6: And They Were Roommates (I)

Ichi – Pikachu

The Machoke’s house was pretty spacious. Well, at least for a small ‘mon like me. For the big, muscular Pokémon across the table, it might as well be just a single room. The space looked almost new, as if he recently moved in. No dust collecting in the corner. Not that much furniture. Not what I was expecting for a carpenter—I was picturing a bunch of tools and materials organized in a corner, but maybe he just keeps his stuff in a separate place. That actually makes more sense, come to think of it. Keeping work separate from home.

We decided to choose this guy after almost getting scammed by Gurdurr at Swanna House. He seemed the least suspicious… not that there were many other options, anyway. He seems legit enough, okay? He’s got photos of his stuff—pictures are hard to come by!

“Please, make yourselves at home.” Machoke gave us a seemingly earnest grin as he welcomed us inside.

Rei and I exchanged looks, and we both shrugged before pulling up a seat across from Machoke. Time to put on the businessmon persona again. I took a deep breath and kept my posture straight.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Machoke! I’m Ichi Pikachu, and this is my business partner Rei Snivy.” I offered out my paw for a handshake, and the Fighting-type complied. His hand was absolutely massive, so of course, his grip was gentle. “We’re here because we’re looking for a carpenter to construct a house for us down by the plot of land across from town.”

He nods and flashes a smile. “I see, I see. Well, you’ve come to the right place! What kind of house would you guys want?”

His casual tone made me ease up a little, but I was silent, struggling to come up with an idea. “I’m, uh, not exactly sure,” I began. “I guess something… modest? Not too spacious. With all the stuff a house needs, obviously. The bare necessities.” I look around. “Kind of like this house here.”

The muscular Pokémon laughs. “Haha, I see you’ve taken a liking to my humble abode here! Very well then.”

“Um, what are your starting prices, then?”

“For a two-bedroom house, I’d say… 15,000 Poké. Should cover the cost of materials and labor. It’ll take about a week to build,” he explained.

I gulped. 15 grand?! I thought it’d be a little cheaper… Well, at least it’s in Poké, and not some blue gems or some other obscure currency… and it is going to take a week, which is surprisingly quick. But still, 15,000? Might as well be paying in Gold Bars… 

Believe it or not, people still use Gold Bars. I like to use Poké instead since Bars are so big and clunky, it’s hard to carry so many at once… Besides, the only shop nearby that accepts them is Cofagrigus’s Glorious Gold, and I REALLY don’t wanna go there. That guy’s got a few screws loose.

I glance at the sack of Poké in my paw. I saved up a lot just to build Paradise… Took a lot of work, but somehow I managed. Heh, I’ve hoarded so much that I should’ve been born a Dragon-type!

Thanks to trying to save money for a good three years, I now hate Chestos with a passion. Do you know how much coffee I had to drink to keep up with the work?

I take a quick gander at what’s inside. About 20,000 (I count daily), and the rest is stored in the bank. Yes, I know it’s bad to hold more than 9,999 Poké, but I like having a lot of money on hand as a failsafe. Besides, I’m not at that much risk of losing it. I know when someone’s stolen from me. It’s intuition.

Who’s gonna pickpocket me , though? It’s not like I’m showing off all this cash to everyone in town.

…scratch that, I do carry this sack around everywhere I go… and the coins do make a lot of noise. But it’s not like people know I have that much! For all they know, it could just be mere pocket change!

I sigh. Guess I gotta part with most of this… I poured out my hefty sum of cash down on the table. “This should be enough to cover it. Might take a while to count it out, though.”

“…excellent.” Machoke eyed the money I just laid out.

Rei did a double-take as he saw the coins spill. “Wh- why the fuck do you have so much on you?!”

“Convenience.”

“…lugging around a sack filled with what looks like several pounds’ worth of gold does not seem convenient, Ichi.”

“It’s not that heavy! Besides, I like the way they jingle when I walk.”

“…ahem.” Machoke looked at the two of us.

“Ah! Right, right, apologies sir… Excuse my friend here, hehe…” I nodded sheepishly, returning my attention to him. “…Rei, come help me count this out, will ya?”

The Snivy huffed. “Fine.”

Machoke let out a loud sigh once we finally finished counting out 15 thousand Poké. He brought out a piece of paper and a pen. “Just look over this for a moment, then sign at the bottom, please. Once that’s done, I’ll start immediately.”

“Alright!” I grabbed the pen and skipped the legal mumbo-jumbo. What’s the point of reading that stuff, anyway? They all say the same thing, anyway. 

I penned my name right on the dotted line and gave it back to him.

“…you sure you read through it all, Ichi?” Rei raised an eyebrow.

“Uh, of course!” I lied.

“You know, this is… this is a lot of cash you’re dealing with. Can’t just take it lightly, ‘cause it’s not like you can just take it back.”

“…I-I can just get a refund though! Right?”

“No refunds,” Machoke responded.

“…t-that’s fine!”

“Ichi…” Rei groaned.

I walked out of Machoke’s house with a much lighter wallet. 

“Look man, just wanted to make sure this was the best choice…” Rei scratched the back of his neck. 

“C-come on, you’re making me doubt myself…” I anxiously tapped my foot. “…it’s fine! Like you said earlier, there’s almost no chance this guy’s also scamming us!”

“…fine. So, Mr. Businessman, what now?”

“Uh…” My stomach grumbled again. “…we still haven’t eaten breakfast, I just realized that. Think Gurdurr’s gone by now?”

“Hopefully. But, uh, what about tonight? We still don’t have a proper place to sleep.”

“…camp–”

He cut me off in a heartbeat. “I’m not camping another night.”

“Come on, Rei! Another night staring at the starry night sky, huddling by the campfire…”

“Another night sleeping in the dreary cold.”

“Hey, it’s not that bad,” I argued, trying my best to justify camping for a while longer. I just don’t wanna sleep in such an expensive inn like Swanna House. “We’ll get used to it.”

“I don’t wanna get used to it. I really don’t wanna be homeless, and I’m sure you don’t either.”

“…look, at least it won’t rain!” I grinned.

A droplet of water touched my head. And another. And another.

“You were saying?” Rei smirked.

“…on second thought, let’s just get the hotel room.” I sighed dejectedly, shielding my head from the rain with my paws as we ran to Swanna House.

---

“Are you kidding me. Nests again? What are we, birds?” He complained upon entering the room. “I thought we only made those as like makeshift beds or something…” He frowned as he knelt down next to the closest one to the door. “…this doesn’t seem comfortable at all.”

I lock the door. “Another seven thousand down the drain…”

“Oh, please. Anyone would kill to have as much money as you seem to have. I still don’t get how you got your hands on that much.”

“Sheer determination.” I smirked, setting down my Poké sack on the table as I plopped myself down on the bed across from the Snivy.

“…you sure that’s comfortable?”

“It’s not too bad. I’ve slept on better beds, though.” I patted the soft yet bristly sewn-together pile of hay underneath me.

“ These are beds to you?”

“Mhm!”

Rei stared at me, then at the nest in front of him. Shrugging, he flopped down back-first onto his nest. “Ow-” His head hit the hard floor. “…barely any cushioning. Should’ve expected that.” He groaned, sitting back up and looking back at me. “…anyway… be serious with me, how’d you get so much?”

“I am being serious! I worked tirelessly for three years, working several odd jobs… I even did a fair amount of those requests, too! Not as a rescuer, though… I’m not too interested in that sorta thing.”

“Wait, you don’t have to be one to complete those jobs?”

“Nope! Civilians can do ‘em too. Only thing is that we’re forbidden by law to take anything above D-rank. And most people don’t usually consider hiring a normal ‘mon unless they’re desperate. They’d want the professionals to do it, of course.”

“…mind answering a bunch of questions for me?”

“Ehh…” I groaned.

“Come on. I’ve been here for a day, and I don’t know jack shit about this place.”

“…how about we play a little game?” I grin. “I ask one question, you answer. Then you get to ask a question, and I answer.”

“…why.”

“It’s fun! Besides, I wanna get to know my new business partner.”

“Okay first off, why the fuck are you calling me that? Never agreed to that.”

“But you did, when you begged to join me yesterday,” I chuckled. “I dunno, calling you just ‘my friend’ or ‘my acquaintance’ in front of businessmon wouldn’t garner the same respect as a title like ‘business partner’!”

“That’s my next question, what’s with—”

“Uh-uh! My turn. I’ll start off easy—got a favorite food?”

“…what kinda question is that?” Rei scoffed.

“Hey, can’t ask any more questions!”

“I was being rhetorical—agh, never mind. I dunno, ramen I guess.”

“Ooh, nice. Good ramen places are hard to come by here… There’s a couple that I know of near my hometown in the Air Continent!”

Rei sighed. “Aight, next up—”

“To answer your other question, like I said I just wanted to start off easy.” I grinned cheekily, cutting him off.

“…huh?”

“That’s what you asked before. ‘What kinda question is that?’ Now that I’ve answered that, it’s my turn again. Favorite drink?”

“H-hey! That’s bullshit… this isn’t some kinda competition.”

“Come on, buddy. It’s a simple question.”

“Iced tea.” He sighed, shrugging. “Annoying… Isn’t the point of this just to start a conversation, and not a contest? Ugh, anyway, what’s with the whole businessman obsession?”

“I admire the grind!” I proudly professed. “My parents were also businessmon—they ran a bank, and lent out money to other Pokémon. Learned quite a bit from watching them…” Growing up near so much money can really change a ‘mon, okay? “What about… alcoholic drinks? You into those?”

“…dude I’m like 16. I can’t drink.” Rei cringed.

“Eh? The drinking age here is 14.”

“WHAT,” Rei shouted. “You- you’re literally letting minors drink.”

“The age of majority’s, like, 12.”

“WHY. I DON’T LIKE THOSE IMPLICATIONS. I- I FUCKING DON’T.”

“Why not? It’s pretty standard.”

“For you guys, yeah!” Rei was suddenly flustered, covering his mouth. “Oh my fucking god… Why isn’t it 18??”

“18? Sheesh, that’s kinda late… already over a third of our lives…”

His eyes widened. “…how long do you guys live??”

“Uh, around 50 years.” Why’s this guy so upset?

“…I… I can’t do the math in my head, but you know what, I think that makes sense… at least it’s proportional, I’m pretty sure. B-but… the idea of it is just… Ugh!” He grimaced. “Humans live, like, 70 or 80 years, by the way. A lot longer than you guys, from the looks of it.” The Snivy sighed. “…wait a sec, how old are you?”

“14,” I simply said. “I’m younger than you, heh…”

“YOU’RE ONLY FOURTEEN??” He exclaimed. “Fucking- I- Wha-“ I think I might’ve broken him. “…j-just let me ask the next question already… I wanna move on.”

“…I mean, you did ask three extra questions out of turn…”

“B-but you still answered them, didn’t you? They don’t count now.” he refuted. 

“…aw man.”

“Gotchu,” he snickered. “Aight, what’s with calling me ‘Rei Snivy’? That’s not my last name.”

“Snivy’s your species name! It’s normal to go by your personal name first and your species name last. Everyone has a personal name, but some people just like going by their species name. Mainly as a formality, or ‘cause they don’t wanna share their name. No one’s gonna bat an eye if you introduce yourself personally. It’s a matter of preference, really.”

“…uh-huh.” Rei nodded, still looking a tad puzzled.

“What, do you go by something else in the human world?”

“…just call me Rei,” he mumbled. “Doesn’t matter.”

I looked at him for a moment before shrugging it off. “Welp, if ya say so. Anyway… what is the human world like, anyway?”

He stared at the floor, pondering. “…never really gave it much thought. It’s… meh.”

“Meh? Just meh? Come on, buddy… there’s gotta be more to it than just that!”

“…It’s a lot more… big? Loud? Advanced? I grew up in a large city with giant buildings and way too many people for comfort. This place is definitely a lot quieter… hell, I’m not sure if Post Town even qualifies as a town to me, given its size.” Rei glanced towards the window. “The level of technology here is what I expected for a parallel world like this. Back home, we got computers, cars, airplanes… uh, what other cool things? Oh, cell phones! Of course!”

“…you just listed a bunch of random words without explaining what any of those things are,” I say.

He looked back at me. “Uh, right, but my point is we got a lot more shit than you guys. Sorry, I’m not good at explaining this kinda stuff.”

“So why do you think it’s ‘meh’ then, if you have so much?”

“…hey, it’s my turn now, isn’t it?” He avoided the question. “I-I’ll get back to that later. Uh, I can probably guess how the guild works, but what’s the difference between a guild and an association? You talked about those as if they’re two different things.”

“The guild and association systems are just ways rescuers are organized in the continents. The Grass and Sand Continents follow the guild system—many different guilds are scattered around, and they have jurisdiction over a handful of towns in their vicinity.” I explained. “Meanwhile, here in the Mist Continent, as well as the Water Continent, there are no guilds. Instead there’s just one association that’s essentially one huge guild. The Water Continent’s association is called the Expedition Society, and the association here is called HAPPI. They oversee rescue teams from all over the continent, and they’ve got offices in almost every town.”

“‘Happy’? Just ‘happy’?” Rei asked.

“It’s an acronym. I forget what it stands for.” I shrugged. “Dunno how they work, ‘cause I’m not a rescuer, and the place I grew up never even had either of these systems in the first place…”

“No guilds or association? Then… how do teams work over there?”

“Rescue teams are unregulated in the Air Continent. Every team is independent of one another—none of them are affiliated with any organization… well, any official one, at least. Teams can still form alliances and whatnot, I think.”

“…an association sounds cooler than a guild, not gonna lie. Makes it seem professional.” He smirked. “Not that I’d wanna be a rescuer, that shit sounds dangerous.”

“You’d be surprised how many simple jobs there are that pay a lot. Got paid 500 for being some old Carracosta’s delivery ‘mon.” I wagged my tail. “Practically free money!”

“I don’t wanna be some kinda errand boy either…”

“Then… what do you wanna be?” 

“I don’t know,” he hissed, suddenly getting defensive. “I… I just don’t know. Is it okay to say I don’t know?”

“W-woah, chill… it was just a question…”

“…sorry. I get asked that a lot. Anyway, your turn right?” He brushed his reaction aside, crossing his arms.

“Um… yeah. Right.” I nodded. “So what are your thoughts about… being a Snivy? ‘Cause you said you used to be human…”

Rei groaned. “Why can’t we go back to the easy questions… erm, it’s interesting, to say the least. Had to relearn how to balance myself and how to run. I’ve got flimsy leaves for hands now. And that’s only part of it… It’s weird…”

“Snivys have vines though, don’t they? You’ll be able to use those instead of those leaf hands!”

“That’s gonna be so hard to learn, though…” He sighed.

---

“Your turn, Rei.”

“…eh. Got nothing else. Still curious about some stuff, but it’s not bugging me right now.” Rei smirked. “For real though, I ask a bunch of questions about this world, meanwhile you just ask dumb shit like what my favorite beverage is.”

“I just wanna get to know you! Can’t stay strangers forever…” I chuckled.

“You’re the one who tried turning it into some kinda competitive game, using the rules against me…” Rei laid down on his bed, on his side. “Ehh… I just want to nap for now…” His body curled itself up, his tail moving up next to his arms. “…I guess I’ll get used to this. This nest is so prickly though… ugh.”

“Sleep well, Rei. I’m gonna stop by the bank and pick up more cash.”

“Aight,” he slurred as he shut his eyes.

As I walked towards the door, I could hear Rei murmur.

“…thanks again, Ichi… guess I lucked out to be found by you first…”

I smiled. “Don’t mention it. We’re friends, aren’t we?”

“…I wouldn’t go that far.”

I pouted. “And here I thought I got you to open up…”