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“Hurry up, Huckleberry!” Trinity shouted, “We had a loooong day, and I don’t know about you, but I’d like to at least shower off the smell of death before I sleep for fourteen hours straight.”
Trinity didn’t know why she had done it, but she had gone and gotten herself a brand-new roommate. A sad little Espurr in the shape of a fourth-year medical student. He was trailing behind her, still a little unsure even after she talked him into coming with her. On the other hand, his Pontya was far less nervous, racing ahead alongside her own Amaura with Huckleberry’s Espurr riding on her back.
The Pokémon screwing around reminded her of something. “Huckleberry, are Ponyta and Espurr the only Pokémon you have?” The man paused and stuttered out, “Ah- no. I have five.”
Now that stopped Trinity in her tracks. She spun around to look at her new housemate. He was nervous, as if having so many Pokémon was something to be ashamed of. “You serious, Whitaker? Didn’t think it was possible to take care of that many on the negative salary of a med-student; are you already in the organ donation game or something?”
The human Espurr shakes his head like he’s trying to shake his hair dry. “No! I send out my partners to work odd jobs in the city. It means I can get enough money to look after them and they can get enough exercise to not go stir crazy.”
“That’s a thing?”
He let out a frustrated huff, “Yes, it's a thing, and it can net you a lot of money if you know what companies need what.”
“But not enough to get you a place to stay?” Trinity deadpanned.
“Not one that would allow five Pokémon and a struggling med student.”
He had a point. Trinity herself had to comb through about a million different apartments to find her current one, just because most had a limit of three Pokémon per tenant. She was lucky as hell to find an apartment that allowed the full six per tenant, and didn’t cost an arm and a leg just for that privilege. Her landlord was a sweet eighty-something lady that had a ‘full-team’ of Pokémon. Hell, Trinity had heard that she owned the Gyarados swimming in the Ohio river.
Trinity huffed a sigh. In for a penny, in for a pound. “Well then, let's see what you got.”
“What?!” Huckleberry startled, trailing after her toward the middle of a park they were passing by. Usually, dozens of people would be around, playing with their Pokémon and families, even this late at night. But after the hell that was Pittfest, any who weren't in the PITT’s hospital or morgue were bundled up at home.
“C’mooon Huckleberry! If we’re gonna live together, we gotta know what else we’re living with.” But even after her dazzling explanation, her new roomie was still hesitating. So she decided to go first.
She tossed her Pokeballs up in the air, and out popped her beloved friends. Espeon and Umbreon nudged at her legs before striding over to say hello to Whitaker, while Absol stuck by her. Phantump ignored both humans and went to go play with Ponyta, Espurr and Amaura.
Thankfully, Whittaker seemed to calm as soon as her partners were out, and he pulled out his own pokeballs.
And then out came the largest fucking Gogoat she had ever seen.
Alongside the gigantic Gogoat stood a Reuniclus gazing at her with its weird little bug eyes and goofy smile, and quite possibly the weirdest looking Wyrdeer she had ever seen. But the Goagoat was obviously the most important thing at the moment, so she reacted accordingly.
“Huckleberry, why the hell is your Gogoat taller than a Garchomp?! Also, why does your Wyrdeer have a damn beard?” Her voice was a bit louder than warranted, and would have drawn people to stare, but that would be the case too if anyone saw this weird ass lineup of Pokémon, so it was a good thing there was nobody within fifty feet of them.
“For starters, Gogoat is something called an alpha. It's a Pokémon that’s far larger and stronger than most of their species. They were far more common centuries ago, and the reason why they happen is still being studied. As for Wyrdeer, he was a fossil, and given to me by my college in exchange for raising him and writing a research paper about him when I graduate.”
Trinity stared at him for a beat before asking, “Do you have to explain this a lot?”
Dennis deflated. “Yeah.”
His gaze gravitates to the little herd of Pokémon a few feet away “What about Amaura? I thought she was Javadi’s Pokémon?”
“Nope, she decided to glue herself to Crash today to make sure she didn't fall again.” She chuckled to herself. There were other reasons of course, but she wasn’t going to get into them right now.
“And that little floaty guy over there? I don’t think I’ve ever seen one.”
Trinity’s hackles raised a bit. She liked Huckleberry, sure, but she was not ready to get into how she got her Pokémon, and his line of questions was leading straight to that scar.
“You have a Pokedex app, right? How about using it instead of picking my brain?”
Huckleberry fumbled for his phone, and finally scanned her little ghost. “It's a Phantump? I’ve seen its evolution, Trevenant, before, but I never thought it had a pre-evolution.”
Instead of continuing the conversation, Trinity let it die out and silence dangled between the two. Whitaker let his gaze fall to his feet, and he started to wring his hands. Both Gogoat and Ponyta leaned against him, and Reuniclus patted his shoulder to help him relax.
Damnit, now Trinity felt bad. Fine, more talking it was.
“Is she a therapy animal?” The little cotton candy colored Pokémon had been running around all day, trying to calm down and comfort distraught family members and hurting patients. But at any point where she wasn’t actively helping others, Ponyta was practically fused to her trainer.
Whitaker nodded.
“She kept getting really bored whenever I was in class, so getting her certified to help was a good way to keep her busy. Plus, it meant she could be in the hospital with me and help people.”
“That’s actually a really good idea, do you think I could get my eeveelutions trained at the same place?”
“You say that like I don’t normally have good ideas.” her new roommate deadpanned.
Trinity strolled past Dennis, patting him on the shoulder with a quick, “It’s cuz’ you don’t.” Before walking out of the park, with her small army of friends, new and old.
Trinity had no idea how the hell they were going to take care of this many Pokémon while juggling fifteen hour ER shifts, but she was too committed to stop now.
Huckleberry was hers now. And if that included a massive Gogoat, a historical artifact of a Wyrdeer, a therapy Ponyta, the Pokémon version of her roommate, and a Reuniclus almost as stubborn as her, then so be it.
Those first two were gonna have to be outdoor Pokémon only, she didn’t have high ceilings.