Turfs Away from the Cold
"Hello." Humans
"Pika-chu." Pokémon addressing Human
"Hello." Pokémon addressing Pokémon
Since the baseball game, the days simply got chillier and windier in Pallet town. While all of them were fine in school, the Quintet most felt it when they were working at the lab. Especially as they were as busy as ever. Checking buildings, compiling data, storing supplies, bringing in Pokémon for additional health concerns, and more. By the time they were done on any given day, they were more exhausted than when they were from school. Things got especially bad one weekend when they were working on repairing the siding of a shed. Dusk and Gary were checking the roof; Lillie was off getting nails, Isaac was hard at work hammering in new boards, and Ash accidentally dropped a hammer on his foot.
"OOWWW! That smarts!!" Ash wailed, as Pikachu chuckled behind him at his partner's misfortune.
Isaac looked over the corner from the other side. "You okay, Ketchum?" He asked, concerned.
"Oh, he'll be fine! I've seen him drop rocks heavier than that on his feet before," Gary called down from the roof.
"Y… you're kidding, right…?" Isaac asked in disbelief.
"I'd be more surprised if he were, honestly. What do you think, Mystery?" Dusk said, before turning to ask his partner.
"Ee, Eevee," Mystery replied, nodding in agreement, all while holding a nail in their mouth.
"Honestly, I just hate the wind more than anything though. It wants to take my hat and blow it who knows where," Ash grumbled, turning it backwards to keep it surer on his head.
"What is up with you and that thing, anyway? It looks kind of familiar…" Isaac said, looking at it a bit closer.
"You complain so much about how little I know, and you don't know what this hat is?" Ash asked, offendedly looking at the boy.
"It's a Pokémon League official hat. It was only available to a select few people and had to be won by a postcard entering contest. Ashy-boy here sent in a million postcards to get it," Gary explained.
"Wait… your League has that? Man, Sinnoh's sucks," Dusk replied, disappointment in his voice.
"Wait… Gary, did you just say that Ash sent in a million postcards just to get a hat?" Lillie asked in disbelief.
"Yes. I know because one of my granduncles is the Postmaster. He had to count every single one. I don't even know how Ash got the stamps for it," Gary explained, looking down at them from the roof with a shrug.
"All we got for Sinnoh League contests is a Pokémon League official Pokéball," Isaac commented.
"And their hunks of junk!!" Dusk cried out with annoyance. "I know. My cousin got one!"
"Hey! I got one and used it to catch Blaze! And it works great! It had better, considering I had to send in thousands of postcards to get that thing…" Isaac replied indignantly.
"I like my hat better," Ash said with a smug smile, only for it to nearly be blown off his head by a gust of wind. "If this is how bad it is now, I don't want to know what winter's gonna be like."
"Probably best to be indoors this winter. Just in case," Isaac replied with a sigh.
"Ashy boy, you want to tell him or me?" Gary asked as he began to climb down a ladder. "Roof's done, by the way."
"You tell him. And I'll inspect the roof in a second," Ash replied by waving it off as he went to grab a ladder.
"You think just because it's a bad winter that means you get time off? Sorry, Isaac, but winters here can get worse than Hisui was. Well, about every 10 years or… crap, I think we're due…" Gary explained as he held the ladder for Dusk to climb down.
"Well, I like snow. I don't think Lillie will though…" Dusk chipped in as he got off the ladder, Mystery sitting on his head.
"What was that about snow?" Lillie asked as she walked back over carrying more tools and supplies.
"We are probably in for a bad winter," Ash explained with a sigh.
"That doesn't sound too bad. I've experienced snow on an island in Alola," Lillie replied dismissively.
"Isn't the one spot that gets snow on top of a mountain?" Dusk asked inquisitively.
"Well… yes. But I'm sure that it won't make that much of a difference," Lillie said after thinking it over for a moment.
It was then that they all heard a loud commotion closer to the forest's habitat. Instinctively, the five and their Pokémon rushed off to see what was up. To their shock, they saw Ash's Pidgeotto and Zaraki squaring up with each other as if to fight. With Pidgey and other Mankey behind them, as if the two were sheltering them.
"You have no right, you foul brute! My flock need these trees more than you do!!" Pidgeotto squeaked at the Pig Monkey.
"No, you don't, bird brain! We need the fruit and elevation!" Zaraki snapped back.
"Bird brain!? We have right by seniority!! It is on this field that I secured our flock's sanctuary here in fierce combat with Metapod!! You claim a warrior's pride, yet you have nothing to show for it!!!" Pideotto yelled defensively, stamping his foot and spreading his wings triumphantly.
"How dare you!? You wanna see a warrior's pride? Then I'll show you the pride of a Fighting-Type Pokémon!" Zaraki growled furiously.
"If you desire a challenge, then you shall receive one, swineape!!" The Bird Pokémon replied defiantly.
Just as the two were about to charge in, Ash and Isaac rushed in and stood in front of their respective Pokémon, with Pikachu and Blaze standing by their sides. This further frustrated the two, however, instead of calming things down.
"Easy, you two! What's all the commotion about!?" Ash demanded, looking between the two of them.
"Give me a moment, Ash. I can get to the bottom of this," Isaac replied as he walked up to Zaraki and Pidgeotto.
"I'm never gonna get used to your mind powers, you know," Ash said absent mindedly.
"They're not mind power. It's aura," Isaac replied with slight annoyance.
"You say potato, I say tomato," Ash said with a roll of his eyes.
"Those two things are not even remotely similar," Isaac shot back with a deadpan.
"Get on with it, slugga. We're burnin' daylight," Gary said impatiently, crossing his arms and tapping his foot.
With a sigh, Isaac squatted down and put a gentle hand on both Pidgeotto and Zaraki's heads. Closing his eyes, he then began to sense what was going on. And the vision he got was not good.
Flashback: 5 Minutes Ago
The forest's trees rustled in the wind as the Mankey and Pidgey huddled in small clusters to avoid it. However, there was tension in the air. The trees, where they were still standing, were not enough for both groups, let alone many other Pokémon. This had been going on all morning until, finally, a group of Mankey attempted to force a smaller group of Pidgey off a branch. Just as they leapt at them, they were blasted out of the air by a fierce gust of wind. As Pidgeotto swooped in after them.
"You know the rules! No fighting over branches!" Pidgeotto firmly scolded the Mankey, but to his shock, the group of Mankey failed to back down.
"We ain't listening to you! There ain't enough to go around, and we gonna fix that!" One Mankey snapped.
Pideotto growled a bit at hearing that, and flapped his wings hard, sending the group into the trunk of a tree with another gust of wind. As they groaned in pain, another form leapt in front of them. One that Pidgeotto recognized as Zaraki.
"No one harms my kin and gets away with it flutterbutt!" Zaraki yelled, pounding his chest for effect.
"They were about to displace some of my flock from a branch they were on by force! And you have the gall to blame me for retaliating!?" Pidgeotto squawked in disgust.
"You do not attack a Fighting-type and not expect retaliation!! Besides, your dang flock takes up too much space anyway! You're all smaller than us, you can fit more on less branches!!" Zaraki retorted loudly as the Mankey Pidgeotto gusted away got behind their leader.
"All your kind do is hog all the space in those big gaggle huddles you do! And those beds you make waste even more space!! We merely sleep on the branch as any proper tree dweller would!!" Zaraki snapped.
"Incredulous swine!!" Pidgeotto squawked.
"Upstart pin cushion!!" Zaraki retorted.
End of Flashback
Isaac groaned as he took his hands off the two and began to rub his temples from feeling a headache coming.
"Are you okay Isaac?" Lillie asked with concern.
"Oh, this gonna be a long day. And multiple headaches…" Isaac groaned, continuing to rub his temples.
"Well, it's involving you and Ash's Pokémon, I kinda expected that." Gary replied with snark, his Squirtle chuckling at his trainer's joke.
Isaac rolled his eyes before explaining. "The best way I can explain it is Zaraki and Pidgeotto are representing their respective groups in a turf war." He said with a sigh.
"What, like Team Rocket?" Dusk asked, confusedly tilting his head as he asked. Making Mystery nearly fall off his head.
"No. The forest doesn't have enough trees for the both of them to live comfortably. Normally it wouldn't be so bad, but, with the weather worsening, they both need space to huddle together. And that's not even getting into all the other Pokémon that live at the lab that need them," Isaac explained.
"Gee. I wonder how that happened?" Gary asked sarcastically, before slowing to look at a whistling Pikachu.
"And if we don't resolve this… some could freeze through the winter. Arceus, that's horrible," Lillie said sadly, holding Snowy closely for comfort.
"That's not even including the turf war we've got on our hands. And the Professor isn't gonna be happy to hear that…" Ash sighed, putting his hands on his hips.
"Well, we need to think of something…" Lillie said mournfully.
"I don't know what we can do," Isaac sighed. "We can't even begin to start planting replacements until spring. And that's not going to resolve the problem we have now."
Gary looked down and noticed Zaraki and Pidgeotto glaring at each other fiercely. "We first got to cool those two down first." He said before smiling. "I have an idea. Squirtle. Water Gun."
Squirtle looked up at his trainer, before firing a blast of water at each of them. Neither of the hotheads had much time to enjoy the misery of their adversary, as their soaked bodies soon were hit with a chilling breeze. Chattering and shivering, they then turned to look at Squirtle with fire in their eyes. Completely forgetting to be mad at each other.
"Squirtle!!!" Gary's Squirtle yelled as he ran off as fast as he could with Pidgeotto and Zaraki chasing after him angrily.
"That's not gonna stop the turf war, Gary," Ash said dismissively.
"No. But that should slow them down long enough to hopefully get a plan done," Gary explained.
30 Minutes Later
However, despite the five thinking long and hard about the situation, none of their ideas would have solved it. Ash's idea of a giant beehive would be too cramped. Dusk's idea of a giant witch's hut creeped Isaac out so much he vetoed it. Isaac's idea of a giant chicken coop was also out because the Pidgey did not want to be on the ground. Gary tried to make a giant straw hut for the Mankey troop, but a wandering Rapidash burned it down, and Pikachu was cooking marshmallows on its fires.
"Of all the rotten luck," Gary complained.
"I doubt it would have worked anyway. It was gonna be blown by a big, bad Lycanroc at some point anyways," Dusk replied.
"Lycanroc's aren't in Kanto, you loon!" Gary snapped.
"Really? No one's released any or anything?" Dusk asked.
"Strict import laws," Gary rebutted.
"I'm sorry, guys. I… don't have anything. I'll go take a walk to see if it clears my head," Lillie said dejectedly.
Ash put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. "Hey, don't get down on yourself. Any idea you come up with can't be worse than Gary's disaster." He said comfortingly.
"Aye! I resemble that remark!" Gary snapped out.
"At least your sister doesn't resemble it." Ash said with a smirk as he took his hand off Lillie's shoulder.
"Oh, it's on now, Ketchum!" Gary bellowed out.
Gary leapt and began to create a cloud of dust as the two boys began a fist fight. Isaac facepalmed as Dusk grew a smile.
"Fight, fight, fight!!" Dusk chanted.
"Break it up, you two!" Isaac called out, reaching in to try to separate them.
However, much to Isaac's shock, both Ash and Gary's hands grabbed his arm and pulled him into the brawl. Seeing this, Dusk shrugged and leaped into the melee, creating an even bigger fight dust cloud. As this was going on, Lillie and Snowy were walking into the plains part of the Lab. Lillie huddled a bit into her coat as Snowy happily walked behind her.
"What do I do Snowy? We have to do something, but I can't seem to come up with anything. And the less I say about the boys' ideas the better," She asked her partner.
"Vulpix. Vulpix, Vul," Snowy replied before rubbing herself against Lillie's leg to comfort her.
Lillie sighed until she stopped walking. She looked out into the plains, seeing the grass swaying in the breeze as Pokémon either grazed or huddled together. It was at that moment that she got an idea and hastily pulled out her Rotom Phone. Frantically, she dialed a number and tapped her foot as she waited for who she called to pick up. Finally, the call connected, and her mother's voice spoke up.
"Lillie, dear. How are you doing? I hope you are bundling up. Kanto looks frighteningly cold right now," Lusamine's voice said through the Rotom Phone.
"Yes, mother. Um… can I ask you for some advice on something?" Lillie replied questioningly.
"Of course, dear. What is it?" Lusamine asked, her tone piqued with curiosity.
"The Mankey and Pidgey are about to get into a turf war due to a lack of available trees in the forest here in the lab's corral." Lillie explained as best she could.
"I never would have expected Professor Oak to be lacking in forest," Lusamine replied, perplexed at the notion. "How did that happen?"
"A swarm of Beedrill attacked us and Ash's Pikachu took them down with a powerful electric attack. However, that same attack also leveled part of the forest…" Lillie explained sheepishly.
"Good heavens. Whatever will that boy get into next? He is worse than Gladion. I honestly cannot fathom how Delia puts up with it. She is a hardier woman than I," Lusamine moaned, with Lillie practically hearing the fanning of her mother's hand through the phone.
"It wasn't that bad, mother. No one got hurt. And we had minimal damage to the surrounding area this time," Lillie reassured her.
"But enough damage to cause a habitat crisis though?" Lusamine asked, her voice hiking near the end inquisitively.
"Un… fortunately… yes…" Lillie replied sheepishly.
"And you said Mankey and Pidgey? But only one of those is necessarily aggressive. What happened?" Her mother asked.
"Ash's Pidgeotto and Isaac's Mankey named Zaraki, the leaders of the two groups… escalated things defending their families…" Lillie reluctantly admitted.
"Oh, the pride of leadership. I know it all too well…" Lusamine groaned. "And both species require elevation, preferably forest, to rest. You are right, dear. This is a bit of a problem."
"Do you have any suggestions that would be helpful, mother?" Lillie asked with a sigh.
"Well, now you mention it... we did have a similar problem with the primate and bird Pokémon at the Foundation early on too," Lusamine said breathfully, clearing in the middle of reminiscing. "I think I might have something for you, dear. And, with Professor Oak's resources, it should be no trouble to achieve. Well, as long as you are all willing to put in some labor."
Lillie raised an eyebrow. "What did you have in mind, mother?" She asked.
"We resolved that issue by creating bird towers. Primate type Pokémon are very needy and are quite particular in their sleeping habits. The Mankey line most of all. Bird type Pokémon can handle smaller sleeping spaces, as long as there's room to move about a bit; they prefer being in boxes most of the time. They like staying out of the elements, while the Primates either prefer to build nests to accommodate or tough it out in various ways," Lusamine explained with Lillie questioning how her mother was not short-winded by the end of it.
Lillie nodded. "Fascinating. That might be exactly the answer we're looking for. Thank you, mother." She said with a smile.
"Anytime, dear. Do not hesitate to give me a call if you need more advice. I would take more calls in general, honestly," Lusamine replied with Lillie practically feeling her mother's smile radiating through the phone.
"I'll see what I can do. I love you, Mother. And thank you again for the advice," Lillie said with a nod.
After hanging up the call, Lillie, and Snowy rushed back to their friends to find quite the sight. The four boys were in a free-for-all fist fight on the ground, and both Pidgeotto and Zaraki were squaring up again. With both Butterfree and Yokozuna putting themselves in between the fired-up leaders to try and calm tensions. With little success.
Lillie looked down at Snowy. "Snowy. Use Powder Snow on Pidgeotto, Zaraki, and the boys!" She ordered, throwing her hand forward.
"Vulllll!" Snowy cried before unleashing a series of blasts of cold, snowy air.
Within moments of the blasts hitting their targets, they were frozen solid. Forcibly calming tensions down, as the frozen forms of the boys and Pokémon looked at Lillie.
"Is everyone willing to calm down and hear out a potential solution now?" Lillie sternly asked, looking down at them all with an equally stern gaze.
"Mmhmm…" They all managed to get out with nods.
"Blaze, Pikachu. Could you please free them for me?" Lillie asked the starters politely.
"Whait, whait, whait, whait….!" They all said simultaneously.
Blaze and Pikachu soon had twin smirks and a glint in their eyes upon hearing this. Soon, Pikachu's red dotted cheeks began to spark, and Blaze's mouth fanned with flames. Simultaneously, the two shot an Ember and Thunder Shock at their targets, causing a frosty set of explosions. With the boys and the two Pokémon groaning as they lay on the ground.
"Was that… really necessary…?" Isaac groaned in pain.
"I don't know. You tell me," Lillie replied sternly.
"All right… we're listening…" Ash groaned.
"I can't blink," Dusk absently said.
"I can't feel my foot…" Gary groaned.
Lillie groaned and put her face in her hands before composing herself. "Okay. So, I called my mother to see if she had any ideas. And it turns out, the Aether Foundation when they were starting out had a similar problem between Primate and Bird type Pokémon." She explained.
"How did they fix it…?" Isaac asked as he reached into his backpack to begin pulling out blankets for himself and the others.
"Preferably with less shocking ideas…" Gary groaned as he quickly huddled himself into a blanket burrito.
"They resolved it by meeting the needs the Pokémon actually required. Bird Type Pokémon prefer spaces that get them out of the elements and allow them to huddle together. Primate types need more space and will either make nests or tough out the elements," Lillie explained further.
"Bird boxes, of course! Why didn't we think of that!?" Ash cried out, getting where Lillie was going with this.
"I got close!" Dusk exclaimed defensively, shivering under his blanket.
"A witch's hut is not close…" Isaac grit out through chattering teeth.
"Exactly Ash. We build bird house towers for the Pidgey to make nests and sleep in, allowing the Mankey to use the branches in the forest. And hopefully it leaves enough space for the rest of the Pokémon. Though it might be a bit tight for room…" Lillie said, wincing a bit at the last bit.
Ash turned to look at Pidgeotto and Zaraki. "Is that something you two knuckleheads can agree to?" He asked annoyedly.
Sheepishly, the two looked at each other, before turning back and nodding. Everyone then let out a big sigh as the Mankey and Pidgey the two looked over soon began to gather around their leaders.
Ash then smiled at all of them. "Since Lillie solved all you guy's problem, why don't you all thank her with a big hug!" He said with a big, evil smile.
Gary, Isaac, and Dusk were initially shocked by that before they also got evil smiles. Lillie, however, started to sweat and back away.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wa-" she said, before she was cut off by a swarming tide of fur and feathers.
Thus, as Ash and the boys got a bit of a chuckle, Lillie was stuck under a pile of Pidgey's and Mankey's as they vigorously hugged and snuggled against her in thanks. Even Snowy got hugs and snuggles from them. While Snowy enjoyed the attention, Lillie laid stiff as a board. No good deed goes unpunished, doesn't it?