“So has my dad told you what the job will entail?” Jacob asked.

“He’s shown me the grove, but we were going to discuss that today,” David replied. Of course, Oliver had barely done that, but even if Jacob seemed nice, David wasn’t going to throw Oliver under the bus. At the end of the day, this was Oliver’s farm, and it had been him who gave David the chance.

“We,” Jacob emphasized. “Can go over that now then. You’re here for about a month then?”

“We were going to discuss that today too...” David trailed off.

Was he here for that long? He had two months to earn two badges. No, one day less now. Could he spend a month in Celadon? Half of his limit for one gym sounded correct, but it had taken nearly four days to travel to Celadon. Unless he wanted to challenge the Psychic gym next, which he didn’t, any other gym was at least twice as far away. That cut his 8 weeks down to 7.

But David couldn’t say he was ready for the Celadon gym challenge. He might not be ready after two more weeks of training. There was the next gym to consider too. Would it take him twice as much time to train for the second gym than it took for the first?

He should be able to train anywhere. The location didn't seem to matter much. They were limited by Pidgey's stamina and recovery time.

Did he have the ability to say no to a month? If this job disappeared he'd be broke with no job. Pidgey couldn’t train or battle without food. Maybe he could find other work but who’s to say that they wouldn’t want more of his time.

“I’m here to train and challenge the gym. I can commit to a month.”

“On your Journey then,” Jacob said with a nod. “Alright.”

“See it’s fine,” Oliver said gruffly. “I’ll take over the harvest, and you can head away.”

“Dad, I’m leaving on Thursday for the trade volume meeting anyway. We won’t be able to go for another week.”

“Oh is that this week?” Oliver said in surprise. “Well go next week then. Ann wanted to challenge for a badge right?”

“Yes she does,” Jacob said thoughtfully. “We could go for two weeks and stay in the area...”

“I don’t want to go.” Michael interrupted from the doorway. He was scowling at any and everyone in view. David suddenly felt guilty and like an intruder, even though he had very little say in this conversation.

“Michael...” Jacob started.

Oliver cut across him. “That’s fine. I can take care of Michael. Give you and Ann some time alone.”

Jacob stared at Oliver in thankful surprise then his eyes narrowed. “What are you planning dad?”

“Don’t know what you’re talking about.” Oliver rose from the table and waved Michael forward from the doorway. ”You discuss it with Ann. Now, David needs to get to work.”

Jacob continued to stare suspiciously at his father as the elderly man pushed his way past and ushered Michael off the patio. He turned his suspicion to David for a second before returning to Oliver.

“Well? Come on!” Oliver called.

David and Jacob followed.

“Has my father told you about the job?” Jacob asked as Oliver led them down the narrow road to the grove.

David thought for a second before sighing. “Mostly that we would talk-”

“Today.” Jacob finished with a groan. “Right. Well, at least he’s shown you where everything is. Did he give you a key to the canteen or has he opened it for everyone early?”

“Canteen?”

Jacob didn’t react verbally this time. He just stopped and rubbed his face.

“He didn’t give you the tour did he?”

When David didn’t respond immediately. Jacob nodded and, cupping his hands around his mouth, called out to the duo leading them. “Stop! We’re going back for the tour.”

Oliver either didn’t hear or pretended not to. Michael however, wasn't as brave or knew better. The young boy turned and started to jog back as his father beckoned. Deprived of his company, Oliver reluctantly turned back, leaving David to believe it was the latter.

“Why are we wasting time?” Oliver complained as they walked back towards the house. “You made sure I’ll be feeding him, didn't you? He can find his way to the canteen on his own.”

“And the bathroom?” Jacob asked with a glare. “You didn’t show him that either did you?”

Now it was David's turn to glare at Oliver. “Bathroom?”

That would have been nice to know. It would make his stay a whole lot easier. Cooking in the wild was one thing and not that much of a pain. Toilets and showers however…

Oliver grumbled something in response.

“What?” Michael asked innocently.

“I said everyone knows what they say about Pidgey poo.” Oliver mumbled, looking away.

“Dad!” Jacob chided. “Pidgey not people. Don't think I don't know that this is another Benny thing.”

Michael giggled which probably didn’t help Jacob's mood.

The canteen and bathroom turned out to be a small hut-like building with two rooms. One a very basic kitchenette without any refrigeration. The other a small toilet and shower room. The exterior of the building was similar to the main house, but the walls were closer in nature to the tiles on the roof.

Oliver and Jacob argued until it was decided to leave the building open as it would be in use during the harvest anyway.

David was still peeved about Oliver not telling him but the relief at getting constant use of a bathroom overshadowed any misgivings. The shower alone was a godsend.

After the canteen the trio introduced him to the different orchard plots, each named after strong smelling plants, until they arrived at the grove.

“The job’s simple enough,” Jacob began. “Patrol twice, twice a day. Once around the border, once through the center. Once in the morning, Once in the evening. Stay in the grove overnight.”

Oliver coughed.

“And there might be more work in the evening outside of that.” Jacob added. “Dad will try to let you know in advance, but urgent things can come up.”

Jacob raised an eyebrow at Oliver, but the old man seemed happy enough with that description.

“There are no days off I’m afraid. If you do need to skip a session or your Pidgey isn't able, let dad know. As I said before, you need to scare away wild Pokemon and find and destroy any nests within the grove. While you patrol the borders, look for any gaps in the fences. You won’t be able to stop every Pokemon, especially the flyers but that’s not the job. You’ll have more luck than us with the flyers with your Pidgey anyway. Scare them off and prevent anything from taking up residence.”

Another round of grumbling from Oliver, but he didn’t interrupt.

“I’ll be a security guard.” David summarized.

“Yes, pretty much. A guard and custodian. The patrols should take about two hours. If you spot any new berry bushes or if they are ready for harvest, let dad know too. Be careful. Anything out of your league, escape and find dad. The berries in here tend to be more interesting to strong Pokemon, but strong Pokemon are also less likely to come near the city.”

David nodded. It sounded like his trip from Saffron but cushier. “I can do that. Is it alright if I leave my tent set up in the grove?”

Michael peered into the trees as if to seek out the tent.

Oliver answered David this time. “Move every two to three days, and it’ll be fine.”

“It’ll keep any of the sneakier pests on their toes.” Jacob agreed.

“And spread the Pidgey poo.” Oliver added with a glint in his eye.

Jacob inhaled but let the dig slide. “Dad’ll provide two meals a day for Pidgey and yourself. After the morning patrol and the evening patrol. You can discuss any issues with him then. The canteen is open to you at any time but expect it to be busy during harvest.”

Oliver looked unenthusiastic and Michael excited.

“Now, pay.” Jacob paused and looked at the ground as he did some math. “75 poke a day.”

It was 5P more than two of Pidgey’s flying type sachet. But if he needed to do two patrols a day that was 4 hours of work along with what could be called a night watch. Not that David had anywhere else to sleep but still.

“What abou-” David started.

“That’s too-” Oliver protested.

“Not negotiable.” Jacob spoke over both of them. He raised an eyebrow at David. “Take it or leave now.”

David took a breath and held his hand out.

“Deal.”

Jacob tilted his head and eyed him curiously before reaching out and shaking David’s hand.

“Alright then. Now that’s settled, I need to get this fella home for dinner.” Jacob gestured to Michael, who frowned, and looked up at the sky. “And you can set up your camp before getting familiar with the grove and going on your patrol.”

David nodded. “I will do. Thanks.”

Oliver, Jacob and Michael left, bickering all the way.

David released Pidgey and set off into the woods to find a good camping spot for the night.

 

-.-

 

David’s patrol took longer than Jacob had said it would.

This wasn't because he had undersold the work. Rather David didn’t know the area yet. The walk around the perimeter took more than an hour, but David thought he could get it down to less than that. However, he didn’t find any tracks or evidence of Pokemon on this first patrol. The patrol could take even longer given how much a single battle could delay him.

Unlike the fence between the road and the orchard, the fence around the outer edge of the grove was a six-foot tall metal grill. David approached it cautiously in case it was electrified. The posts holding the fence up were metal too so by all logic it shouldn’t be, but he hadn’t met an Electric type yet. Who knew how their power worked. A light tap with the back of his hand proved the fence wasn’t.

The thin metal links wouldn’t be much of a detergent to Pidgey, even if she couldn’t just fly over them, but maybe it was designed to be more of a tripwire. In several places the fence had been patched with new wire. Given David was to check it twice a day, maybe it was only to serve as a warning that something had gotten in.

Trying to navigate the interior of the grove was slower and took over an hour and a half if not closer to the two-hour mark. Some of that was how carefully he needed to watch Pidgey as she hopped alongside him. She got close to the berries several times, too close for David’s comfort, but each time she was only investigating, or a quick warning deterred her. The majority of their time was getting lost or turned around in the thick canopy.

David knew all of this timing as Oliver complained about him being late when he made it out of the grove. Oliver managed to continue griping while setting the table, while putting out five ‘common’ berries for Pidgey to choose between and while bringing out the food. He only stopped when they started to eat.

To David’s relief they wouldn’t be eating together every meal. Some days Oliver would leave supplies out for David to take and prepare himself with the canteen.

Still, complaining aside, David and Pidgey retreated to the grove full and content. They rested for a moment in the peace of the grove before stirring.

It was time to get to training.