Chapter Text
…
“Oh, Groundskeeper, don’t worry about me, I definitely know what to look for! Oddish sleep in the ground!”
…
“Groundskeeper, should we split up now? Is there anything else we should know about?”
Ledian didn’t describe Oddish in any particular way, so all the information the two memorized should be of help.
“Azul? How is your multitasking?”
With a coy, proud grin, he explained to you that there is absolutely nothing he can’t do to help. Naturally, he said, you should leave whatever task you had in mind to him.
But his body jerked forward a little when you showed him something …that looked quite old. It was like an outdated gaming console—with how small the screen was and the little antenna that stuck out of it.
“This is…?”
A Poké Radar. It’s used to look for hidden Pokémon in tall grass.
Azul, like with everything else you’ve shown him, was ready to learn absolutely everything he could no matter how unconventional it was to him. But even with your rather quick introduction to the item and Azul’s rather quick grasp of it, the Poké Radar still struggled to find anything.
But it wasn’t just the Poké Radar, all of you seemed to have trouble finding the missing Pokémon.
“Hey Groundskeeper… do you think we just missed them?” It was a weary, quiet question from Kalim. He seemed a little sluggish, and considering how much time has passed since your early morning start, you don’t blame him for becoming tired at all.
“Oh!” He suddenly regained his energy as if he had never lost it in the first place, “Hey guys, I was just thinking… It's been a while since we’ve had anything to eat, right? Jamil probably left me something since I ate super early. I can go get that so we can all have something in our stomachs, and we’ll feel better after moving around so much. If I run into Jamil, I’ll bring him, too! Groundskeeper, you might not know, but he’s super reliable, and whenever I lose something, he knows just where to look! I’ll go get everything, okay?”
You didn’t stop him from running off—he probably needed a break. Azul, however, didn’t seem so keen on letting him run off to find food. Maybe he wanted a break, too.
“No, no,” he sighed, “I’d rather complete this task as quickly as possible. I just don’t trust Kalim to return with only what’s necessary–” He was interrupted by the Poké Radar’s tune, it was never the loudest, but after waiting for that sound so intently it made him jump.
The Oddish must have heard it too, though, because in the next moment, the bush next to Azul shook violently. But before either of you reached it, a shadow popped out and ran away.
“Ah, wait! Kalim, come back! Kalim– ack!”
Without hesitation, Greninja rushed off to try and catch the missing Oddish. You recalled Abomasnow into their Poke Ball before jumping into action too, and nearly a second later, you began to hear the strong galloping of your dear friend with Azul in tow. They passed you easily, but the Oddish suddenly changed their direction, so they overshot their stop.
But the area you were in was a little dense with the native flora. The sistering, strong and lively trees only slowed Pidgeot and Silvally down. Both Pokémon, while agile and quick, were also considerably big. Greninja, on the other hand, was made of nothing but speed. Catching up to the little Pokémon wasn’t a problem for him, even if the little Oddish had more ability to manoeuvre the tree trunks while ducking into the bushes. It was probably better to try and corner the Oddish between the group of you, so you led Pidgeot to fly above while you would continue on foot.
Pidgeot is only meant to surveillance the runaway Pokémon, so the rest of the work is left to your friends and yourself. Greninja kept themselves above the ground by travelling through the trees, silently waiting for the right moment to pounce while ensuring the little Pokémon didn’t try climbing upward. You tried following a path parallel with Silvally to keep the Pokémon boxed between the three of you, but really, Silvally wasn’t leading. Azul was guiding Silvally to remain as closely to the Pokémon’s heel as they could. They were following every twist and turn, every jump left and right, as if trying to snatch the Pokémon up by their leaves.
But still, the bushes and tree roots were getting in their way. Azul seemed to have no problem taking full control, but it was obvious he didn’t know how to handle your friend—he underestimated Silvally completely. His inability to fully attune himself to Silvally meant that even though they were in the position to perfectly trail the Pokémon and even capture it, their disharmony kept them from aligning to the wild Pokémon’s path.
“Wait!” Azul chokes out with some strain, “Groundskeeper, lead them to the right!”
“Greninja, right!”
From their place above, water formed into Greninja’s awaiting hand to form his signature weapon. The throwing star spiralled towards the ground before you could even blink—shattering into the grass with a glisten of light.
!
The Pokémon, having jumped from one spot to run through a rather large bush, leaped away and obliquely ran toward a tree with large, exposed roots. With the crash and shatter of another close throwing star, the Pokémon changed direction completely and began running with all its might to the right.
“Groundskeeper, that’s too far right!”
Azul lost time reining in Silvally to keep up with the Pokémon’s deviation—and with you barely being able to keep up, Greninja would have to curb the Pokémon alone… unless—
“Abomasnow!”
WIth a strong shock of red, Abomasnow’s Poke Ball burst open to showcase their battle stance and attentive, pink eyes. Your reliable girl rose a wall of thick, dark green vines towering even them, and with the new obstruction the wild, scurrying Pokémon was forced to run parallel to the wall that almost encased them if they hadn’t been quick enough.
They just barely dodged the way you swiped at them—picking up speed to avoid running into you. Finally, in the next moment, Abomasnow’s vine wall ended with the contact of withered, red brick. Silvally jumped to cover the end of the new obstacle—so with you and Greninja stopping in front of the wild Pokémon, and Abomasnow blocking the way they came—the wild Oddish was finally caught.
Except…
“A bug!?”
They was half a meter tall with only a 0.1kg difference in weight… no wonder you mistook them for Oddish. Even with the white of their body and their four legs, they ran without trying to dig into any of the tree roots, so you weren’t expecting a Nincada.
“....Ah, excuse me. I mistook it for a bug… But with that size, those whiskers and no fur… isn’t this just a hairless cat?”
You blinked.
“This is—”
But you were interrupted almost immediately. Squeezing your mouth shut and covering your nose with your arm, you leaned back to let Greninja jump in front. The strong wind was cut by their figure as they shielded you from the powdery attack of their scales, and with the formation of more throwing stars, they countered the attack and sent a warning hit to the wall behind the wild Pokémon.
The wild Nincada jumped back, but cornered, they made a warning noise from their tymbals and kept themselves low—ready to pounce.
“Azul, this is Nincada, the Trainee Pokémon.”
But Azul seemed completely flabbergasted. His glasses were skewed and his hands hovered before his chest. “It’s a bug at that size!? Actually… is this normal?”
You ignored his musings to try conversing with the wild Pokémon, but they kept themselves closed and on the defensive. It was only when Abomasnow threw a move of their own did they fully realise how trapped they were in this situation, so with murmurs of their misgivings they were forced to listen and comply.
Just as they were about to leave on their own, both Ledian and Geodude arrived in a flurry of alarm and anxiety.
“Leee!”
Azul gave the bad news that, no, unfortunately Oddish had not been found yet. Instead, he said, Nincada was encountered. But they might know something.
Nincada then had to break the news that, unfortunately, they hadn’t encountered any Pokémon like Oddish either. So all of you were left in the same position as where you had started, except you had run through some parts of the woods that you didn’t look at very closely… which meant you would have to backtrack and start again.
“Aren’t Oddish leaves different from the other plants we’ve seen? Shouldn’t the leaves have stood out to us by now?”
You could only shrug and prepare to move forward, but when you guided down Pidgeot so you could mount them again, you were surprised by a rather unexpected visitor.
“Hey there, little imps! Seems you’ve hit a bump in the road, and—for today only, I’ll help out with a special delivery!”
Mr. Sam, staff of Night Raven College and apparently the owner of the popular onsite school store, leaned on his left leg and motioned largely with his arm downward. There, cowering behind his leg, hid something made up of blue and green—the missing Oddish. They let out a whine, shivering closer to Sam’s foot, but when something black threw a hand at it from behind, Oddish jumped up with a cry and ran away from the man in purple. Ledian ran to meet them halfway and, seeing their friend’s sorry state, embraced them gingerly as they cried. When you checked behind Sam for any other Pokémon, nothing was there.
Did you imagine that?
He laughed, and it sounded a little like a snicker, but you focused on making sure the crying Oddish wasn’t hurt.
“How nice of you, Sam,” Azul pushed up his glasses and schooled his face, adjusting his position with Silvally to face him fully, “I wonder if there’s something you need from me?”
“From the Monstro Lounge?” The tattooed man raised his hand in thought, watching the way Azul sat stone still with mirth. “Nothing like that,” he eventually answered, before turning to you and calling out for your attention, “but pass by sometime, won’t you, Groundskeeper?”
You stared at his retreating back without giving him an answer, merely blinking at his departure. His invitation would go to the back of your mind, after all, there was still much more to do.
“Oddish…”
“Ledian!”
And just like that, the two friends were happily together again. Apparently Oddish had been startled awake by noises made during your chase with Nincada, and that’s why they tried ducking into the first building they saw. After a bit more conversation, they were ready to set off together and join the other wild Pokémon.
“Geo, Geodude!”
As you waved off the trio, Azul checked the sky and his watch, “...not much time has passed, Groundskeeper, I’m sure Kalim won’t arrive anytime soon.”
“Oh,” you hummed, “so we should carry on?”
And so the two of you did. Azul sighed, a little exasperated at how long he’s been working with your type—with Kalim’s type. He’s already bad with people who don’t accept favours, but the kind, generous type-attitudes mean he hasn’t been able to ask for anything from anyone. And, he huffs, if anything, he might owe you a favour: he’s realised (very belatedly) that Silvally is the only reason he hasn’t fallen this entire day. It wasn’t that riding a steed is easier than riding a broom—it’s quite literally the Pokémon shifting their muscles to keep Azul stabilised. He’s not even sure how that works. For all he knows, it’s all in his head.
“My survey of the ground showed no signs of any more Pokémon. Groundskeeper?”
When your response mirrored his own, Silvally began trotting away with ease. With ease. He’ll never shy away from learning a new skill if he has the equipment and the time, but… horseback riding? Why do you even need so much muscle control? Obviously he’ll get better before his time as an aide is up, but still, it’s an activity where you only sit—why is there so much to take care of in riding an animal…