Narrator-POV:
3 weeks later...
"Are you sure?" Swole asks, concern oozing from his voice as he looks his girlfriend in the eyes. Those dark red eyes of hers drip with insecurities, but her mind is made up.
Zoey cradles her new metallic arm, nerves still stinging sharply after the operation that fused them and her bone to a flat metal socket. The arm can twist to lock in or out of it.
She does that, removing her arm at the stump. "You're really twisting my arm here, Swole." The fingers on her hand wiggle according to her will. Information travels wirelessly from her stump to the prosthetic limb. "But it's doctor's orders. I need to rest for six weeks at least and allow my brain to get used to the new nerve connections."
"Do not worry, Swole." Akari places a hand on Zoey's shoulder. "Marley and I will take good care of her. You and Dawn can just focus on your travels, alright, dear?"
"Good grief." Swole sighs after his mind explores a treacherous thought. Can Zoey be trusted inside an all-girls dormitory? "Thank you, Akari. That is a heavy weight off my chest."
"I will gladly take your burden upon myself to ease your worries."
"Hey!" The one-armed burden complains. "Wow. That was genuinely rude. What the fuck?"
"Apologies."
Swole chuckles. "Don't worry about it, Zoey. You're our favorite burden."
"Yeah." Dawn agrees while stealthily getting closer to Swole. She grabs his arm. "What would life be without a burden or two?"
"Holy crap, you guys, that's brutal."
"Perhaps you do have to come with us after all." Swole holds out his other arm for her to grab it. "To prove you aren't such a burdensome burden."
Zoey sticks out her tongue and blows Swole a raspberry. "Kiss my ass."
"Maybe next time. For now, I'd rather kiss your lips."
Rolling her eyes, she steps forward, leans in for a kiss, but pulls back in the last moment before Swole could brush against her lips. "Ha! That's what you deserve-- Ah!"
He closes the gap and kisses her deeply, wrapping his arm around her waist to keep her close. He keeps up the pressure until Zoey stops struggling against him, giving into the affection. She hangs from his lips for at least a full minute before he lets her mouth go. "I'll miss you." He whispers.
"I'll miss you too. And-- No. Never mind." And she is sorry for giving up her adventures early, but she does not dare say it out loud, fearing the finality of those words.
Perhaps all she needs is a break. Just a few weeks without chaos and worries to recover from dying and coming back to life.
"Don't slack off on your training."
Despite her need for some rest, she understands that her pokemon depend on her, and she depends on them. "Wouldn't dream of it. The next time we see each other face to face, we'll be stronger than ever. And you, don't forget to call us."
"Wouldn't dream of it."
"Hihi." Zoey giggles. Her hand is inches away from squeezing Swole's butt, but in the end, she simply hugs him tighter. "Well, I'll let you go now and say your goodbyes to Akari."
Swole squeezes Zoey's butt before escaping the hug. "See you soon, Zoey." He turns to Akari, quickly closes the gap between them, and grabs her butt to pull Akari closer. "And I look forward to seeing you again too, Akari."
"Me too." She stares in his eyes while he fondles her cheeks. Ignoring the sensation, she simply imprints his face as deep into her mind as she can. "I will send you more pictures of our town soon."
"And I can't wait to see them. You're amazing, Akari. Good luck, and don't let my dad push too much work on you."
Her hand travels up and down his chest, tracing circles as she fights the urge to debase herself in public. The eyes of strangers are already watching the parting group - she believes.
They are standing at the edge of the city. The last little family home between Veilstone City and Route 214 stands to their right. A quaint little garden is filled with children's toys and holes dug by curious pokemon.
Totally alone, they stand upon the asphalt street. Just a few steps beyond it lies a well-trodden path of packed dirt and cobbled stones. Two tracks mark where cars tend to drive every once in a while.
Suddenly, Akari leans in for a chaste kiss, planting it on Swole's lips before pushing herself free from his grabby fingers. "Goodbye, Swole. Next time we meet might be when you become a champion - so good luck to you too, and do not let your mind be consumed by worries."
"Stay sharp!" Zoey agrees.
"I will. Thanks."
Awkwardly, the conversation then dwindles to a stop when nobody wants to depart, yet our hero's journey must continue at all costs.
Dawn, selfless as she is, sacrifices herself to break up the tension. "Bye! And send me that thing we talked about, Marley." She pulls at Swole's free arm, guiding him off onto the dirt path. They wave goodbye for a long time while everyone ignores the creepy, calculating smile on Dawn's lips.
The distance grows. "See you someday! We'll make sure to call you!" Dawn's words become difficult to hear. And eventually, the people become too small to see. Akari, Zoey, and Marley turn away - a long flight home awaits them.
In the meantime, Dawn grins from ear to ear. "Finally!"
Swole rolls his eyes.
"I've got you all to myself now, Swole! You know what that means?"
Swole chuckles, placing one step in front of the other as they travel across the countryside. "No. What does that mean?"
"It means you and I finally get to practice and participate in pokemon contests together! It's been far too long since we did it the last time!"
"Oh. Yeah, I guess we haven't since Chocovine Town. It'll be a pleasure to be your partner."
Dawn gasps. She nearly stumbles, keeping herself upright by steadying herself with Swole's shoulder. "Holy Mew, seriously? It was that easy?"
"Yes. Why not? It'll be fun to do this together - almost like a date, don't you think?"
"Don't I think?!" Her screech awakens a nearby pokemon who dashes deeper into the tall grass. Completely unbothered, the pair continues walking while only their pokemon tense up. "Do you know how hard it has been to get you to admit it?!"
"Haha!"
"You're a jerk!"
"I'm not. I just didn't want to take away Zoey's partner. Besides, my opinion on contests stays the same - I just want to fight alongside you."
"Jerk."
"Cute."
"Jerk."
"Sexy."
"W-what?"
He pinches Dawn's butt. "You heard me."
"... Jerk."
Swole laughs again. Then he smiles. "It's been a while since we just traveled, hasn't it? The last time was just that tiny bit from Eterna City to Zoey's family."
"And before that, from Alamos Town to Oreburgh City. We've been skipping far too much camping!"
"Agreed!" Swole matches Dawn's enthusiasm. "Hold on. Since when are you a fan of camping?"
"Since it's just you and me again, tehe," she giggles. "Besides, I'm sure we will make it to Solaceon Town before nightfall, and then we can sleep somewhere inside."
"Huh. You know, I think we should spend a few extra hours today training instead."
"... What?"
"Yeah. I don't think we need to hurry to reach Solaceon Town. We can just get there tomorrow. Let's enjoy some fresh air and a starry night, what do you say?"
"You are a jerk."
"By the way, I'm serious."
Dawn's eyes widen. "No..."
"Yes. We're so back to camping. Camping, training, battling random pokemon, battling random trainers, eating food from the portable stove, training all day, and sharing a tent at night."
"Good--" Dawn was about to sigh in defeat until she heard the last part. "Grief? Perhaps it won't be so bad after all."
...
Twenty hours later - the next morning.
Swole-POV:
"Ahhhhh!"
I startle awake. "Ahhhhh! What's going ooooon?!"
Dawn keeps screaming, pointing at the tent ceiling. "Ahhhhh!"
A six-legged pokemon the size of a coconut crawls along the tent. The morning light casts its shadow against the ceiling, while two fangs look like the 7th and 8th legs of a big, massive spider.
"Ahhhh!"
"Calm down!"
She wildly points at the spider outside. "Ahhhh!" Her screams and the pleading look in her eyes tell me to solve it.
"Lopunny, can you take care of it?"
She has her ears pressed against her head. Curled up underneath the covers of my sleeping bag, she looks at me with a pained look on her face.
Salazzle is inside her pokeball. Lucario too. Magearna--
"Would you like me to handle this matter?" She calmly asks while resting on the tent floor. Magearna has her legs folded underneath herself, sitting on her heels, but the metallic dress she wears covers that. Her perfectly motionless body makes her look a little bit like furniture.
She doesn't complain when I stare at her. She doesn't repeat herself when it becomes questionable whether I heard her or not. She simply stares back patiently, silently, with Dawn still screaming in the background.
Her body doesn't need sleep. She runs perfectly fine on nothing but fat for food. Or oil. I honestly believe she could even digest gasoline, but I prefer feeding her real food. I keep telling her to try to sleep, but my words never find purchase - she will pretend to rest, only to keep working after I fall asleep. Before I wake up, she returns to her resting position.
Lopunny reported her behavior when she found it suspicious enough to alert me.
Dawn stops screaming. She resorts to pouting, and I can almost feel her eyes boring into the side of my skull. The fright must've worn off, and she realized that I still haven't fixed her issue.
Spinarak still lounges on top of the tent. "Honestly, we could just let him be."
"As you say, sir."
"He keeps the mosquitoes away, you know?"
"I did not know that. Thank you for updating my database."
"No!" Dawn screeches. "Punt him away! Lopunny, you do it!"
Lopunny just groans in pain. She wiggles around within the sleeping bag, then kicks.
"Swaaaaa!" Swadloon shoots off like a soccer ball, striking the ceiling and knocking Spinarak off. "Swa! Swadloon! Swaaaa!"
"Looo..." Lopunny mutters a tired response.
Swadloon sighs. "... Swaaa..."
"Miss Lopunny, I am confused. Why did you listen to Dawn's command?"
Hearing Magearna's question, the sleeping bag - with me and Lopunny still inside - wiggles. "Loo? Punny? ... Lo. Lopunny."
What are they talking about? ... I probably should have listened in.
"I understand. In that case, was my offer to handle it appropriate?"
~"Nah. You should've just punted the bug," Lopunny replies.
Magearna stares at Swadloon, who rolled onto her face, lying in the corner of the tent on the pile of Dawn's clothes. Somehow, the panties Dawn prepared for today have managed to wrap around Swadloon's head. When I reach over and straighten her up, she wears the fabric like a mask.
Dawn giggles.
I pull it off before grabbing her, pulling her to my chest in a hug, and placing her back on her spot on my lap.
"I understand. Punt the bug. Ask for forgiveness later. That is how a pokemon behaves."
What? "Hey-- yaaawn-- you'd better not be thinking about punting Swadloon. Anyway, Dawn, how was your night? Did you sleep well? By the way, that hair conditioner you swore would fix your bedhead doesn't work."
"What?" She reaches for her hair, grabbing nothing but a sheet of felt. "Arceus damned it! Is it worse?"
"About the same."
"Good fucking grief!" She curses. "Give me a break!" Why did I allow her to steal all my catchphrases? "Yare yare daze!"
"You have to say it in a cool way." I deepen my voice, hoping to Arceus it doesn't crack. "Yare yare daze."
Dawn glares at me. "I was being cool. Humpf." She then climbs from her sleeping bag, grabs Empoleon's pokeball and reaches for the zipper of the tent flap.
She stops. Slowly, she turns her head. "Can you go outside first?"
"Afraid of a little Spinarak?" I smirk, pulling at the zipper. "I bet the little fella is more afraid of us than we are of him."
~"I bet that little shit hasn't learned his lesson!" Lopunny battles with the sleeping bag. ~"Master, wait for me; I want to beat him up!"
And so, a new day begins in Sinnoh.
---
Battle, fried eggs for breakfast, another trainer heading into the other direction who we fought, the sun shining down on us, burning away the morning dew, and golden fields of wheat as far as the eye can see - what else could one want?
"I dunno, a proper bed with springs?" Dawn responds. "Urgh! Do you see it?! There's a place to stay just over there! We could have reached it yesterday!"
At the horizon, there is a large farm mansion towering over the crops with a small shop standing at the dirt road.
It's not uncommon for the countryside to be littered with these. Someone's gotta take care of all the crops, but usually it's a whole village, not just a single family home.
They often offer their rooms for traveling trainers in exchange for free labor. "We already had a farmhouse adventure at Zoey's. We couldn't have stayed there."
Dawn sticks out her tongue at me.
"Besides, tonight was cozy. I don't know what your problem was. Didn't like cuddling with me?"
"Not with Lopunny in the way." She pouts and turns away. "She's far too clingy. In fact, she's suspiciously clingy!"
"You're imagining things. I bet Ash's Pikachu isn't any less clingy than her." I'd lose that bet.
"Hmmm... maybe you're right. Oh, look at them. Do you think they need help?"
Two young women - around our age, maybe a bit older - are filling a cart with produce from their shop.
To the right, the wheat crops give way to the farm's barns, and beyond those are rolling fields of grass and flowering dandelions. Multiple herds of Miltank are grazing upon them, chomping down on the yellow flowers.
At the front of the cart stand a Mudbray and a Ponyta, side by side and ready to pull as soon as the girls finish loading it.
One girl struggles a lot. She wears a black dress and black hair, huffing and puffing as she carries a big metal milk canister. Her heavy-duty leather boots clash with her goth style.
The other girl passes her, one canister held in each hand by their handles. She steps up a ladder to put them away on the wagon. The blonde then stretches her arms overhead, yawning and arching her back. Her butt nearly pops out of the seams of her denim shorts while a loose-fitting shirt billows with the wind, hiking up and showing a toned stomach full of muscles.
She wipes sweat from her forehead - the moisture sparkling in the sunlight - before looking at her coworker and reaching down, "Hurry up, Maud, twenty more to go!"
"Urgh." When Maud, the goth girl, arrives, she struggles with all her might to lift the canister as high as she can so the blonde can take it from her hands and put it in its place.
Dawn and I get close enough to see inside the open door of the little shop: stacks upon stacks of these canisters, heaped on top of each other in a corner of the storage room. "Let's help them."
"Oh. Sure." Dawn replies, sarcasm dripping from her voice. "Let's go help the pretty girls with their hard physical labor where you can impress. Uh huh. Any other wishes?"
"Well... I..." We're approaching talking distance. The girls are already looking at us, waiting expectantly for us - the travelers - to greet them. "Hi! How's it going? Need any help with that?"
"Ha!" The girl on top of the cart barks a laugh. "So ya can impress us, Ah recon? No thanks, stranger. Maud and Ah got this, right, Maud?"
Maud wildly shakes her head, sending her flat, black strands flying. At the end of it, her hair returns to a perfectly smooth style without a single hair sticking out.
"Urgh. Alright! Ah guess we could use a hand or two. See our storage?" She means the open backdoor of their shop. "We need that milk loaded up for our trip to town."
"Got it."
"And don't get startled by Duskull." She says before hopping off the back of the cart and landing while letting out a soft grunt.
She approaches with a hand stretched out and with Maud following behind her. "He likes to scare people. Hi, ma name is Haylie, and this is Maud. Nice ta meet'cha strangers."
"Hello." I meet her hand with a firm handshake, matching her strength. I can tell she's putting some effort into appearing tough. Her calloused hand tightens a little harder around my fingers as we shake up and down. I'm tempted to continue matching her strength, but I'd rather not hurt her, so I simply give up. "Nice to meet you too, Haylie and Maud. This is Dawn, and I am Swole. And those are Lopunny, Salazzle, Lucario, Swadloon, and Magearna. Say hello, girls."
"..."
"Hisss!"
"Lu."
"Swa!"
"Hello."
"Did she just talk?"
"Don't worry about it. Oh, and that's Empoleon." I wave her off before pointing my pokemon at the storage. "Lopunny, Lucario, do you mind taking care of it?"
~"I do mind."
~"Will do." Hearing Lucario, Lopunny glares at her before heading off into the storage room together.
"There. That should be done soon."
Haylie rolls her eyes. "Mighty impressive," sarcasm. "What good are all yer muscles if yer not lifting a finger ta help yerself, tough guy?"
"Good point." Lopunny comes out, carrying two of those massive canisters of milk under each arm - four total. Behind her, one canister after another floats out, surrounded by a blue shimmer. "However, I'm not trying to impress you."
I cross my arms before my chest, angling them and tensing up to show off my biceps. If only I were wearing a tank top shirt right now.
She refuses to look at them, keeping my eyes in her sight instead. "Alright. Guess Ah misjudged ya, fella. Thanks for the help."
"No problem."
By the time Haylie turns to check on the milk progress, a bundled-up Duskull comes floating out, encased in psychic powers. "Couldn't help yerself, could'cha, huh Duskull?"
"Duskull!" The pokemon cries as he's placed on the cart as if he were the last item. As soon as Lucario lets go of him, he flees into Maud's shadow.
"There. All twenty done."
"Wow! That was fast!" Haylie shouts a little louder than necessary, causing Lopunny to growl at her as she returns from the task. "Yer a real helper after all, thanks a lot new friends!"
New friends? Huh. She sure is optimistic.
I mean, she's hot, so why not? A little grimy from sweat, but I dig it. "No problem." Maud too - although she's a little too quiet.
She's just staring at us, half-hiding behind Haylie and watching everything.
Dawn speaks up. "Well, we're happy to help, but sadly we've got to get going now. Adventures don't wait, and we need to head to Solaceon Town, isn't that right, Swole? And you still want to train a lot today, right?"
I roll my eyes. "Yes, Dawn. We should hurry a little. It was nice meeting you both, Haylie and Maud."
With that, Dawn begins pulling at my arm to get me moving. Steadily, we approach the front of the cart where Mudbray and Ponyta are staring at us.
"Wait!" Haylie shouts. "Hold on, we're heading to Solaceon Town too, and Maud suggested you can hitch a ride with us!"
Dawn fixes Maud in a glare, prompting the girl to hide behind her friend again. "Did she now? Oh. Isn't that great, Swole? We can hitch a ride to Solaceon Town. Awesome."
"Stop being so cute and adorable, Dawn." I smack her ass before turning back to the girls. "Thanks for the offer, but we will sadly have to decline. Dawn is being a little cranky today."
"I'm not cranky!"
Haylie giggles. "Hihi, alright! Ah got'cha. We'll let ya off the hook then. Safe travels!"
"You too. Bye." We wave our goodbyes as we walk away, traveling across the dirt road, knowing exactly that we'll see them again in 10... seconds.
Their cart gets going, pulled along as Mudbray's and Ponyta's hooves dig into the dirt. Their pace matches ours exactly.
How much longer until we're in Solaceon Town? About 2 hours? Are we really going to hike just a few dozen steps in front of them?
I can hear them talking. Not whole sentences, but a few words. Haylie just has a loud voice, I think.
Their cart rolls over a rock and rattles the passengers, making Heylie's and Maud's boobs jiggle.
Dawn pulls at my arm. "Stop looking at them."
"Sorry, I can't help it."
"Unbelievable."
"You're the one who's unbelievable. Come on. Let's just ride with them."
"Oh, you want to ride them, huh?"
"Not what I said."
"It's what you thought." It is. "I can read your mind, mister."
I eye her in suspicion. "Can you?"
"Of course I can. I trained Aura enough." She braces her fists against her hips, walking like a tough girl. "I can tell you're having horny thoughts again."
"That was just an easy guess." Hearing my words, her head snaps to me with a piercing glare. "Because the beautiful, sexy, and cute Dawn is right beside me. How couldn't I have inappropriate thoughts? Like--"
Her eyes widen, and she tries to flee from my curious fingers. "Ah!" She startles when I suddenly close the distance to grab her cheek, giving the meaty mass a mighty squeeze. "Hey!" Before she could tear herself off of me, I tighten my grasp and pull her closer, like an angler reeling in his prize or the world's only functional claw machine. "Stop!"
I grab her with both arms then lift her up. Her feet wiggle around trying to catch ground but find only air.
"Mwah!" I smooch her face, getting some makeup stuck on my lips. "Yuck."
"... YUCK?!"
"Yes, yuck." I spit some out at the side of the road. "You're wearing too much makeup. Makes it harder to do this. - Mmmmmwwwwah!"
"Oh no..."
"Oh yes." I give her an even longer kiss right on the cheek. When she struggles and twists out of reach, I aim for her exposed collarbone instead.
"Noooo! Don't do that!"
"Mmmwah!"
"Ieeeee! Empoleon! Save me!" He shakes his head.
"Mwah! Hmmm. Nice and red. Now for another one."
"Mawile! Come out and save me!"
Her pokeball pops open, and the next moment, a red beam deposits the little yellow devil on the ground. Her horn already drips with saliva. She jumps... and chomps down right on her trainer's wildly flailing arm.
"Ahhhh! Wormadam! Beldum! Anyone! Help me! I don't want to be covered head to toe in hickeys!"
"Hi." Hearing those words, Dawn shuts up in an instant.
She didn't hear the cart coming until it was too late.
Two girls stare down at her; one more, the other less obviously.
Dawn's hair is a mess. Her makeup is smudged. Half of her exposed skin is covered in red hickeys that will soon turn blue and last for up to 3 days. Sadly, they heal quicker than normal on her - probably due to Aura and potions.
Suddenly, she buries her face in my neck.
"Hi," I return their greeting. "Mind if we hitch a ride?"
"Feel free to hop on, friends."
"Awesome. Did you hear that, Dawn? We get to ride into town on top of a wagon. Are you also looking forward to all the eyes that are going to be on you?"
She mutters into my shoulder. "Damn it."
---
"Thanks for letting us ride with you," I say once everyone's settled in.
The platitudes are mostly for Mudbray and Ponyta though - they have to carry a much bigger load after all with the small army of pokemon now lounging in the back of the open-roofed cart.
"And I'm sorry for Dawn's behavior. She's just being a little bit cranky."
Dawn pouts.
"Don't 'cha worry about it," replies Haylie. "Ah know her type well - I'm somewhat of a jealous girlfriend type as well!"
"You are?" Dawn stammers. "I mean, I'm not one of those at all! But so you have a boyfriend already?"
"Nah. Ahm single and ready to mingle! But mah sister here always soaks up all the guys' stares in town!"
"She does?"
"You're sisters?" They give me a look as if I'm being unreasonable. "Oh, come on. You are complete opposites!"
"We ain't. Can't you see our shared beautiful blue eyes?"
"I can't. Maud hides behind her hair." Hearing me, she makes herself smaller to hide behind Haylie even more.
"Oh. But ya see what I mean? She always gets way too much attention, to the point where she has to hide herself from lustful eyes like yers!"
"I have perfectly normal eyes."
Dawn boxes me as if that alone was enough to state her disagreement.
"Anyway, what brings you two to carry so much milk to Solaceon Town?"
"Customers. Duh. What kinda question is that?"
I was trying to change the topic! "What kind of customer? This is Moomoo milk, isn't it? Who can buy that much of it?"
"That much? It's just a little under two thousand liters."
That's like... "100 thousand pokedollar!?!"
"More like 20 thousand. The customers ain't paying market value. There's a pokemon daycare in Solaceon Town that takes care of our herds - makes sure they're always healthy - and they also raise pokemon for rich folk. They go through a lot of Moomoo milk every month."
"I bet."
"How much do retailers pay per liter?" Dawn asks, and I perk up. Am I smelling a great deal?
"30₽. We take 60% of the current market value, but 20₽ of that goes into feeding and managing the Miltank. Another 5₽ for maintenance and company junk." Company junk? Like paperwork? "Only 2₽ end up as actual profit for every bottle we sell."
That's 4%. "That's too little. Farms need to operate at a 10 to 20% profit margin."
Dawn nods along - economy was one of the few subjects she listened to in our village school.
"We get some funding from taxes. Our herds help keep the countryside safe."
"Wait, are you trainers or civilians?"
She smirks, knowing exactly what I'm trying to imply. "Trainers. We're not paying taxes ourselves."
"Nice." So they can more easily undercut competition. They could just as well sell the milk at a loss - it's not actually the milk that is their business. They're basically landlords.
They own the area around Solaceon Town, ensuring their safety but collecting taxes in return. A bit like how the league manages Sinnoh.
That explains why the daycare gets special prices. They get rich folks to come here and spend their money, increasing the revenue for everyone. This, in turn, raises the taxes and thus the cut Haylie and Maud receive. "Genius."
"Incredible," Dawn agrees. "Is that why the mayor gave you special privileges that allow you to beat your competition further?"
Maud looks up, peeking through her hair as her eyes widen. Haylie stiffens up.
"You're the farmers who drove the Evans family away, aren't you?" Dawn puts one leg over the other before bracing herself on her knee, aiming for a regal pose. "That means you're the ones who changed the laws in your favor in such a dishonest manner."
Zoey's family? Oh, right! They got driven out of Solaceon Town and had to move near Snowpoint City because of politics and tax reasons!
"It ain't dishonest. It's just business." Haylie disagrees while Maud cowers behind her, tucking her chin in to seem smaller. "Who are you to them anyway? Ah'd remember if either of y'all were Evans. They all got red hair."
"I'm her boyfriend."
Haylie's eyes widen in surprise as she looks past me to catch a glimpse of Dawn. "Yer two timing? Ah ain't blind - Ah saw that there's something going on between you two."
"There is. But I'm actually four timing."
"Six timing." Magearna means Lopunny and Salazzle. She's sitting in the back with the other pokemon but clearly listens to our conversation attentively, with her eyes zoomed in on whoever is speaking at the time.
Dawn is going to bite my head off. "Six?!"
"Ahaha..." I try to laugh as if it wasn't a problem. "She's just talking about Cynthia."
"That would be five. Who is the sixth?!"
Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!
"Woah. She can talk?" Woah. Maud can talk?
She brushed a few strands of her straight, Murkrow-black hair from her face to return Magearna's curious looks with her own. She has bright blue eyes that nearly shimmer with a spark of wonder.
"Who is she?"
Yes! Yes! Yes!
"That's Magearna. Isn't she pretty? Fun fact, she used to be a human thousands of years ago."
"Woah. She's so pretty. Can I pet her?"
"No!" My outburst garners some strange looks. "I mean, no. Only I get to pet them." Lopunny nods and growls threateningly to help convince them. "Right. They could get aggressive."
"That's not true," Dawn says. "I've been petting Lopunny all the time, and she never minds."
Lopunny looks away with a blush peeking through her fur when I stare at her.
"It's not like I get jealous or something. Strangers would just be in danger."
"But we ain't strangers. We're friends already!" Haylie exclaims while wrapping an arm around my shoulder and pulling me into a one-armed hug. A bump in the road causes us to collide a little harder and squish me against the side of her breast.
"H-how could I say no to that?" I wince when Dawn pinches my waist. "Be careful."
"Will be." Maud then climbs across the backrest, careful to avoid knocking over the milk while Haylie takes over the reins.
Salazzle uses the new free space and... squeezes herself between me and Haylie, pushing Haylie into the new free space. She flicks out her tongue before giving my cheek a cheeky kiss. ~"Hi."
The things I let her do just because she is cute. "Good grief."