Humbling Experience (1/3)

"Hm, hmm, hmmm!" The girl studied him from his right.

"Hmmm, hm, Hmm!!" And then she examined his face from the left.

She hopped in front of him again, posing dramatically as she pointed at him. "Yes, I've decided! I challenge you to a Pokemon battle!"

Sandshrew slid in front of Izan, raising her tiny claws at the girl threateningly. "Sandshrew!" She was almost snarling.

Izan, wondering if he was dreaming or something, stared. Shaking out of his stupor quickly, he patted Sandshrew on the head, melting her anger immediately.

"Calm down, Sandshrew. Now, you, what was your name again?"

The girl nodded enthusiastically. "I have never told you my name before, but I will tell you now! I am the great guardian of the forest, Serebyi!"

"…Right." Izan drawled, looking back at his Pokegear.

Typing in her name into the search bar, it took a few tries to get the spelling down. But when he did, his eyes widened.

"Yeah, no. We're not battling you." He stated firmly, ignoring Sandshrew's shock.

Serebyi almost deflated but kept her pose up anyway. "But… why not?" She whined.

In response, he squinted his eyes at her like she was stupid. "Because you're the 777th best trainer in the world… and I haven't even had Sandshrew for a week."

Seriously, what was she thinking? Her Pokemon team's average level was 43!

Bouncing on one foot, she put up a peace sign and stuck her tongue out while pouting. "Aw, man! I didn't think you would catch me so quickly!~"

Izan visibly cringed on instinct. Normal people didn't act like that and he wanted no part of whatever that just was.

Getting up, he dusted himself off calmly and schooled his expression.

"Well, it was nice meeting you Serebyi. Goodbye," He nodded to her, turning away.

Picking up Sandshrew, he started speed walking away quickly, letting his disgust be shown. "Let's get the fuck outta here, Sandshrew, she's weird," He whisper yelled.

Sandshrew didn't respond, content to just blissfully rest in his arms.

They didn't make it far before they had to stop.

Serebyi slid in front of him, holding up her hands. "W-wait! Don't run away, I just, uh…" She looked distinctively anxious about something.

"Oh! Yeah, I've got it! How about I take you on a task with me? You know, to apologize and stuff for being so weird." She muttered that last part, looking downward.

Izan sighed, feeling bad now that she felt the need to say sorry. "I'm not so important that you'd have to apologize for your personality. It's fine."

She held her tongue for a moment, before sighing as well. "No, I'm not normally like that. I just… tend to overdo it when I'm nervous."

There was an awkward silence only filled with the hums coming from a very pleased Sandshrew.

"So… you said something about a task? Why would doing a 'task' help me? That just sounds like free labor." He broke the silence reluctantly.

She answered without missing a beat, eager to get away from the awkwardness. "Have you never been on one? Huh. I thought all the Youngsters did a ton of tasks a day."

Izan's eye twitched in slight annoyance at his own ignorance. "Well, what is it? I'm pretty new to the whole Pokemon training thing if you haven't gotten the memo."

They fell into conversation as they leisurely walked back to the Pokemon Center.

Her personality was still just as bubbly and excitable as before, but she spoke in a more relaxed way despite her high energy.

Izan decided to stay quiet most of the time, soaking in her explanation.

Tasks were a pretty simple deal if he ignored the way she superfluously explained them. Jobs, tasks, missions. The name didn't matter since it was all the same thing.

Essentially, anyone could issue a task for something that required a Pokemon trainer. Such as needing a fighting type to help carry things or an ice type to freeze perishables.

Each job would then be categorized on its threat level and only certain trainers could take the more dangerous ones.

Youngsters like himself were stuck doing local chore-work, for example. Berry harvesting seemed popular for Youngsters.

One of the more popular types of tasks overall though was a request for a certain Pokemon. A lot of people needed Pokemon for various things, after all. From work needs, aspiring trainers, to even just wanting a Skitty or something because it was cute.

Especially since anyone could fulfill those tasks, trainer or not.

Looking on the League website, it was filled with requests from all over the world.

"-And Sandshrew here can get her cute little anger out!" Serebyi finished off her rant, poking Sandshrew on the nose. Sandshrew bit at the air, missing Serebyi's finger.

Izan considered Sandshrew's expression before speaking. "Anger? I think she just didn't like you popping up and talking to me without her permission."

Serebyi tilted her head. "Really? That was it?"

Sandshrew emphatically nodded her head again and again.

"Huh. You know, it's kinda weird you guys are so close when you say you haven't known each other for that long."

Izan and Sandshrew looked at each other in the eyes for a moment. Eventually, they both shrugged in sync. "I guess so. Does it matter, though?"

Serebyi smiled brightly. "Nope! Anyway, what do you think? Wanna go on a task date with me?"

Izan considered it, scrunching up his nose. Sandshrew offered no opinion, looking on impassively. "I don't know…"

She pouted, looking annoyed. "Oh, come on! I'll even let you have the full payou-"

Snapping his fingers, he answered immediately. "You son of a bitch, I'm in."

For once, Sandshrew and Serebyi were on the same page as they deadpanned at Izan's shameless greed.

[}-{]

"So why exactly did you pick this job again?" Izan asked as they approached the designated area.

It was an abandoned house on the outskirts of town. Not many even came to the area anymore, but someone was buying the property and wanted the Pokemon that took over it to get out.

"Because I get to show off how super cool and awesome of a trainer I am, and you get to have a battle!" Serebyi replied, pumping her fist in the air.

"You want me to battle a couple of Spearow? Didn't I say I haven't trained Sandshrew for a week yet?"

She waved him off. "Pssh. It'll be fine. I'm here, aren't I? If you need help, just ask me!" She pointed at her smiling face.

Izan rolled his eyes, fluttering his lips. 'I'm gonna regret this, aren't I?'

Noting his expression, she pouted. "Fine. Don't believe me? Just watch and learn."

When they finally walked up, the abandoned house was covered in a huge flock of Spearow with a giant Fearow sitting in the middle. They all eerily and silently observed the two as they approached.

"Alright, listen here you meanies! I'm gonna give you one chance and one chance only; Get outta here before I have to kick your butts and put you out!" Serebyi began shrieking.

Izan facepalmed but stayed in his place, believing she could probably deal with it. Sandshrew watched on curiously.

The Spearow all looked at her impassively until the main Fearow gave her a piercing look. Just with that look, the entire flock was incensed and began flying in the air.

Serebyi's demeanor suddenly changed to complete seriousness, her voice becoming noticeably deeper. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

"Come out, Bramble."

Out of her Pokeball materialized a massive, brass Ferrothorn with red vines that didn't seem concerned at all with the flock in front of it.

'A shiny Pokemon? Damn, I forgot about those.' Izan briefly thought.

Fearow cawed loudly in warning, obviously much more intelligent than the Spearow flock it commanded.

"Use [Stealth Rock]." She intoned.

Glowing rocks appeared around Ferrothorn before spinning around him and flicking off in random directions, planting themselves in the ground.

Fearow, incensed at being ignored, cawed again. The entire flock began soaring to Serebyi directly, ignoring her Ferrothorn completely.

"Finish them off, Bramble. [Gravity]." She commanded.

A thrum of power exploded from Ferrothorn, targeting every single Spearow, increasing the gravity and sending them rocketing toward the ground.

On impact, the embedded rocks exploded in orange light, causing every Spearow to faint or be heavily injured. Sandshrew looked on in awe.

Izan snapped out of his stunned state when he heard Serebyi dusting off her hands.

"And that's that. Told you I was super cool, didn't I?" She smirked.