#hey chat meet Tox

[yourdeepestfathoms]

Of Patience and Partners

Rain is coming down from the sky with so much force that Joan is sure a dozen Castforms are having some sort of party in the sky. If she squints, she thinks she can see the silhouettes of their bodies twirling and floating amongst the thick grey clouds. Or, perhaps, Zapdos or Lugia have flown past Galar, leaving a storm in their wake.

Then again, Galar always rains.

“New job?”

The voice of the cab driver snaps Joan out of her daze. She blinks away spots and then looks forward, momentarily meeting the eyes peering back at her from the rear view mirror.

“Yeah,” She said, trying not to grab the ceiling handle as the cab starts to fishtail in the half-flooded intersection. She had asked him to drive fast, after all. “How’d you know?”

The cabbie laughs and flashes a smile at her.

“Chatot and I have seen a lot of different people,” He said, “You learn body language and mannerisms.”

Joan nodded. She glances at the colorful parrot Pokémon the cabbie had referred to- it’s perched on the console, eyeing her, as well.

“I see.”

“You should have seen this one guy,” The cabbie began, “Drunk out of his mind! He kept proclaiming his undying loyalty to the Helos fossil! His Kadabra ended up using hynosis on him and put him to sleep to shut him up. Never before have I seen a partner look that disappointed.” He shook his head while laughing. “Say, if you don’t mind me asking, where’s your Pokémon partner?”

“Oh,” Joan said sheepishly, fidgeting slightly, “I don’t have one.”

The Chatot makes a tiny trill, while the cabbie is quiet for a moment.

“I get that,” He finally spoke back up, “It’s difficult for some people to find that right right hand. The bond needs to be perfect, you know? Like, I have a Simisage and an Elgyem, and I love them to death, but they’re my team, not my partner. You probably haven’t found yours just yet!”

“I hope so,” Joan mutters.

“Ah, here we are,” The cabbie said, “Great Newport Street?”

“Yes, sir,” Joan nods, grabbing her bag and getting a coo from the Chatot for politeness. She quickly pays and then steps out, waving before hurrying under the canopy of the building she was supposed to work at from now on. After taking a moment to collect her bearings, she pushed open the front doors.

A clean smell hit her first, then something hard against her ankle.

Joan yelped loudly and jumped back against the door with a thud as she awkwardly hops on one foot so she could rub her throbbing shin. She hadn’t even gotten time to look around the lobby before she got attacked- was she in the wrong place? She had to be! Why else would her ankle be shattered like that?

“Bandit!”

A woman wearing a green sweatshirt ran out from another pair of double doors, her brown hair bouncing around her stalky shoulders. She’s scuttling towards a tan figure down at Joan’s feet- she realizes it’s a Scraggy.

“Sorry!” The woman said hurriedly, then turned her attention to the Scraggy, “Bandit, what have I told you about headbutting people? It’s no nice!” Then back to Joan, “Sorry about that. He thinks headbutting is an appropriate sign of friendliness.”

“It’s fine,” Joan grunts, “I didn’t need my ankle, anyway.”

The woman laughed.

“At least is wasn’t Iron Head!” She chortled, then held her Scraggy up above her head, “We’ll get that move down one day, won’t we, Bandit?”

The Scraggy threw his hands up into the air with a happy, “Scrag!”

“Yes we will!” Back to Joan- “Oh, I’m Anne Boleyn, by the way. And this is Bandit!”

“Joan.” Joan extended a hand for a handshake, but Anne didn’t see it, apparently, so she quickly dropped her arm.

“Anne!” A second woman enters the lobby, this one with wild curly hair. A white rabbit Pokémon is jogging beside her. At first Joan thinks it’s in a jacket, but then she realizes it’s a Raboot and that was its fur. “What are you doing? We need you back there!” The new woman notices Joan, “Oh, hello.”

“She just got here,” Anne said, “You show her around, Maria!” She ran to the double doors and disappeared further into the theater.

“You must be Joan, yeah? Joan Meutas?”

“That would be me, yes.” Joan nodded. “And you two are...?”

“Maria. Maria de Salinas. And this is Peril.” Maria gestures down to the Raboot, who waved with a fluffy white paw. “It’s about time you showed up! Everyone’s been here for a week already.”

Joan can feel her ears burning red, but she hopes they’re hidden by her hair.

“Oh.” She manages to say.

“No worries, though!” Maria said quickly, noticing Joan’s embarrassment, “Doesn’t matter! You’re here now! Come on, we shouldn’t keep them all waiting.”

Maria leads Joan through the set of double doors, past the dim stage, and into a rehearsal room. There, she sees a flurry of people and Pokémon alike.

That lady from earlier- Anne Boleyn- is chatting with two younger girls- one is holding a Mawile and the other has a Glameow balanced on her shoulder. A few feet away from them is a woman with a Noctowl, both seeming very interested in the book they were reading together. A Stoutland is padding about the room, retrieving a ball its trainer was throwing. And against the wall are two more women- one with dark skin and a Luxray sat regally at her side and one with long blonde hair, a Kangaskhan, and familiar eyes that make Joan’s heart leap into her throat.

“Lady Jane!”

Joan practically launched herself at the blonde woman, nearly knocking her over. It definitely takes the queen by surprise, but then warm arms are wrapping around her, followed by a second stronger pair.

“Joan,” Jane murmured, squeezing her tight, “Oh, Joan...”

“I missed you,” Joan squeaked, trying to keep her tears at bay, “I missed you so much...”

“I missed you, too, darling,” Jane said. “It’s good to see you again. And I do believe that Lady thinks the same.”

Joan giggles softly and then smiled at the Kangaskhan hugging them both. The Pokémon rumbles happily.

“So, I take it that you two already know each other?” Anne piped up, completely ruining the moment.

“Yes,” Jane said, extracting Joan from her arms. “Joan was my lady in waiting back in our first life.”

Joan nodded.

“I don’t really know anyone else, though.” She said.

“Then we should probably introduce ourselves.” Said the woman Jane had been talking to, “I’m Catherine of Aragon. My partner is Tempest.” Her Luxray chuffs softly.

“Catherine Parr,” The lady reading a book spoke up. She has approached the group with her Noctowl hovering beside her until she held out an arm for it to perch. “This is Clearsight.”

“I’m Katherine Howard.” One of the younger girls said. She seemed nervous, but gained a little more courage when her Glameow nuzzled her cheek, “And this is Duchess.”

“Margaret Lee. But I go by Maggie.” Said the other girl, “This Mawile is Azura!”

A PokéBall on her belt rattles and, suddenly, an amped Toxtricity comes out. Maggie sighed.

“I didn’t call for you...”

“Tox!” The Toxtricity replied stubbornly, crossing her arms.

“Well, this is also Alto.” The girl said. “My...other partner.”

There was definitely some kind of tension between them.

“And I’m Anna of Cleves. My partner is this big guy,” The woman scratches the top of her Stoutland’s head, “This is Pixie. Oh, and there’s also Bessie, but I’m not sure where she went...”

“Brooding?” Aragon suggests, earning a prod by Tempest’s cold, wet nose. “What? It’s true.”

“It definitely isn’t.” Said a new voice, “I don’t brood.”

Joan turned around and saw a new woman with long black hair standing in the doorway. She looks almost as intimidating as the Absol as her side. Joan can’t tell if that’s what she’s going for.

“Mhm,” Aragon said. At the same time, Tempest lets out a sighed, “Lux...”

“The name’s Elizabeth Blount. Call me Bessie, though.” Bessie said to Joan, “And this is Flower.”

Well, that wasn’t the nickname Joan was expecting. Suddenly, Bessie seemed a lot softer, especially with how she reached down and her Absol lovingly nuzzled her head against her hand.

“Where’s your partner?” Anne piped back up.

“That’s what I was wondering.” Maggie said.

“Are they in their PokéBall? You’re not supposed to keep your partner in there.” Parr added, “It’s like an unspoken rule.”

“No, I, uhh-” Joan stammered awkwardly and she could feel the worried gazes of Jane and Lady against her. “I don’t have a partner.”

“WHAT?!”

Anne’s too-loud cry startles several in the room, including Clearsight, who leapt into the air with a flurry of feathers falling in her wake, and Katherine, who winces at the volume.

“You don’t have a partner?!” Anne exclaimed, as if she wanted all of Galar to know. “How?!”

“All of our partners were our partners in the past life, as well. They were there when we woke up. Was yours not?” Parr asked and Joan shook her head.

“It wasn’t.”

“That’s...strange.” Cleves said, “What Pokémon was it? Maybe we can find it!”

“I can’t remember...” Joan admits.

“That’s...even stranger.” Maggie said this time.

Sensing that Joan was upset and a little embarrassed, Jane set a hand on her shoulder, squeezing slightly.

“Hey, it’s okay,” She said, “We’ll...fine you a new partner! There’s tons of Pokémon in this city. One of them is bound to catch your eye.”

“But can you replicate the bond between someone and their real pa-” Anne shut up when she zapped in the foot by Tempest.

“I hope so, Lady Jane...”

It’s been almost two weeks since then and there’s been nothing. Joan has seen many Pokémon, but none of them clicked with her. And she was sure none of them were her actual partner from her past life.

Who were they? What kind of Pokémon were they? What were they like?

Are they okay?

All these questions whirl through her mind at lightning speed. She just can’t put her finger on it and that frustrates her even more.

Joan has started to give up in her attempts to catch a partner. Everyone else seems to, as well. Anne isn’t trying to get her to hurl a PokéBall at everything that moves, so that must mean something.

She has accepted the fact that she would just be alone.

But then she heard the crying.

It was muffled, but the sound Joan was hearing was definitely loud wailing. She jumped up from her keyboard and briskly walks for the back theater doors.

The noise gets louder.

Upon opening the door, a flurry of ice, snow, and wind batters Joan in the face. She has to squint when freezing particles nearly stab her blind. Because of this, she almost misses the small figure curled up behind two trash cans. But then it bawled loudly again and caught her attention.

An absolutely tiny Sobble is balled up behind the trash cans, shivering and crying. Its long tail is coiled around its little body, almost like a scarf, but it’s a vain attempt at getting warm.

Joan stares with wide eyes for a long moment before she’s kneeling down. The Sobble scuttles backwards when it sees her, and she cooed softly, hoping to draw it near.

“Shh, shh, it’s okay,” She murmured, “It’s okay.”

Freezing wind billows into Joan’s side and she winced. Suddenly, there’s an extra weight in her arms and she realizes the Sobble has scampered into them, now clinging tightly to her chest with its two little feet. Endearment and protectiveness floods through Joan and she stands quickly, hurrying back inside the theater with the shivering Sobble clutched close to her chest.

“Lady Jane!” Joan called out, scurrying to the rehearsal room where everyone was. “Lady Jane!”

“Joan?” Jane met her at the doorway, Lady lumbering along behind her. “What is it? What’s wrong?” She notices the Sobble, “Who’s this?”

“I found him outside,” Joan said. She only assumed the gender of the Pokémon being male because she remembered reading that males have smaller head fins than females. “He’s so cold... Can you and Lady take a look at him to make sure he’s okay?”

“Of course.”

When Jane tried to lift the Sobble from Joan’s arms, it shrieked and burst into tears once again. His stubby little fingers clung tightly to Joan’s shirt, coiling his tail around her arm for an extra grip. Jane lets go and the Pokémon clambers up Joan’s chest, burying his face in her neck.

“I think he likes you.” Cleves points out with a small laugh.

“I agree,” Parr chuckled.

Anne perked up, throwing her arms into the air.

“Joan! I think you finally met your new partner!”

“Partner...?”

Joan looked down at the Sobble and big shimmering eyes gazed back up at her. She smiled, feeling her heart flutter.

“Yeah...I think you’re right.”

“He needs a name!” Katherine piped up.

Joan scooped the Sobble up into her hands and she holds him in front of her. She analyzes him for a moment while he trills softly. Then, she smiled.

“Indigo.”