[X] My Assistant

[Jonahman10]

It was much warmer in Gigarte now. Only a few days ago there were inches of snow, and it had all melted. However, it was still quite chilly in the grassy fields above the underground city. Yet despite the cold conditions, color was starting to return to the landscape. The brown of the grass under snow had quickly transmogrified into a healthy, young green. Young creatures, human and Pokemon alike, too were being revitalized...

This was a busy time for those working in the fields above. The Himan family ranch was no exception. The flowerbeds would need to be weeded, and the perennials watered. The Miltank were ready to be let out into the pastures after being cooped up in the barn for months. The Combee, would wake up soon and begin producing the honey, the main product of the ranch.

Cousin Sandy from Destrixia was visiting for a few weeks at the suggestion of her parents who wanted her to experience a farming lifestyle, which was very different from the urban life in Destrixia. Amelia hadn't seen Sandy since they were seven and Aunt Jamima had invited Sandy's family to stay at the ranch while Sandy's parents stayed in Gigarte on business for their electronics business. Their visit started out badly: Amelia got angry at Sandy and pushed her into a mud puddle. After the apology, however, the two had gotten together well.

This would be Sandy's first day of work, and Amelia was glad they had an extra hand. There was just so much to get ready for this time of year. A few days ago she could spend her days curled up by the fire reading, training her Pokemon or advertising her business. Everybody had gone to bed early to make sure they were ready for the work tomorrow.

Aunt Jamima woke up first and opened all the windows to let in fresh air. She then headed into the kitchen where she promptly gathered all the ingredients for flapjacks. Soon the smell of Flapjacks had aroused Uncle Joe, Aunt Jamima's husband and Amelia's favorite Uncle, out of bed. He went and woke up Amelia's parents. The three of them began to set the table as Aunt Jamima continued making the scrumptious Flapjacks.

Little Sammy (Amelia's little brother) and cousin Jed had somehow managed to smell the delicious aroma of Flapjacks in their dreams and were racing to get down stairs. They rambunctiously played Samurai warriors in the next room while the flapjacks were frying. Aunt Jamima told them to be quiet; gra'ma was still sleeping.

Aunt Jasmine and Uncle Sebastian, who lived in a small shack next to the main house, had smelled the food during their daily training sessions with their Linoone and ran into the house, accidentally slamming the door behind them. Luckily, Gra'ma didn't hear it but Sandy, who wasn't used to such chaos in the morning, was able to hear it and made her way downstairs just as Aunt Jamima began to dish out the pancakes. It wasn't unusual for Amelia to be late to breakfast, so the group said the blessing and began to dig in to Aunt Jamima's savory pancakes.

Like always, Aunt Jamima left a batch of Flapjacks out on the the windowsill for Amelia when she finally woke up. The sweet aroma of the Flapjacks was softly caressed into the outside world as a gentle breeze blew fresh air through a house that had been locked all Winter...

[Toogee]

Darius entered the barn with Amelia and the others. It appeared to be a typical barn, complete with stables lined with hay. Within each stable was a plump cow pokemon, none of which looked terribly happy to see the humans. The dragon trainer’s eyes met with one of the miltanks, resulting in an aggressive growl towards him.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to be around these ones,” Darius remarked, averting his eyes to the ceiling. “At least, not without a quick glare from my ekans.”

Darius had the pokeball in his hand as he formulated a plan. Snake would use glare, causing paralysis and allowing the beginning ranch hands to milk the bovines without fear of getting stomped. One of the miltank saw the pokeball and mooed loudly to alert the herd. Soon the rest of the cow pokemon were mooing, filling the barn with their echoing cries. Darius had to put his hands over his ears to lower the intensity.

“If only I could just faint them, this would be much easier,” he said to no one in particular. The warrior had reached his first hurdle on the range. It looked like he’d have to learn some new skills from Amelia in order to get a refreshing drink.