June looked to the newcomer, bags underneath her eyes. “Yea, something like that.”

Who the hell was this? She’d never seen this man before in her life, and she didn’t see any reason for him to walk up to her. Unless this was a naturally good Samaritan, she’d done something wrong.

CAWWWWWWWWWWWW!

Oh. Right. “Sorry if this dumbass woke you up.”

Hrmph.

“Shut up!”

The Corviknight turned its head back away from June. Looked like the matter had been settled: he was going to be a bastard, and June was shit out of luck. Great. Now what did she do? Her available options for Pokémon able to lift this ton of damn packages started and ended with that strange Pokémon on her belt. The one that was aggressively protective, dangerous, and overall untrained in the art of ‘not attacking on sight’.

She let out the longest sigh known to man. Gears churned, but not in a good way. That was, if your name was ‘stranger who approached her first’. For her, an idea sprung up in her mind. A long shot, but a lifesaver if it worked out. Just required this guy to be both willing and able and not want any of the proceeds. Or knowledge of Petalburg.

“Say,” June rubbed her neck, “you from around here? I need to get all these packages delivered to Lilycove, and my friend here isn’t willing. Any chance you could… help me out? I can’t promise you much…”

Hopefully he didn’t ask for specifics. That cold can of battery acid amounted to all she was willing to give away, and if he called her bluff then they'd have to actually... gulp. Negotiate a price for services rendered. She jittered in place suddenly, but not from the harsh cold.

---

Isaac Merlo

“Oh, thanks man, I really… appreciate…”

June’s voice left her throat as the stranger waltzed right over to Knight and began to inspect him. Much like she did, he pulled on the saddlebags and various things that clung to the creature for strength. Not only had she done that earlier, they had been as tight as could be.

“Uh… I did that this morning,” she said slowly. “And the problem isn’t that he can’t fly, it’s that–”

Knight caught on rather fast. As Isaac double-checked the last bag, it bent over itself and pecked at his hand. Not hard enough to do meaningful damage if the blow struck, but it sent the message rather well. Cawww! Caww! Cawww! Caw!

“Do. Not. Touch. Me.”

Its eyes narrowed to slivers. The Corviknight thought it was rather clear that it was tired and didn’t want to fly right now. June sighed, “Yea, see? He’s not moving an inch unless you’re a union buster. We need to get something or someone else to fly instead, and I don’t have anything strong enough. Or, well, anything I feel good using.”

Maybe she was better off to ask someone else. What the hell did this guy have in mind? Thoughts wandered to the dozens upon dozens of ideas, but not a single one sounded feasible. Even the more dubious in morality answers felt far-fetched. Nothing short of giving in (which was NOT one of her ideas) would get this guy to move. This attempt to outsource the labor proved ineffective.

“Look, I appreciate the thought, but like… do you have another bird on you? Or, like… what’s the word… know someone else with a bird? Or just, you know, something to carry this heavy thing? I need it delivered today, and I don’t even know what you have in mind here, hotshot,” June ranted. What, did this guy have the power of wind, flight, or a car battery that he wasn’t sharing?

---

Isaac Merlo

“Okay, first off,” June’s shoulders slumped hard, “what’s this ‘running him ragged’? We’re doing fine! We had a break, like, 6 hours ago! And second off, what the hell are you doing?”

She looked at the stranger, who was now stretching his heart out. Did he plan on trying to wrestle Knight into submission or something? Fat chance in hell of that happening. He’d get pecked into ribbons before he even put one hand on it. Maybe this guy was secretly deranged, or something. She put one hand into her coat pocket, ready to whip out her box cutter at a moment’s notice.

However, the Corviknight seemed intrigued. It cocked its head in several different directions once Isaac started to stretch. The movement confused it, yet the prospect of food sounded nice. Better than the dehydrated jerky he got as a break meal. And not having to do anything? Sounded too good to be true.

But his words didn’t hide any malicious intent. It could feel that as well as it could feel the chilly air against its hardened black feathers. After a few long moments, Knight trilled lightly. Wings relaxed, and its head sunk into its body. Whatever the stranger had in mind, it’d be willing to at least see what he meant.

Unfortunately, June saw this just as well as Isaac. “Oh come on! Some random guy walks up to you, promises you dinner, and you just… say yes? How the hell did you get to be a Corviknight?!”

“Alright, can you at least tell me what the hell your game plan here is? I’m starting to think you’re just trying to steal my Pokémon away from me like a Rocket grunt,” she inched a little closer to the pair. “You’re not gonna be able to lift shit! I know that his species doesn’t weigh as much as they look, but that’s a whole-ass steel tub! That thing has gotta be, at minimum, half a ton.”

---

Isaac Merlo

Arceus, June’s head hurt. The mere act of watching the man run around and around sent her brain into a tizzy, until nothing made any sense. So this guy did have a trick up his sleeves. Why the long spiel about it then? For a moment there, it looked as if the guy did really intend to tackle the Corviknight straight off its perch.

Instead, a miniature tornado was born. Artificially created, but that meant little as it barreled from Isaac onto the bird. Surprise filled its hollow bones, yet disappeared as it realized what was going on: a suspended free fall that somehow lifted it upward. Movement towards Lilycove, high enough to avoid the tallest of trees, and at no expense to itself. For once in the last three days, Knight could relax.

June? Well, she had much less input on the matter. Too confused (and exhausted) to dodge the second vortex of wind, she took to the skies alongside her mount. Blues, whites, greys, greens– the colors swirled and mixed into one messy soup of hues. A lesser rider would’ve vomited after a few moments, but June managed to keep the stomach slurry where it belonged. Her head could not say the same. A massive headache took control with an iron fist. The only input that got through were Isaac’s words.

“How am I supposed to relaaaaaaaa…” she tried to yell overhead the turbulent winds. It didn’t take long for them to consume her words. This would be a very long trip to Lilycove. Even if not physically, then both mentally and emotionally. Despite the awful wind, she swore she could hear Knight doing the best laugh a bird could muster.

---

Isaac Merlo

Knight thoroughly enjoyed the flight, even if it felt as hollow as its bones. Half the fun was being able to lift those heavy things for hours on end. A feat of strength and an ego booster, discarded for the sake of convenience. Yet it also had to deal with the likes of June for Arceus knows how long. This one time, the easy way out would be taken advantage of.

The trainer though… she was fully out of it. Left a dazed, disoriented mess, she floated in the winds like a corpse. No energy to fight the winds, the delivery girl let the stranger do whatever the hell it was and enjoyed the ride– not that ‘enjoy’ was the right word. Rather, it was hard to think of another one when one ran on minimal energy and maximum caffeine.

Of course, that haze of confusion evaporated alongside the misty, salty air that pelted her senses. A pleasant feeling, if not for her position related to the body of water. “Woah, woah! Dude, the water!”

They flew across it in record time. More an alarm than an actual danger, for the feeling of apprehension left as soon as they were back on their merry way. June panted, trying to position herself towards Isaac.

She failed, and settled on the upside-down-three-quarters-to–him position instead. “You didn’t tell me you were a fucking magician! This sucks!”

SQUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWW!

“SHUT UP, KNIGHT!”

“Why are you asking now, anyway?” She called out. A strange time to worry about their well-being. A knot formed in the depths of her gut: something was about to happen, wasn’t it? “Don’t get any funny ideas, you hear? Not trying to deliver my corpse to Lilycove as well!”

June flailed her arms wildly, unable to catch a single ounce of solid object that wasn’t attached to her. Arceus, what she wouldn’t give to be on the back of Matchstick right about now…

They would’ve been to Lilycove by now. Fuck, the deadline. Their pace wasn’t quite there yet. Perhaps anything short of a fast pass would get her ass chewed out by the fucker who gave her the opportunity. “Hey, you know any fast ways to Lilycove from here! We don’t got all day!”

---

Isaac Merlo

Oh goodie: more fucked up paths. June tried to let out an exasperated sigh but failed on account of the sudden change in direction. Made sense, given the story the guy gave. Saved a legendary? She heard of those things giving people strange powers, but this was a bit too far for her to believe.

But how else did they soar past the cliff and onto the Cycling Road? Luck? A Jetpack? Tornado? Magic seemed the only possible conclusion.

“Tell me someone who has a motorcycle and hasn’t,” June yelled out, “And I’ll show you a liar!”

She’d done so more times than she could even remember. It always felt like a little obstacle course, with all the turns to take and people to dodge. Got quite a few tickets there too. Good times.

Unlike the Casteliacone. In the one brief moment that she got vaguely close to Knight, she held it out for the bird to gobble up. It did so in one clean bite, a caw of satisfaction soon on its beak. “You trying to kill me? This thing has at least three cups of sugar if not more! I hate sweets anyway.”

Some nice, salty popcorn would be much better on a trip like this. That way, if she threw up, the collateral wouldn’t be disastrous like Ice Cream. Unfortunately, she didn’t know any vendors that did. Otherwise, she’d ask for a detour.

“Another one? You keep those in the same pocket as your magic?” She asked. They’d just cleared Mauville. There wasn’t much else in the way, besides various routes and forests. The only 'shortcut' was to just soar above them all. Unless… no. He couldn’t.

“Alright pal, good joke, haha,” she laughed nervously, eyes locked onto the horizon. “You’re seriously not thinking about THAT, right? No way in hell, you’ll turn us into a red paste!”

---

Isaac Merlo