CJ dragged their hand through Kinnick’s rough, spiky fur, relishing in the familiar static tingles that traveled up their fingers, making the hair on their forearms stand on end. Kinnick huffed sleepily, burrowing deeper into her spiral, enjoying her sunshine-enriched nap.

Their quiet day seemed to come to an end when another person on a Manectric came up to them, ignoring CJ at first but noticing Kinnick. When they finally did acknowledge CJ, the blonde tipped their chin and smiled.

“She’s more of her own than anyone else’s, but, yeah.” They tugged lovingly on Kinnick’s ear, and she worke up with a disgruntled, sleepy yowl, swatting and their hand and yawning.

Then she was up like a shot, rushing into the nearby undergrowth where the woods curved close to the water. There was a disgruntled squeaking, then the characteristic zap and smell of ozone that usually accompanied Kinnick’s Electric-type attacks; then, a heavy sliding noise, as she backed out of the woods, dragging a very ticked off looking Ampharos by the tail. It kept shocking her, to no avail, and its arms were too short to hit her, so it swiped angrily at the empty air.

Kinnick dragged it back and dropped it with a happy huff, a proud look on her face. CJ frowned, bopping the Ampharos with a Pokeball before it could hop up and really get mad.

“I’m CJ,” they introduced, turning back to the stranger, right elbow over right knee. “What’s your name?”

electric/water
Josh Devlin !
catch attempt ampharos

☉

CJ beamed at the praise for their Jolteon, though their smile was a little pained. “Yes, she is. Among… other things.” Kinnick was a wild one, that was for sure. She was brutal and fearless and just a little bit vicious.

Their smile fell as Josh relayed his adventures with immigration. “That sucks, I’m sorry,” they said, voice emphathetic and genuine. “I couldn’t imagine being split up from my Pokemon. Kinnick came with me all the way from Sinnoh.” At the mention of their home region, CJ thought back to cold, Snowpoint winters, a delicacy and comfort they may never see again-- not if this stupid dome didn’t go away, or if the region got smashed by a giant meteor. “Where are you from?”

The somber moment was broken by Saber getting accosted by a rogue Lombre, and CJ couldn’t help but laugh, though they tried to keep it contained; it burst out in a sunshiney sound as Josh wiggled back and forth like a Wobbuffeet as his Manectric shook him back and forth. “Sorry, sorry. That was cute.”

Kinnick yowled and CJ turned to see she’d disappeared. A moment later and an Electabuzz came crashing through the undergrowth, head thrown back and hitting the ground with a roll. A frown creased CJ’s features as Kinnick pursued the downed beast, jumping onto its chest and discharging a fierce Thunder at point blank range. It didn’t do a whole lot of damage but the Electabuzz definitely felt it, jerking and shaking in place where Kinnick had it pinned to the ground. CJ tossed a Pokeball off the Pokemon’s saucer-shaped head, and Kinnick brought the item back to her trainer.

“Wow, that’s a lot on your plate,” CJ said, after Josh had finished his introduction and laid down his long list of dreams, “you sound like a busy guy.” CJ ran a hand over Kinnick’s head, and she purred, pressing into their palm. They almost introduced themselves again, then remembered they’d already done that, oops. “We’re just out enjoying the day. But trouble finds us. Or, rather, Kinnick finds trouble.”

The Jolteon mrrrowed with pride.

electric/water
Josh Devlin !
catch attempt electabuzz

☉

CJ leaned in to peer at the phone, hoping to offer more polite words of praise; what came out, however, when their mouth split open like the fractious earth was, “Holy shit, that’s a huuuuuge Jolteon.”

Kinnick mow’d in protest, wanting to assert her dominance as the best Jolteon that ever was. CJ scratched her head absently, not even noticing when she’d moved away-- probably to find more wild Pokemon to torment.

Josh explained the situation and CJ wanted to comfort the guy. “Hey, don’t give up hope,” they said, gesturing vaguely at the space between, “even if I don’t think the League’s plan holds water, we literally live in a world with magic. There’s no way that meteor hits.” Even if they had to take every Tyranitar on the planet and zap it with hyper beam in orbit.

“Kinnick came from a breeder, too, but she was an Eevee, and she bit her first owner, so they relinquished her at the Daycare where J-- where my friend worked.” The slip was a press of lips and well covered, a body hidden in a cement pyle. “She and I hit it off, though, so she came to me and we’ve been partners ever since.”

There was an off-screen zapping noise and then the sound of little, interspersed meows, like the little hums a cat makes as it’s walking very fast, a beat with each footstep. Kinnick padded back up to CJ with a Mudkip in her mouth, dropping the KO’d creature at her trainers feet. “Hoenn doesn’t get much cold, even in winter,” CJ cautioned, pressing a Pokeball to the Mudkip’s orange cheek, “not like where I’m from.”

electric/water
Josh Devlin !
catch attempt mudkip

☉

“Yeah, I can imagine.” Having worked in vetmed for so long CJ had seen the results of what improper breeding could create. It was why, for the most part, they tried to avoid buying from breeders and supporting that portion of the industry, as much as they could.

They gave Josh a wan smile. “Beaurocrats don’t fast track anything unless it directly benefits them.” Maybe, as a Ranger, CJ should avoid badmouthing the Powers That Be, since they supplied their paycheck-- but Josh seemed like good people, and probably wouldn’t go off talking about CJ spouting their mouth off. Probably.

They did, however, bark a laugh when Josh had the audacity to insinuate all Pokemon are smart. “Um, well,” they said, squeezing their braid, “I don’t doubt that Kin’s old owner was entirely unprepared for her. But she is also kind of a savage sometimes.”

As though to prove the point, Kinnick had worked their nose under a nearby lump that turned out to be a Kabuto. With a victorious screech, she flipped the thing over and fox-pounced on it twice with a double-kick of her front legs. The thing’s little yellow legs flailed and twitched in time with the strikes, before hanging slack.

“Snowpoint, Sinnoh,” CJ said, voice colored with pride as they zapped the poor Kabuto with a Pokeball. “I know nothing about racing or else I’d be more help. But we really only have one season here, and that’s pretty much summer.”

electric/water
Josh Devlin !
catch attempt kabuto

☉