Chapter 19 – A Lazy Day
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Hey everyone, the last few chapters author notes have been about me explaining things and trying to make as many people happy as possible. I can't make everyone happy, but I really appreciate those who took the time to fill out the polls I posted. I learned a lot about what direction I can take and that the majority of you like my story the way it is. 

This author's note is not about that, however, and is instead dedicated to you: The readers.

I cannot begin to say how thankful I am to each and every one of you for reading my story. This started out as a silly idea to help me cope with the loss of a family member and a good friend as well as getting through a bad breakup. I always loved Pokemon as a kid and thought this would be a cool feel-good story to brighten up some people's days. If I make you smile or laugh during a chapter, then I feel I have done my job. The response to this story has been incredible and I have no words for how grateful I am to you all. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that this story could be as popular as it has become, so seriously, thank you!

No more gushing from me, onto the story!

Chapter 19 – A Lazy Day

Lara and I sleep in late the next day. We purposefully cleared our schedules so that we can focus on just having a fun relaxing day with our growing family. Ordering breakfast to the room and enjoying a massive cuddle pile on the floor with all our Pokemon, we eat and talk about our future plans. Luckily, Pyra can use her old Fire Cage without issue in her Minimized form. I will have to contact dad for another one soon.

I help Lara with her Hard Hide Treatment Kit for Jeffery and we chip away at his stone hide until it matches what we find on a Rhyhorn Care Tips video on PokeTube. Luckily, it is not that difficult and he looks a lot happier and much less bulky afterward. Our Pokemon help us clean up the excess rocks and toss them in the garbage...I doubt the cleaning staff will be pleased...

'Let's be sure to leave them a nice tip today.'

We then go through our rounds of calling all our family members and friends. They are all doing fine and are happy to hear from us. Mom and dad are thrilled that we called and cry loudly on the phone about missing us and Persian even joins in on the conversation for a while, mostly talking to Pyra. Rose is doing well nearing the end of her 10th year at school and informs us that the school will be taking over the club, but allowed it to run much like the student council. Rose was voted the President and Conor is the Vice President. Rose is also still dating Marcus, the guy I met at my surprise party 2 years ago, so I guess I was a bit too hasty with my assumption of him not being important. She hangs up on me when I start telling her to use protection and Lara and I laugh.

The conversation with Lara's family is a bit more interesting. Ash is pissed off for a couple of reasons. First, Lara didn't call him every night, Second, we admit to buying the cabin and sharing a single room in the hotel. Third, Lance is now blowing him up to talk about their upcoming journey and how lovey-dovey we were together when we met him. Ash blames all of this on me and starts to threaten to fly out on his Mega Pidgeot and "have some words with me" before Selena elbows him. She is also doing well and she and Lara talk about the singing and acting business for a while. Seems she landed a big role in a rom-com about two people fighting over the same Pokemon and then keep running into each other. Sounds...cliche, but hey! That's what the people like!

Conor is doing great and he and Courtney are as perfect together as always. Lara teases him relentlessly, trying to get him to talk about how far they have gone and making up for years of him teasing her about me, but I eventually cover her mouth and give him a big thumbs up. He is still working out with Mr. Rook and I promise to give them a call as well.

Mr. and Mrs. Rook look frazzled but happy. The new daughter is apparently a very loud and needy baby. Mr. Rook gushes for nearly 20 minutes about her and sends us about 20 photos. We laugh and look over them and, I gotta admit, she is a cute kid!

We phone up Courtney, but she is working at Oak's lab and can't talk so we leave her a voicemail. Professor Oak does answer when we call and we spend about 30 minutes or so talking about our adventure, our Pokemon, and Pyra's recent evolution. He has contacted Crystal a while ago, but she doesn't seem to want to interact with the world anymore and is acting like a hermit, so we only have small tidbits of information on Purple Charizards. Either way, he is overjoyed when he learns she can talk and they enjoy their own conversation for a couple of minutes. Apparently, he asked Persian to work with him to get a better understanding and more information about the Pokemon language, but the lazy cat refused. Pyra seems more open to the idea in the future, and I promise to visit soon.

I just need to get my flying licenses and we can fly back at any time. Lara should be able to join me once she gets her Aerodactyl in Pewter City, so we decided to wait and take the class together then. After our first gym battle in 3 days, we have a month before our second against Misty in Cerulean City, so we have some time to explore and adventure in between. The League decided to do one recorded gym battle every month, so we should be finishing up our Jr. League badge collection in about 8-9 months. We have not talked about the Elite 4 with them yet, but we expect them to want to do one battle every week or every other week. This should allow us to finish up the entire Jr. Leauge in 10-11 months. It is, admittedly, a bit of a rush, but it still should be fun none the less. 

Next, we call up Zeek and Kimmy, but they don't answer as we expected. They are still in the dark, running from Kimmy's parents after eloping, but Lara and I know that they are safe in a remote part of the Orange Isles. Probably enjoying a tropical honeymoon vacation with all the money we gave them...Hopefully, they don't spend it all before settling down...

Lastly, not because of importance but rather because we expected to spend the most time talking to her, we call up Jessica...only to hear a robotic voice say her phone is disconnected...

"That's odd..." Lara comments and checks her social media accounts...which have all gone dark. No posts or updates for the last week or so. Lara then calls Rhonda to see what is going on, but Rhonda is super dodgy about our questions and gives us non-answers. 

"I'm sure she is doing fine. This isn't the first time she has gone rogue. If I talk with her, I will let you know how she is doing." Rhonda offers, trying to placate us.

"Just tell her to call me!" Lara says in frustration as she hangs up. Neither of us understands what is going on, and we are both a little worried. Even when she went off to do her own thing in the past, she always answered our calls. This was strange and we both agreed we didn't like it. 

"It'll be okay. Maybe she is just on a bender or partying it up now that she is an adult. I bet she just forgot to pay her phone bill." I offer to comfort my sad fiance as I rub her back.

"Yeah...you're probably right." She says and leans into my embrace. 

We spend the next hour just cuddling and playing with our Pokemon...but Lara and I are active individuals and we quickly grow bored. 

We look at each other at the same time and say, "Wanna go fight some trainers?" "We should get some more battles in."

Laughing, we get everyone in their Pokeballs, Ultraball in Celeste's case, and head down to the front of the city to stomp *ahem* have honorable battles with some newbie trainers again.

'Let's put Thorn and Leonidas to the test, shall we?'

* | * | *

"Leonidas, use Harden again!" I say with a savage smile.

"Oh, come on! Weedle! Use Poison Sting!" Mason the Bug Trainer says.

Yup, picking on Bug Trainers is the best way to get Leonidas to gain experience. Not the most thrilling of battles, but every success is a step closer to evolution. Based on his growth, I imagine Leonidas is one or two more victories from evolving. I am pushing him hard because I really want to heal up his scars quickly. It hurts me to look at him so damaged.

Lara and I ran by the Mart before coming here to stock up on Potions and other items we might need. I bought 2 new 1000 spray Super Potions for $1.4 Million Pokebucks (~$13,300 USD) since my old one was almost out. It was hella expensive, but these should last me a good while and we just got paid this morning. 

To clarify, Lara and I get paid twice a month. The 2nd Friday and the 4th Friday of every month. It is the 2nd Friday of May and that means this is our singing, as well as acting and modeling in Lara's case, payday. The 4th Friday is our League payday. Lara makes...a lot on the first payday, but I usually end up with around $1 Million Pokebuck (~$9,500 USD) in royalties for my album per month. One of my songs was featured in a successful commercial ad campaign this month, however, so I received $3.43 Million (~$33,000 USD) this payday instead.  

Lara and I really aren't expecting much from our first League payday. We have a couple of wins under our belt, 12 wins to 1 loss for me and 15 wins and 1 loss for Lara, but most trainers can expect to get about $50 Thousand Pokebucks (~$500 USD) in their first payday...this is the amount the League pays regardless of wins and losses. It is said that 50 wins higher than losses is the first milestone to see an increase. Most estimate about $1,000 extra per win after 50 wins...the problem is losses make this much more complicated. For instance, even if you had 100 wins, if you had 70 losses, you will still get the base pay. You need 50 wins over your losses to start seeing better payouts. 

This is further complicated as winning against better trainers can significantly increase your pay as well. For example, if a 10 win 3 loss trainer beats a 30 win 0 loss trainer, they can expect a big pay bonus for that month. It is complicated, but at the end of the day, this is still a job, so we need to win and improve to get paid more and be worth more to the League. Once you rank up past the Jr. League and become an Offical Trainer, your pay is much, much better.

What does the Pokemon League get out of paying us? Well, they have their hands in just about every aspect of Pokemon items, merchandise, and advertising. You buy 10 Pokeballs? The League gets a piece. I buy two 1000 spray Super Potions? The League gets a larger piece. Silph Co wants to run an ad on their newest type of Pokeballs? The league gets a huge piece. It is a never-ending cycle of paying and earning, but the League owns the market. They do not disclose their earnings, but they are paying newbie trainers across the world to get better, so I am guessing they are doing just fine for money.

Enough about finances, back to the battle.

"Alright, Leo, enough playing around. Tackle!" I yell. I have only had him for a day and haven't had a chance to run him or Thorn through my training routine, so it will be simple commands until I can.

Leonidas launches forward and hits the Weedle hard on its head. The little bug tries to move out of the way and launch counter-attacks, but Leonidas doesn't let up and continues to pummel it with tackles until it falls unconscious. 

"No! That is my fourth Weedle! You'll pay for that!" Bug Trainer Marcus promise, to which I roll my eyes.

While he is monologuing, I call Leonidas back to me and spray a Super Potion in his mouth - Yes, they have mouths, they are just well hidden under the carapace. How would they eat without them?

Using items in pauses in the battle this way is allowed unless specifically restricted in the battle rules, but using them during combat is not. It is more of a safety thing than anything else. You don't want to run into the battlefield while an opposing Pokemon is using a move. That is a guaranteed one-way trip to the emergency room. I heal him up and pat his shell.

"Still up for more?" I ask.

"Pod." He full-body nods in agreement.

I smile after my Metapod as he hops back out to the battlefield. Maybe this will be the one? 

"Let's see how you handle this! Go, Kakuna!" Marcus says with a smirk like it is his hidden ace.

I sigh. "Leo, Tackle it over and over before it can get off a ton of Hardens," I say and Leonidas rushes in to comply. 

The Kakuna gets off 3 hardens before it is taken down by Leonidas. Again, not the most interesting of battles, but this is still early power levels. He will be a beast in another 20 levels or so.

"Urg! No! Just you wait until I have 6 Beedrills! Then you won't be so confident!" Marcus screams while pointing at me. "I declare you my eternal rival! ...Hey are you listening!?!"

But I am not. I am smiling at my now glowing Metapod as it starts to evolve. I quickly take out my Full Restore and wait patiently for Leo to finish. 

First, his shell pops and cracks as it falls to pieces around him, then 2 antennae pop out of the hole in the carapace, finally a loud, "Free!" is heard as wings spread open for the first time. A large, majestic Butterfree has its first flight as it greets the world. Leonidas trills happily as he flies over and I pet and pat him lovingly, giving him lots of compliments and attention as I look over his body. The scars and old wounds have mostly reopened, so I spray the Full Restore in his mouth and all over his body to remove the majority of them. 

After my administrations, he is left with a light puncture scar on his back and a jagged, dare I say, badass looking scar on his face running from just under his right eye and leading down to his neck. For a sweet and often seen as beautiful Pokemon, Leonidas holds an air of danger and determination.

'I totally need to get him a spiked collar...'

I smile and pet Leonidas some more as he looks over the changes himself, then I turn to Marcus and offer my hand.

"Thanks for the battles. I would be glad to be your rival." I say holding out my hand for a shake and smiling at him.

He is about 5'7" and has brown hair. He wears what you would expect a bug catcher to wear from the games. Khaki shorts and button-down brown shirt with tons of pockets. He also carries a bug net...

'Again, I ask: Why though?'

"Huh? Oh...yeah. Thanks. You too. Um...Congrats on the Butterfree!" He says as he shakes my hand awkwardly. 

"Thanks, man, you will be pretty intimidating with all those Beedrills. I look forward to battling you again. Take care!" I say with a wave goodbye and make my way over to Lara's battlefield where...she is battling a Magikarp with her Magicarp Paul...They are literally just flopping around each other as both trainers are in stitches on the ground laughing.

I sigh and stand near her with Leonidas perched on my shoulder. "Babe...really?" I ask her as the crowd around the battle continues to laugh.

"It...ha...started out...haha....as a serious battle. Hehe But then...ha...I sent out Paul...and she sent out her own Magikarp! hahaha" Lara tries to explain in between laughs. "They will...haha...probably flail enough to knock one out...hehehe....eventually! Bahahaha" 

I roll my eyes at her and check on the flopping fish. Sure enough, Paul lands a hit with its tailfin, but it hardly does anything other than throw the other back a few feet. I am worried for a moment about fish being out of the water, but the goldfish looking Pokemon seem to be happy enough, so I just sigh and shake my head.

"Okay...have fun I guess," I say with a small laugh of my own and walk over to our other Pokemon nearby. Grace is hiding behind Pyra, clearly trying to disassociate herself from Lara at this moment and the others all have pained expressions on their faces...except for Jeffery. Jeffery just looks happy to be here.

I give them each a few pets and scratches and they all crowd around Leonidas to congratulate him on his evolution. 

"Alright bud," I say extending an arm to Thorn, "Ready for your time to shine?"

Thorn nods at me...not sure what else I was expecting.

"Can...we come with?" Pyra asks, grimacing at Lara who is wiping tears from her eyes and finally standing back up. Grace looks up at me hopefully and I laugh and affirm. We all head to another free battlefield and I yell out that I am looking for a trainer to battle.

"With just one or the whole team? I can't beat a Charizard..." A short woman of 5'3" with glasses and light pink hair asks walking up to me. 

"Just one," I answer with a smile, "This guy on my shoulder is named Thorn and my name is Finn. A pleasure to meet you!" I finish and offer my hand.

"I know who you are," She says with a nervous smile and awkward laugh. "I was looking forward to meeting you and Lara. I-I went to her fan event yesterday!" She finishes with a blush and a bit louder than necessary,

"Oh? Cool! What's your name?" I ask, smiling at her. 

Her face falls a bit, but she works up the courage to say, "Aubrey Joy..." She says and sighs when the light of recognition shines in my eyes.

"Yes, I am related to the other Joys. Yes, I also have several identical sisters. No, we cannot read each other's thoughts. No, we are not clones..." She starts on a clearly prepared list of answers to commonly asked questions, but I interrupt her.

"Whoa, whoa! Hold up there. I wasn't going to ask anything past the first question. I didn't mean to pry or be rude." I say scratching the back of my head awkwardly.

"I...No...I'm sorry." She says with a sigh, "I am just used to getting asked so many questions when people find out who I am...it's annoying. I'm my own person..." She trails off dejectedly.

"I bet that can be frustrating," I offer trying to sympathize...but honestly, how do I even begin to know what it is like to have that many identical siblings. Her family and their cousins, the Jenny's, are famous for giving birth to huge sets of identical siblings. Apparently, the women have a rare genetic condition, but that is none of my business. I am not at all surprised in finding one of their family out here. One of their family is everywhere with how many there are. All I can do is be nice to those I meet because I doubt it can be easy for them.

"Urg. You have no idea. If one more sleazebag asks me to gather my sisters for a-"

"The battle?" I ask, trying to gently move away from this topic.

"Huh? Oh, right. Yeah...sorry. Sure. My Cleffy can beat a Dratini, no problem." She says coming back to the moment, pausing, and then confidently smiling at me.

I smirk back and say, "We'll see."

We take opposite sides to each other on the battlefield and I announce, "The rules are 1 on 1, no items, and no substitutions, agreed?"

"Sounds good to me!" She says with a wide smile and throws out a pink Pokeball - either a Loveball or just a decorated Pokeball. In a flash of red light, out pops a Clefable. 

'Oh...Cleffy...makes sense now...This is a bad matchup for Thorn.'

I look at the Dragon Pokemon on my shoulder and whisper, "You got this bud? You don't have to battle if you don't want to. The Clefable is a Fairy-Type and that is gonna be tough to beat for a Dragon-Type." In answer, he turns his head to look at me with a slightly raised and angled head. Clouds I didn't realize were blocking the sun at that moment part and a ray of golden sunlight shines down on Thorn. He is silhouetted as if Arceus himself is watching and approving this match. His black eyes shine and Thorn nods once again. I feel so many emotions in that nod, but an overwhelming sense of, "I got this, boss" rings through.

'Holy shit! He is so cool!'

Thorn hops down and faces the now blushing Clefable and shocked Aubrey. He strikes a ready pose with his head lowered and his tail pointed at Cleffy. It twitches, not unlike a finger, as if to say, "Come at me." 

I can practically see hearts forming in the Clefable's eyes as she stares down at Thorn, slowly taking unbidden steps towards him.

"C-Cleffy! Wait!" Aubrey yells trying to understand what was going on and why her heart was beating so fast for a Pokemon.

"Ready?" I ask with a newfound confident smile.

"R-ready!" She shouts, pushing all distractions to the side. 

"Okay then, 3, 2, 1 - Start!" I yell. 

Nearly at the same time, Aubrey and I command our Pokemon. "Thorn, Thunder Wave!" "Cleffy, Disarming Voice!"

Thorn's tail waves in mesmerizing circles as yellow Electric energy rushes towards the Clefable. Cleffy, in turn, lets out a hauntingly beautiful song, and the pink waves of Fairy energy shake the air in a path towards Thorn. The two attacks land and have dramatically different effects. Cleffy takes a step back and Electric currents run through her body and lock her muscles or causes spasms. Thorn...Thorn is blown back 10 feet and rolls across the ground, before rising slowly and wiping blood from the corner of his mouth. He takes the same stance as before with a nod and a call of, "Tini?" As if to ask, "Is that it?"

'...My Pokemon is a Shonen protagonist...' I realize in disbelief.  

The Clefable's eyes widen at Thorn and her hand stretches out to him as if to check if he is okay, but she stops herself and closes her eyes to nod. She opens them again and smiles wide at Thorn, and yells "Clefable!" As if to say, "I recognize you as a strong opponent!"

"Um...Cleffy? Do...Do it again!" Aubrey says, now feeling unsure of hurting such a dashing Pokemon. But what can she do? This is a battle. A challenge. To do it in half measures would be an insult to Finn and to...him. 

I sigh and yell, "Move in to Wrap her up!"

Cleffy, who was about to do her move, pauses and looks to me, then to Thorn, before "Becoming Paralyzed." And locking all her muscles allowing Thorn to slither, in a dramatic evasive way, towards his opponent. When he reaches her, she remains Paralyzed as Thorn wraps around her several times and constricts. 

...She sits down with a blush and starts hugging him and letting it happen...

I freeze. Aubrey freezes. We look at each other in bewilderment and then at the scene in front of us. Cleffy falls to the side in an exaggerated fainting motion and continues hugging Thorn while clearly throwing the battle.

'Did that...did that really just happen? I...have no words...'

Thorn tries to leave, seeing the battle is over, but the Clefable continues to hold onto him and hug him close, smiling the whole time.

I facepalm.

"C-Cleffy! What are you doing! Let him go!" Aubrey yells, a blush of embarrassment coming to her cheeks. The Clefable ignores her trainer and Thorn seems to give up the struggle with a sigh...Then bluish-purple energy surrounds the duo and they are forcibly peeled apart. Thorn is Telekinetically moved over to Celeste, who steps forward all her tattoos glowing. Cleffy breaks free from her own Psychic hold and glowers at Celeste. Sparks seem to fly between the two and it looks like they are about to start the real battle when Aubrey returns The Clefable to her Pokeball.

'Not just a Shonen protagonist. A harem Shonen protagonist...I feel like we have lost the plot here...'

"Finn...I am so sorry. I am not sure what happened..." Aubrey says at a loss.

"It's alight," I say leaning down to pet Thorn behind the ears. He looks a bit dejected at the thought that he didn't really win, but quickly shakes it off and nods up at me. Celeste stands near him protectively. I guess she can be his defender from other female Pokemon...

'Hang in there buddy...you have it hard...'

"We will have to try again next time we meet," I say with a smile noticing Lara off to the side trying desperately not to fall into another fit of giggles as the battle she just witnessed was even more absurd than the two Magikarps. 

Lara comes over and we talk about the strange battle with Aubrey for a while longer before exchanging contact info and deciding to turn in for the night. It is about 4 pm and we want to get to bed early so we can get an early start tomorrow. We head back to the hotel, with Thorn back on my shoulder looking like the definition of the word stoic.

We clean up for the night and I am going over our route notes for tomorrow while Lara showers. We will be able to use the car dad gave me for the first time, as this route was more of a public road and not part of the Jr. League official route. Feeling thankful to him for the thoughtful gift and glad I got my driver's license when I got my Pokemon License updated, I smile and flip my phone over to some funny PokeTube videos to relax.

30 minutes or so later, I am deep into the Pokemon cat videos when the hotel bedroom door opens and Lara steps in wearing her bathrobe. She closes the door behind her quickly and smiles at me giving me The Look. 

"I got all the family in their Pokeballs for the night. We can finally get some alone time...Finn...you won't deny me tonight, right?" She says biting her lip as she drops the towel revealing a marvelous set of pink and red negligee. 

My jaw drops and my eyes bulge as I quickly put aside my phone as she starts crawling towards me from the bottom of the bed.

'Damn...looks like we are not going to bed early after all...'

Thanks for reading!

One quick correction: I wrote that Leonidas was level 6 before even though he was a Metapod - That was incorrect. He was level 9 and I have made that edit. Hope that didn't confuse people too much!

The next chapter will be another Optional R18 chapter for Valentine's Day. All us single people can read it with tears of blood. LOL

I will be releasing the next canonical chapter at the same time as well so if you are not into the R18 chapters, don't worry. You won't have to wait for the next regular chapter. I plan on doing that moving forward as well.

The battle with Thorn will not be the norm moving forward - He will get serious battles as well. I just had the thought and it made me laugh, so I hope it made you laugh or smile as well! 

Thanks again for reading and I hope you all enjoyed it. If you did like it, please consider leaving a heart, comment, or rating. =)

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