hibernating, the little grass-type wouldn't need any more nutrients than what the sun provided. She and Zac had planted it the center of the garden where it still had plenty of room to grow. It would be the most sheltered from wind or wild Pokemon foraging around the outside.

"Sleep, little turtle, sleepy sweet-po-turtle," Michi sang to herself, already making up her mind to come back and repot the Turtwig if anything happened. With the black plastic sheeting they were putting down she wasn't so worried about weeds or frost, but her many years in Hoenn had given Michiko the habit of being habitually prepared. Disasters, environmental or otherwise, were a fact of life here. That didn't make the region any less wonderful!

They worked in peace for a time, planting seedlings in a circular pattern with the Turtwig in the middle. Then-- "Hello Skitty!" Michi exclaimed suddenly. It was ambiguous whether she was just stating the name of her favorite stationary character or actually greeting the Skitty who was sniffing around their gardening supplies. It was actually drinking out of the Lotad Pail, lapping delicately at the green water dish. "Aaahh, how cute! Zac, do you see?"

Pets like Cinccino and Glameow were more fashionable these days, but the ongoing success of the Hello Skitty franchise meant the pink Pokemon had never really lost its charm. It always made Michi a little sad when she saw stray Skitty around the neighborhood, but they always got plenty of fish down at the docks in the evenings, so it wasn't too sad. At least they were well-fed!

Taking a break to watch Skitty, Michiko followed it as it padded around, sniffing Matchan's toes. I suppose it is more like Charmmy Skitty than Hello Skitty, Michi thought, comparing their sizes in apples. Charmmy Skitty was Hello Skitty's pet Skitty, since Hello Skitty was actually a little Galarian girl named Skitty Sword. 

She watched as it wiggled its haunches, then pounced on something hiding in among the tamato berry starts. The kitten Pokemon withdrew with something spindly and faintly glowing dangling from its teeth. "Ah! Put it down, I think this mushroom is poisonous," Michi said, distressed. She hadn't thought the soil was wet enough to sprout mushrooms, though it was the season. 

Holding its 'kill' in its mouth, the Skitty turned and began to lope/scurry away with its tiny, tiny legs. "Waah! Matchan! Catch Skitty!" Michiko exclaimed. Matchan's top-heavy physique was not particularly suited to grabbing very small things running on the ground, but he did his best. Fully believing in Matchan's ability to separate the kitten from the toxic fungi, Michi tuned out the crashing slapstick comedy going on behind her and went back to gardening.

 

Zac returned to a strange sight. Michi was still peacefully pottering around in the garden, but Matchan was struggling, struggling to remove something from the ground. What could be causing him so much trouble? It takes more than an unusually large radish to stop a pokemon that could throw 100 punches a second.

"Watcha got there big fella?" Zac asked, going to see what the commotion was about. The muscular pokemon had all four of its arms clenched around...a mushroom. A tiny little grey and pink stalk that glowed faintly in the afternoon shade.

The scene was made all the stranger by the existence of Matchan's latest friend, a tiny cat! To Zac's surprise, a little Skitty was now riding on Machamp's shoulder, her claws gripping on for purchase as he wrestled with the fungus.
The ground had bent and buckled around Matchan's worthy foe, but despite his heaving the Morelull was firmly INGRAINED in the rich soil. 


"Well." Zac said, sizing up the little fungus. "I can see where you're going wrong." Matchan looked at him, as if eager for some crumb of advice. "You should be wearing gloves." Zac laughed, and Matchan slumped. Skitty mewed and licked her lips,. She was waiting for another chance to chew on the mushroom.

"No sweat big fella, I'll take it from here." He said, and he stamped on the ground to call Trapinch. The little tunneller popped out of the dirt, jaws snapping shut happily. "Think you can loosen that thing up?" 
<SNAP SNAP>
"Get to it then!" Zac said with a smile.

TBD burrowed under the stubborn shitake, and as Morelull's roots came free it lifted itself from the soil. Skitty leapt for her prey, but Zac was ready, and the fungus disappeared inside of the Pokeball, captured.

Matchan had never thought of himself as a cat person, but everything changed when the Skitty attacked. First it had used Sing, which had lulled him to a peaceful sleep face-first on the ground while Michiko gardened and sang to herself obliviously behind him. He'd had terrible dreams filled with dancing Morelull and woke to a feeling like he was having all his energy drained by a hostile fungus. He also woke to the feeling of a Wake-Up Slap, which all in all should have resulted in a distinct, confirmed dislike of cats.

But then the Skitty had looked up at him with the sweetest, squintiest little eyes and bared its little bug-fangs and gone <Mew?> and his eyes had turned into big hearts. Literally-- an Attract attack projected itself towards him, melting his Grinch-like heart (Matchan himself would have been skeptical at this description) and causing it to grow three sizes even before the holiday season.

Skity was very smug about this new development. She was sitting on his shoulder while he worked on yoinking the Morelull, as she'd bid him to do, but the mushroom's Ingrain made it a pesky weed. Fortunately, Zac's Trapinch was able to help. Less fortunately, the man captured the Skitty's prize treat in a Pokeball, which she objected to with an angry mew, arching her back. She stared vengefully at Zac, who had betrayed her deeply. Matchan hung his head, feeling like the most useless cat-husband. 

"Matchan, did you get the mushroom away from Hello Skitty?" Michi looked up as the group returned, wiping her brow. "Oh! You are getting along!" she exclaimed, immediately charmed by the contrast between the delicate little pink Pokemon and the huge, strong Machamp. It is like the cherry trees in the spring, she thought, clasping her hands together earnestly as she watched Matchan pet the purring Pokemon with two of his four hands. She wished she could take a picture! 

Matchan seemed so taken with the Skitty that Michiko actually took off her gloves to go get her bag. She didn't have many Pokeballs left so she'd been planning to save them, but she thought even Pokemon deserved to have pets-- just like Hello Skitty and her pet Charmmy Catty. And she and her husband had been talking bout giving Matchan more responsibility.

"Matchan, if you promise to be taking care of Skitty," she said to Matchan warningly, handing him the Pokeball, "You may catch her." He took it from her gratefully, then instantly and immediately dissolved into red light and swirled away inside it. Michi's face dropped into confusion and dismay as all her gardening supplies as well as the Skitty suddenly fell to the ground. "Wah!"

She was still for a moment, holding onto the brim of her hat. "I... think Pokemon cannot catch Pokemon," she said, honestly still baffled, then laughed. She scooped up the other ball that had rolled by her feet, tossing it towards the stunned Skitty. "Oh well! Now I know!"

The Skitty disappeared and Michi collected both Pokeballs before turning to Zac, glancing up at the sun. It was getting near sunset, and while they had finished planting the garden (and Poturtle) itself, they had yet to construct any kind of protection to keep the plants safe from frost and other pests. "We are still working, but, I worry... you have plans tomorrow, yes?" She didn't mind coming back to finish the garden on her own, but it did make her a little nervous to be on her own with so many wild Pokemon around.
 

[attr="class","wildbgsaf"]

[attr="class","wildtitle"]A WILD CACNEA APPEARED!

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[attr="class","wildtitle"]A WILD GALARIAN WEEZING APPEARED!

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With all the pokemon cleared out of th garden, Zac took a deep breath and sat down, taking a breather.
 
"We are still working, but, I worry... you have plans tomorrow, yes?"
"Tomorrow?" Zac asked, scratching his head. "I'm down to go a bit later though if you are. I mean, it's not even dar-..." Zac looked around at the gloom, which obscured a good half of the garden, stranding their little group in an island of weak light.
He had been so intend on protecting the garden and catching the wild pokemon that he hadn't noticed the sun going down.

And with the darkness came the early Winter chill, settling into the ground and Zac's hands. He flexed his fingers, working some warmth back into then. They couldn't leave their freshly planted berries out overnight like this.The frost would wipe them out!
"Well, huh. I guess we'll need a bit more lighting and warmth to keep going. Another few hours and the shelters should be finished." He grinned at Michi, and sent out Turtonator, Zappa, and the freshly caught Morelull.

Zappa burst with saffron light the moment he emerged, and suddenly the garden felt like it had been spotlit from above. Zac would se all the way to the edges now, and he noticed some conspicuous shapes scuttling back into the shadows. Have to keep an eye on that. There are still plenty of wild pokemon out tonight.

Morelull was less impressive, and the little mushroom settled down at the edge of the rows, pulling a beam of lunar light down onto their collection of gardening supplies and jumbled tools.

Turtonator's stomped away from the garden, settling down next to Michi and Matchan. His shell shuddered and sent off little wisps of smoke as the turtle began to radiate heat. 

"Too easy!" Zac said, rubbing his hands and moving closer to Turtonator's warmth. "Hey Michi, you didn't bring any cocoa, did you?"