Sitting down for lunch with the Grimer the next day was a balm for the trio’s raw nerves. His engulfing perfume and low, melodious voice nearly had Azophi making up the sleep they’d missed last night. He sipped slowly from the sample packet of body wash Azophi had nicked from the mall, droopy eyes drifting shut with pleasure.

Nerium, Wini, and Malasada shared a plate of Wishiwashi yakitori on the other end of the picnic table while Mochi sat on the bench next to Hau, steadily nibbling away at a leppa fritter. Pimento meanwhile, was sending bits of orange pokebean scattering across the table as she drilled through it with alarming gusto. Not to be outdone, Orris stood on the bench next to Azophi, putting his head at table height the better to shovel food in his face at maximum speed.

“He said yes,” Dax confirmed in their slightly off voice. “He’s enjoyed having friends, and he figures it’s high time to see the world.” Dax paused to listen as the Grimer burbled again. “He’s glad to have such a nice trainer?” Even with the voice software’s limited intonation, their skepticism was evident. They lowered their volume to mutter. “Clearly he doesn’t know you too well.”

“Hey!” Azophi jerked their thumb at Nerium. “I have a water clown and I’m not afraid to douse your circuits!” They turned their attention to the Grimer. “Great to have you aboard! I already picked out a name for you, Arumas.” They dug a ball out of their bag and held it out to him. The Grimer smiled wide and wobbly before slapping the button wetly with a goopy paw. He disappears in a flash of red light. “Yes! Pokemon number four!”

“Wow.” It was a lot less enthusiastic than Makani’s usual. Azophi dipped their head to catch his eye. “Oh—it’s just—I still haven’t caught a single pokemon.”

“It’s fine, bro.” Hau gave his brother’s shoulder a squeeze. “Wini has the whole rest of the crew to practice with. No need to rush into anything.”

That felt pointed and Azophi narrowed their eyes at him before sending Arumas back out. Were they gonna let this passive-aggressive shit slide? Could they let it slide?

Azophi opened their moth but got a facefull of feathers instead of cutting words. Pimento clumsily clawed and flapped her way up Azophi’s hair to the crown of their head. There, the little beach ball settled herself with a satisfied sigh.

“Ow! Pimento!”

The Pikipek fluttered her wings and fluffed up her feathers, claws digging into their scalp. Why did they catch this asshole bird again? They slumped moodily, having learned better than to try and remover her, only to find Orris pilfering the rest of their lunch.

“How did I wind up with two gluttons?” They groaned. “Y’all are gonna be so expensive!”

“Raising pokemon is tough,” said Hau.

Azophi jerked their head to tell him off only to receive a sharp disciplinary peck from Pimento for the disturbance. Then Hau was gathering up the trays and everyone’s trash and striding off to throw it out.

Azophi sighed, watching him go over their shoulder. “ Geez, I didn’t even know he could be sad.”

“Well, it probably won’t last long,” said Makani. “Or at least not this level of intensity. He cares about her a lot. We both do. Just… be careful, please.” He was carefully scratching at Wini’s neck instead of looking at Azophi.

“We wouldn’t be in this boat if he’d just asked her out already.”

Makani shrugged. “Doesn’t matter now. She asked you out and you accepted, so whatever you do from here on out is your decision.”

“So, you think I should go out with her?”

“I just said it was your call!” Even with how tricky things were, Azophi was still surprised by the snap. Makani seemed surprised too. He bit his lip and took a breath before continuing much more softly. “All I ask is that you try and be as nice as possible about it. And give Hau a little space. He’ll come around.”

They could do that right? They had to.

Hau returned and sat down heavily. Azophi sagged under Pimento’s weight and said nothing. Okay, they couldn’t fight with Hau, but there had to be something they could do to get back on Makani’s good side. Orris clambered onto the table beside them to lick up the remaining crumbs. Disgusting. And how were they going to deal with two rock-headed, hollow-legged pokemon? Think Azophi! Then it came to them.

“Zeph, how about you take Orris or Pimento?”

“R-really?” Makani stammered in cautious disbelief. “I don’t want to break up your team.”

“You’d be doing me a favor. This way I won’t be broke before we hit the first Trial.”

“Um, I guess I’ll take Pimento—if that’s alright with her.” That was quick. This mush really did like their Pikipek—somehow. Excellent.

Dax’s chirping explanation was nearly interrupted by a startled shriek from Wini. Her head did a full one-eighty to face Dax and Pimento.

“So, what do you say, little bird? Would you be on my team?”

Pimento ignored the Rowlet and chirped at Makani.

“She wants to know if you’ll feed her,” Dax translated.

“Of course!”

“Then she’s all good.”

Makani held out his hand and the Pikipek finally hopped off Azopi’s head onto it.

“Look Wini, you finally got a teammate, isn’t that great?”

The Rowlet’s face was a bit difficult to read, but her loud hooting sounded anything but excited. Pimento cheeped sharply back and turned away. No fear and no manners. Typical of the little shit.

Makani shied away as Wini flapped and hooted even louder. “Wini! Cut it out!”

She did as he said, but looked about as grumpy and disheveled as Azophi had ever seen her. They stifled a snicker.

“What was that about?” Makani asked

“Um…” was Dax’s eloquent reply. Even the cheeky, smart-alack Rotom didn’t want to repeat the profanity she’d no doubt been screeching. “She’s surprised?” Real smooth.

But that brought another thought to Azophi’s mind. “They said ‘it varies’ in trainer school, but when do you think we’ll stop needing you to translate for us?”

“Human-pokemon communication depends on a wide variety of factors,” said Dax, switching instantly back to encyclopedia mode, “but data says you will likely start to understand your pokemon between a week and a month after training begins.”

Great. Azophi didn’t know what they expected.

“Bonding is tough to predict.” Hau had decided to grace them with his wisdom. “Some people say the understanding comes on slowly and for others it’s all at once. Battling with and taking good care of your pokemon helps.”

Azophi had to bite their tongue at the emphasis he put on the last part. They were trying! Unlike him, they didn’t get to grow up learning about this shit all day every day! Besides which, there was no way Hau’s level of coddling was necessary. Johton trainers certainly didn’t do it that way.

“Anyway!” Makani chirped, hopping to his feet. “Mahalo ā nui, Teapot. This is perfect.”

Ugh, he was so cute and sincere. Azophi tossed their hair, combing out a few avian tangles with their fingers in the process.

“Not a problem, good buddy! Glad I could help.” They handed over Pimento’s ball and Makani hitched it to his belt right next to Wini’s “Of course, that doesn’t answer the question of how I’m gonna keep the remaining bottomless pit fed.”

“Win battles.” said Hau flatly. He had really perfected the art of being insufferably right and wrong at the same time. “There are plenty of trainers around.”

“If you keep up a regular schedule, your battle account will pay out every week.” See? It wasn’t that hard to be actually helpful. Although, what they really needed was a few pointers on the battle culture here. Nīnau-sensei spent a lot of time on the rules of engagement and how to use the battle app and none on how you were supposed to start a battle not arranged by a third party.

“So, I just roll up to strangers and yell ‘fight me!’?”

“Yeah.”

Keep it together, Azophi. Focus. Remember what's at stake.

They withdrew Orris and Arumas and slung their bag back over their shoulder.

“Alright, Nerium, let’s get to work.”