Izumi's Baby Sitting Service

Aries: 8

It was daylight, bright as day in what seemed to be all the land except for the misty terrain that wrapped around the hill known as Pricklemist. It was a bit dim out, the sun being blocked out by mist and clouds above that prevented the sun from reaching the dark hill. In this hill, a Skiddo bounced along happily, a bag around his shoulder as he hopped along happily while humming a tune from his homeland that his mothers used to sing to him. The skiddo was having quite a joyful day, nothing could possibly go wrong!

Shinka: 6

While the skiddo was off having a joyful day, a certain Goomy by the name of Shinka had wandered quite a distance from his home of Grassveil, away from Mammy, Spoop, Cluckoo, and Cupcake, though Cupcake was now considered Taffy no matter how hard the jolteon tried to regain the Goomy's heart. The pile of goop chugged along, having just as much fun chasing a butterfly as the Skiddo was traveling. The goomy's giggles were loud, as he followed the small insect around, letting it lead him to what he thought was going to be cupcakes.

Izumi: 15 energy

Izumi sniffed around the dreary Pricklemist hillside, her brow furrowed with intense concentration. She was looking for items; items to trade, boxes to sell. Her stock had dried up nearly completely. She hadn't had a box to sell in months, she was now relying completely on appraisals for income and that just didn't sit right with her. She wanted to have at least something for sale, what was the point of advertising free appraisals with purchase if she didn't even have a box to sell?

As Izumi trawled for items, she noticed a young pokemon off in the distance. She stopped to get a closer look. Yes, the pokemon was definitely young. A toddler, even. What were they doing so far out here? There was no civilization nearby, as far as Izumi knew... So what was the small pokemon doing here? Izumi approached slowly, not wishing to anger any lurking mothers nearby in case the pokemon was a feral baby.

"Hello, what's your name?" Izumi offered in a gentle, motherly tone. "Have you lost your mother?"

Something approached! The goomy blinked, having lost interest in the butterfly as a large white beast approached him. The goomy looked up at the white beast with a red face, his mouth opening as his eyes widened a little with excitement at this new thing. It was speaking to him, a soft a motherly tone, but the goomy did not associate soft and motherly tones with, well, something motherly. He was used to Mammy having his deeper scratchier voice. The goomy tilted its head, recognizing the words "Lost" and "Mother", that eevee used to supply him with cupcakes used to say those words, then Mammy and the others would repeat those words.
"Mammy? Cupcake?" the goomy asked, wondering if that was what the white and red beast was asking.

Happy times, happy times! The skiddo was trotting along with his little tune of joy, only stopping when he heard a strange giggle. He jumped at the sudden eerie sound of a child's giggle, his ears twisted in turned as he pinpointed the direction of the source. He blinked, before carefully proceeding towards the sound while every inch of his body screamed for him to run. Run and live! However, his mind was curious, ordering the body onward to the source to discover, and lose the fear that plagued the body.

Izumi's mouth flattened into a line after the small Goomy delivered her response. "Mammy? Cupcake? Who.....?" Izumi could only assume that the small pokemon was talking about her mother and also maybe a sibling...? Maybe.....? The Absol struggled to understand, but for now she decided just to roll with it. She didn't want to just leave the kid here by herself; that much she knew.

"Erm, yes! Them! Whoever you live with! Do you know where they are?" she questioned with cheer, looking around for other pokemon. She was hoping to find somebody friendly, somebody who could maybe advocate for the Goomy and help her figure out what the child was trying to say. A Skiddo in the distance caught her eye. "Hello! Are you friendly?" she called in a spur-of-the-moment plea for help.

Chiyako the Purrlion- 6

Over yonder, a sleek, purple feline figure approached, wearing a cap made of rough blue material. She sauntered lightly through the mist on her hind legs, pausing to observe the figures in the distance. Her curiosity was piqued, but she didn't automatically approach them. She stood back for a few minutes to observe while cloaked in the ever-present mist; taking in the situation. If it was a hostile encounter she had happened upon, she wasn't certain she wanted any part of it.

The skiddo froze as a strange white beast noticed him, his jaw hung for a moment as he struggled to speak, "I-I uh..Yeah!" he spoke, the young skiddo's voice revealing him to be a much younger age than the absol but old enough to talk coherently and understand unlike the goomy. He carefully forced himself closer, "Wh-What's wro-wrong?" he asked, glancing nervously between the two, his ears flat as he was unsure if these pokemon were going to attack or not.

The goomy tilted his head at the absol, wondering what it wanted, did it have cupcakes? The thought excited the goomy, cupcakes would be great to have around this time! He was getting a bit hungry, "Cupcake! Cupcakesss!" Shinka jiggled himself slightly as he hopped up and down with delight, "Shinka want Cupcakesss!"

"Is today daycare day in Pricklemist?" Izumi thought to herself disgruntledly as she looked from one kid to this other. "Why are people just dumping their kids on this hill? Is there picnic somewhere?" Izumi reached up with a hesitant paw and rubbed her snout. She hadn't exactly been expecting to find a bunch of little tykes wandering around out here. The Skiddo looked like he could hold his own, at least, being a mountain pokemon. Izumi had seen young Skiddo break the bones of some of the Absol in her tribe before, but rarely had she seen them go unaccompanied.

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna hurt you," Izumi called, gesturing for the Skiddo to come over. "I work at the guild in Grassveil Town, if you've heard of it. I run a Swap Shop there." With the mist obscuring her vision, Izumi couldn't tell that she was talking with one of her previous customers. She wasn't exactly paying the most attention to what her nose was telling her, either.

Izumi looked at the Goomy, who was now asking for cupcakes. She sighed. "Erm... I don't really think there are any cupcakes on this hill. I'll try to find you something though; I'm sure there are some berries or maybe gummis somewhere around here..." the Absol mused, taking a look around. She turned back to the Skiddo. "If you have the time, could you come over here and translate for me? I'm having trouble understanding this little one here."

"Having trouble understanding, you say....?" A sultry voice echoed from within the mist. Izumi's head whirled around to face where the voice had come from. She arched her back and lowered herself into a protective stance; an instinct she still harbored from the days when she had been protecting her little sister. A small purple feline, a Purrlion, emerged from the mist, striding twoards the rest of the group on her hind legs. She chuckled, "Really, there's no need for that. I'm not here for any harmful purposes; I'm just journeying. Trying to find my place in life."

Izumi looked the Purrlion over. She was sporting a weird hat, but other than that she didn't exactly look like a dangerous criminal... That and Izumi could recall ever seeing the Purrlion's face on the outlaw board. She relaxed, returning to a more comfortable and casual stance. "I can't say Purrlions are exactly a common sight in these parts...." Izumi observed, "you're on some kind of journey, you said?"

"Yes; a path of self-discovery, you could say." The Purrloin tipped her hat and bowed deeply. "The name is Chiyako. Chi is also acceptable. Pleasure to meet you," Chiyako announced, returning to a standing position from her bow.

"Charmed. Name's Izumi. I run the Swap Shop in the Grassveil Guild." Izumi responded with a nod.

"Zoomy Zoooom!" the goomy giggled, "ZoomZoom! Chiyucko!"
The goomy was subjected to a fit of giggles as he could not wait for the new pokemon to like he new nicknames that he had given them. The goomy looked to the white beast and the purple feline, his mouth agape with excitement as if he waited for some sign of approval for his efforts to give them nicknames. Young Shinka did not quite understand, however, that the purrloin might not appreciate being called "Chi-yuck-o"

Aries looked to the goomy, not quite sure what it was saying himself, but decided to try his best to translate from his small understanding of what this toddler was keying towards. His ears shot up when he heard the absol's introduction, "Izumi?" his tail began wagging, "I opened a box or two at your shop!!" the skiddo was happy to see a familiar face, giving a bounce in glee to meet her once more. Even if he had only spoken few words with her and only spoke once, it was still just the same to him as meeting an old friend.

Izumi turned her head from the Purrlion to the toddler and just stared at the Goomy for a moment, contemplating what the young tyke had named her for some reason. "Aaaaaaand..... this is the reason why I'm still single," Izumi thought inside her head whilst giving the child a big, cheery smile and a nod. "You've almost got it!! you can call me Zoomi if you want. However... I think what you're trying to say is 'Yako.' If 'Yucko' is easier for you though..." she encouraged, trying not to laugh at both the name she had just called herself and the name that the toddler had given the Purrlion.

".....Please no," Chiyako frowned, pinching the skin between her eyes with her paw and squeezing her eyes shut in protest.

Izumi couldn't hold the entertainment back anymore and let a laugh slip after seeing the Purrlion's face. "C'mon trooper, try to deal with it for now. She's just a kid; she doesn't know any better," the Absol smiled, feeling a lot less stressed now that the tense situation had loosened up a bit.

Chiyako sighed, "That's an easy thing to suggest, but much harder to put into practice." The Purrlion had come into contact with many kids, so she wasn't exactly the most adept at handling them. Still, she held her tongue. The name was extremely unappealing, yes, but the prospect of hanging around with an upset toddler was NOT one that Chiyako was interested in looking into.

As Izumi got a better look at the Skiddo, she immediatly remembered him from the swap-shop and broke out into a grin, despite herself. "Aries!" she exclaimed happily, "It's been too long; how have you been?!"

"Fine! Fine!" Aries hopped up and down in excitement, "I've got my own shop now, I saw you in your swap shop and it was so cool how you opened that box, I wanted to do the same! I couldn't open boxes though, and people might come to me instead of you which would be kind of unfair, so I decided to take on this thing called cooking with my vines!" The skiddo's vines came from his leafy mane to show the absol, the skiddo obviously excited about meeting the other shopkeeper. He seemed to have completely forgotten about the purlloin's existance.

The goomy however was a different story, while he was pleased that Zoomi liked his nickname, Chiyucko seemed rather displeased. His antlers wilted slightly as a sad frown developed on his facial expression, tears developing in his eyes, "Chi...yucko?" he repeated, hoping that perhaps the purrloin had misheard him for something else and if he made the name more clear then she would see the fault and be happy with it.

Izumi beamed and chuckled at the Skiddo's enthusiam; he was a very charming and uplifting character and was a welcome addition to the odd little impromptu group. She was completely flattered when he talked about taking inspiration from her shop; she felt oddly elated that she had helped him discover his passion in life.

"That's great!!" Izumi exclaimed enthusiastically. "You mean you've already got your own shop? That's so awesome; I'm so proud of you! I'm sure you're be the best chef in all of Grassveil! Heck, I bet you could be the best chef in the world if you work hard! Maybe I'll come visit you during my lunch break; I bet your cooking tastes way better than the stale sandwiches I bring from home." Izumi couldn't stop herself from gushing over the adorable little Skiddo; for some reason she had really taken a shining to him.

It seemed as though Izumi and the Skiddo named Aries were busy catching up (perhaps Izumi had met his parents around? It sounded as though the kid already had a shop of his own, something that thoroughly impressed Chiyako), so Chiyako turned to look at the little Goomy. "What am I going to do with you?" she mused, looking at him with a pensive expression. He called her the nicknamed that shall not be named again, but this time he appeared very clearly distraught. Chiyako panicked on the inside a little bit, putting on a nervous smile as she attempted to hide her inner panic. She really had no clue how to handle kids.

"Chi...... Chiyucko! uh, y-yeah, sure!!!" Chiyako stammered. Though her words agreed to the nickname, her internal organs did flip-flops in displeasure. She stubbornly kept holding her forced grin as she looked over to the Absol. "Hey... uh, 'Zoomi' and Aries, I could... I mean, I am in dire need of assistance," she pleaded urgently, trying to still look cheery in front of the Goomy toddler.

Chiyako the Purrlion - 6 Energy

FoxFireAlchemist carried out 6 launched of one Pricklemist Hill :

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Shinka's sad expression changed to one of extreme pleasure, as a goofy grin appeared and he gasped in excitement. She liked it! She liked it! The goomy made a small hop, though rather unnoticeable as it looked more like he was merely jiggling his body. Shinka bubbled happily, and literally, a few bubbles escaped from his mouth and floated lightly towards the feline, threatening to strike and pop in front of her.

Aries gave a joyful jump, "Yeah Yeah! I haven't had that many customers that have actually wanted my food though, they keep coming buy and buying ingredients from my shop, but never actually requesting a meal..." he seemed to become a bit disheartened at the idea, but perked up a bit, "But at least i'm getting business, right?"

Chiyako brandished her claws and sliced the bubbles, avoiding them as they popped around her. The nickname was bad enough; the last thing the Purrlion needed was a face full of bubbles shot at her by an oddly jiggly toddler. As she ducked and rolled out of the way of the last bubble, she stumbled upon a bush of berries. "Might be worth it to grab a few of these..." the feline thought to herself, watching the Goomy very carefully over her shoulder as she picked two Oran Berries and a Sitrus Berry. The others on the plant looked far less than appetizing.

"If you're getting business, then you've got a successful shop!" Izumi grinned, trying to make the Skiddo feel better. "Don't get discouraged; I know you're a great chef! You just wait; pokemon are going to love your meals;Just give it time!" she encouraged him. She was about to continue her statement, but a new scent in the air made her look around quietly, looking for any hostile presences.

Suddenly, a Kricketot came waddling up in a tizzy, crying out for help. "Please, somebody!! My friend evolved, but now he's all weak!!" it wailed, running towards the group of bystanders. "Please help, I don't know what's wrong with him!!!"

Izumi immediately responded, dashing towards the Kricketot. "What was that? He evolved, but now he's weak?" she asked, "Where is he? What happened to him?"

"I don't know; I don't know!!" the Kricketot cried, "He just suddenly collpsed in our picnic area!!!"

"Take us to him. Quick!!" Izumi commanded. "Aries, Chiyako, I need you two to come with me. Bring the Goomy; we can't leave him here all alone."

"On it, boss." Chiyako responded, too caught up in the urgency of the moment to be disgruntled about having to escort the toddler.

A kriketot? Weak? Evolution? What was going on? The fun had been sucked out of the situation as things seemed to grow rather dark. The skiddo tilted his head, not really concerned. He knew nothing of death, just that when pokemon got really sick or hurt, they went on a journey to get better. He followed the absol a few steps, before being reminded of the Goomy. His vines moved to wrap around the goomy, aiming to pick it up and place it on his back. However, the goomy bit down on his vines harshly once they got near. The skiddo bleated in pain and tried to free himself with his other vine, but the goomy instead latched onto both!

Shinka tilted his head as the bug type grew near, he blinked, and cried out in surprise as some weird green things were coming near him. He panicked, and bit down on the long brown Taffys. He heard a cry of pain, and another came near. He bit down on that as well, chomping his mouth down as hard as he could in attempt to make the weird arm things leave him alone.

Chiyako watched the Skiddo attempt to lift the Goomy with its vines, but was horrified to watch as the toddler chomped down on the poor grass type's vines in a rather painful-looking fashion. Chiyako dashed foward, intent on helping the poor goat. She wasn't exactly the best with children, but she didn't enjoy watching them be in pain. Wasting no time, she grabbed the squishy dragon baby with her soft paws and began to pet it, console it; basically trying EVERY nice trick in the book to try and get the Goomy to release the vines from it's mouth.

"Shhhh... uh, it's okay! It's just big brother Aries... trying to give you a piggy back ride!!" Chiyako attempted to assure the small child. "You need to let go now; you're hurting him and that's not nice. You need to let go of him and apologize for hurting him... uh, even though it was scary, he was just trying to help," she coaxed, desperately doing her best to free the bleating Skiddo from the Goomy mouth vice grip. She looked around nervously for Izumi; the Absol seemed much more adept at handling these situations. The Absol was already a good distance away, still chasing after the panicked Kricketot.

Izumi stopped when she noticed the lack of her companions following her. She turned around to look for them, seeing that they still hadn't moved. "Hold on!" Izumi called to the Kricketot before turning back to where Chiyako was sitting with the two children and calling to them, "C'mon guys!! We don't have much time; this is a serious situation!!"

"I'm trying; this isn't exactly the most optimal of situations!!!" Chiyako called back, her inner panic tearing at her on the inside. She really, really didn't want to leave the sick Kricketune awaiting their assistance waiting, but there was nothing she could do if the Goomy didn't release Aries.

Aries kept tugging at his vines, resisting the urge to slam his hooves or ram his horns into the goomy in order to force it to let go of him. He struggled and struggled, until finally the goomy released the vines. The vines retreated into his leafy mane, the skiddo's eyes still teared up from the pain. The young skiddo had a rather low pain tolerance, being young and not having experienced the pain many times. If he had been used to the feeling, he likely would have merely stood there in annoyance. He moved away from the goomy, no longer wishing to give it a ride after it had bit into him. He instead moved to follow the absol, not wishing to anger or upset the friend.

Chiyucko seemed to be trying to get him to let go, Shinka thought about it for a moment, but eventually did. He figured the strange objects had learned their lesson to not mess with him! He was big and tough! He could handle himself...kind of. Sure he needed Mammy to do some things for him, but right now Mammy wasn't here and he needed to be a big little goomy!