That wasn’t a noise Maoja had ever heard before. Maybe in the news, or passively through the television? Its source danced on the tip of her tongue alongside her coffee, but she couldn’t pinpoint the answer. Pokémon… sounds like a farm animal… has a bell on it…

She stood up to catch the singular creature that came right towards her. However, as it got closer, and that bell kept ring-a-linging, she soon realized that it was not a single Pokémon, but a small group. It was impossible to make out the exact number, but blurry balls of white closed the distance until they were right on top of her.

Figuratively, and literally. They all carried enough force to unbalance her. The abstract world went from a wash of brown and yellow and orange into a blob of dark blue and white. All the air got pushed out of her lungs. She panted as the Wooloo did their thing. At least I set my coffee down on the bench!

Maoja raised upright. She rubbed her head and looked at the… one, two, three–four, fluff balls. Pokémon like this weren’t common in this area. Or rather, weren’t native. So, they must’ve had a trainer. Where were they?

“Are you guys lost? Do you need help finding your owner?”

She tried to sink her fingers into the closest one, Lis, out of pure curiosity. How could she not? The feel of warm, coarse, thick wool drove the cold from her fingertips. Pure bliss.

---

@snapier

Maoja took that as a ‘maybe’. Well. This wasn’t how she expected her evening to go. Four Wooloo, each with unique personalities, on the prowl throughout town. Like a group of friends ready to take on whatever comes their way. Or gets in their way.

And really, who was she to try and stop them? Let them run around and have fun!

“That tickles!” Maoja snickered as the Wooloo did the relatively same to her that she did to it. Like kisses from the cold, except a lot warmer and gentler. And kinder, too. Maybe this is the true reason people raised these creatures in Galar: not for their wool, but for the absolutely cuteness and warmth they represented. Maybe I should go out and see if I can’t find one somewhere.

Yet a different thought followed immediately after. Born out of curiosity and desire. She looked down at the ball of fluff in her hand, and then to the two that circled her like clockwork. Maybe… just maybe, if she got them in her hands…

“Come here, you!” She tried to take the entire Wooloo in one arm. Her other tried to reach out for whichever of the two was closer at any given moment. “Let’s start a dogpile!”

Oh, to be buried underneath four Wooloo, smothered in the bliss that is Wooloo wool. There could be no better feeling at the time than that exact scenario. Yet she couldn’t manage to get ahold of the other two. They were too fast, too focused on their own playing. But there remained one more, who stood further away. It held a serious aura, one that hinted she should keep her distance.

“Don’t you want to play, too? It’ll be fun, and nice, and warm,” she tried to goad Ger over. Maoja wiggled across the sidewalk, a slow and arduous process with a Wooloo in her grip. Maybe, if she could just get a hold of it…

---

Jack Napier

Maoja managed to catch one that ran around after all. To be fair, it did practically leap into her arms as she inched closer to the stoic one. No bother, as she had wanted two in the first place.

And the effects were immediate. Soft, fluffly heaven surrounded her entire front side. It enveloped her, welcomed her, swallowed the girl into its haven of warmth and comfort. Why haven’t I done this ever before?! I have GOT to catch myself a couple Wooloo after this!

The addition of a third spoke even greater praises than ever before. Maoja was truly dogpiled by the creatures, and it made all the pain and stress of today melt away. If only this could last forever…

Unfortunately, these were in fact caught Pokémon. Their trainer burst on the scene, and he sounded something angry and tired. Must’ve been running all over to find these little ones!

“Oh, hi there!” Maoja tried to say. Most of the noise got caught by the white fibers, some of which expanded their domain into her mouth. She tried to spit them out as she tried to sit up. Her half-minute of paradise had come to a close. Chilly, frigid air greeted her once she emerged from the cocoon.

She saw the shape of someone a meter or two away. She let go of the Pokémon in her right arm and pulled the white strings from her mouth. “Hello! I take it that these are your fluffy little friends? Quite the herd you have! All soft and fluffy and warm. And nice."

---

Jack Napier

“Well, they’re pretty darn cute! I’m jealous,” Maoja admitted. While this guy didn’t sound exactly enthusiastic about his affirmation of ownership, she could only guess as to why. Maybe it was because they ran off without him? Understandable… but how could you be mad at cute little guys like this?

Those that still stuck by her, even when she had ‘released’ them. Maybe they enjoyed the dog-pile as much as the one on the bottom. Oh, that just made them even more adorable! But since the other trainer did not immediately call them back, she took the closest one, Lis, back into her arms. Gosh, how are they as fluffy as clouds? Is it their diet?

But when Jack asked his question, her heart skipped a beat. Calm down, play it cool… a Wooloo of her own? Did that mean… no, that was too dream-like in goal. Maybe this was a segway to a joke about her actually taking one of the Wooloo for her own. That did sound like a funny thing to say, based on his dour attitude.

“Well, sir, I… I sure am tempted, to say the least! They’re so nice and comfortable and playful,” she gushed. Even if one of them still hung off to the side, she could only imagine that it felt just as wonderful to hold as the one currently in her arms. “Just look at them! Aren’t they some of the best things in the world?”

A Poke Ball shook on her belt. Frank’s. “Oh, eh he– aren’t they just absolutely cute as all heck?”

Frank’s ball shook again, before it popped open like a flash bang. A few moments later, a fully fledged Alakazam stood in front of the pair. It looked absolutely bored and tired, yet it still bent down and grabbed one of the fluffy sheep before it could get away.

“And this is my own Pokémon, Frank! Say hi, Frank!”

Frank only spared him a half-second glance.

---

Jack Napier

“I’ll be sure to keep that in mind,” Maoja said, “but I doubt I’d want more than one. Or two…”

Seven would be the limit, I swear…

She would enable them to do whatever they set their silly little hearts to, though. However, maybe she didn’t say that to the guy who had four of them and made a mad scramble towards them. Some things were better left in the mind.

While one of the unidentified sheep tried to cut through her wool gloves, Maoja looked at the yellow Pokémon. Looked like a string of spaghetti had picked up a massive snowball from the ground. Except the snowball was a Wooloo, and the spaghetti was Frank. “Well, I’m sure he won’t cause any problems! Right, Frank?”

She didn’t need twenty-twenty vision to know that her Pokémon stared daggers into her. She chuckled nervously. The Alakzam did not wander off, though. He just held the creature in his hands, curiously examining it. As if fascinated with the mere concept of such a large yet light ball.

“See? Perfectly fine! No need to worry. Just amazed with 'em like I am!”

Frank pulled his arm back, and rolled the Wooloo in his hands flush against the ground. A perfect bowl, straight towards Ger. He watched with a gaze that rivaled the most dedicated of scientists: how did the laws of inertia apply to creatures with so much volume yet so little density?

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Jack Napier

“Oh, you don’t need to do that… BUT, if you’re offering… who am I to say no?”

YES YES YES YES YES YES YES–

A nearly impossible quiet bump got Majoa’s attention away from Jack: the sound of wool-against-wool. Two vague white shapes touched and then split once again. She looked to Frank, who looked completely enamored in the pursuit of science. Even with her terrible vision, it wasn’t hard to figure out what had occurred. “Frank, what are you doing? They aren’t toys, they’re Pokémon!”

Very warm, comfortable, and pleasant ones, She added mentally. Frank only spared her a wayward glance, visually exaggerated to convey the action to its trainer. A shrug followed: they were too light and undense to cause any damage. It could throw a thousand of those things at a brick wall, and the biggest problem would be getting them all to stay in one place.

“Sorry about Frank,” she said as she tried to stand back up, “he can be a bit… curious at times.”

As much as it hurt, the two Wooloo were left on the ground to their own devices. She gave each of them a rub on the head and rose to be on eye level with Jack. She blindly reached for the bench, careful not to knock her coffee over onto the white fluff balls.

“I hope whichever ones those are,” she motioned with her free hand towards the two farther white blobs, “don’t get too upset with Frank here. I’m sure he means well! Isn’t that right, Frank?”

She wrapped an arm around his shoulder. Her face got really close to the Alakazam’s, a bright yet deceptive smile for it to see. A sign that anything but agreeance spelled disaster for their relationship. Frank looked away, unsure on how to respond. They didn’t look too mad. At least, one of them didn’t. Whichever one got rolled looked fine. It was the target that looked absolutely pissed.

However, it was also a Wooloo. What could it hope to do back to an intellectual genius like itself?

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Jack Napier