fic: Catch 'em All

[bonnefois]

Title: Catch 'em All
Series: TF2(/Pokémon)
Character/pairing: Scout/Miss Pauling, Heavy/Medic
Rating: it definitely hit PG-13 this chapter lol.
Word count: 12,024
Summary: Pokémon AU. Scout may be an elite member of Team Fortress, but he routinely fails at being a villain.
Author's note: I wasn't going to write this AU, but I ended up finishing a snippet because the notes I had for Miss Pauling's pokémon team were cute. Then somewhere around playing ORAS I ended up actually turning it into this. And it kept on going.


For Sarah!

Previous entries: Catch Me | Catch You | Catch These Hands | Catching Flight | Catch Him | Catch Up |






They'd barely set off on their journey when someone stepped out of the shadows of the trees surrounding the route. At first, she thought they were in for a challenge. Then, she recognized the voice.

Spy slowly appeared, impeccably dressed in the finest Kalos suits money could buy, and leather gloves to match.

"So you're bringing together the team," Spy said.

Spy tossed away the last of his cigarette. Scout burst into a big smile at the sight of him, which was honestly a first.

"Hey, look! There's Spy! See, Miss Pauling? We found one already!"

"Or he found us," she said.

"I've been here all along," he said. Next to him, his Ditto transformed back from the Liligant it had been mimicking.

"I'm sure you've heard," she said gravely.

"So these things go. That's his folly for betting his entire team to a little girl with nothing but Fighting types, when he uses so many Normal types."

Miss Pauling sighed. "Typical Saxton Hale, I suppose. Listen, we don't really have a base right now, but--"

Her mind went back to her house. Of course, it was small, a villa, really. They couldn't even fit all the men in some place that small, let alone any other hires.

Still, they couldn't exactly converge in a pokémon center.

She just hoped her villa would still be standing when this was all over. Now, Spy wouldn't be likely to burn it down. But Demoman, Pyro or Soldier just might leave nothing but smoking ashes and rubble.

She'd have to take that chance for now if it meant putting the team back together.

"Meet up at my villa when I call you back. And remember to answer your phones when I call!"

"That small place? Will we be meeting in front?" Spy said wryly.

"If we have to," Miss Pauling said quickly. "Or we can go into the backyard. Just, don't go jetsetting off to a completely other country while I'm getting everyone else, okay?"

"I will be in the area. I have some unfinished business to attend to," he said.

Scout smirked. "Oh, you got a girl in one of these towns?"

Spy gave him a superior smile. "Oui," Spy said.

"Aight, Miss Pauling! See, we already got one down. Told ya it would be easy."

He held up two pokéballs, with a big smirk.

"I know a way to make this go super fast," Scout said. "After all, I'm all about the speed."

He tossed out two of his pokéballs. Out came forth his Rapidash and Zebstrika.

"You take one, and I'll take the other. Go ahead, take first choice."

Talk about being between a rock and a hard place. Or say, a hot place. One had flames running down its back, which would be right between her legs, and the other had a sharp spiky man all the way down its back.

"Oh boy, what a choice. Do I want to be shocked or flamed to death?" she said wryly.

"Aww, don't worry. It ain't nothin' like that. Rapidash won't burn its trainer, and I already talked to Zebstrika and told 'em to be nice. Those spikes on Zebstrikas aren't as hard as they look, too."

The choice was made for her, as his Rapidash began to nose her shoulder, like she might have a sugar cube hidden in there.

Scout tapped Rapidash on the nose. "Take good care of her, okay? No buckin' her off, or ignorin' her orders. This lady is literally the most important person in the world to me. Aight? Be good."

His Rapidash let out a nicker, and tossed its head.

"Come on, now. No playin' tricks when you got the most beautiful lady in the entire world on your back."

Rapidash and Scout seemed to come to some kind of accord on the matter, and it was settled. He helped her up onto Rapidash. She'd worried at first, about climbing onto a creature which was literally on fire, but Scout assured her it would only burn someone it didn't like.

And indeed she felt only mildly toasty at best. Really, it was amazing the kinds of powers pokémon were capable.

She had barely gotten her grip on Rapidash's neck (and Scout was right, her hands went right through the flames, which now had the heat of a lukewarm bath) when she saw a mischievous smile cross his face. And then, he yelled out "Zebstrika, use Agility!"

Scout shot ahead like a rocket. Electricity crackled about them both in the wake.

"Hey, no fair! I haven't even started yet."

"Rapidash has Agility, too. Catch up if you can!" Scout called back.

"Err--Rapidash, use Agility! Please?"

She had to cling tight as Rapidash set off on a--well--dash. Scout made it look so easy as he leapt over hedges and between berry bushes.

A young trainer stepped out into the road, too caught up in her newly caught pokémon to see.

With no reins, she was forced to grip through the flames themselves to cling to Rapidash's neck. She was surprised to find her hands not scalded anymore than if she had put them in a warm bath.

"Um, Rapidash, catch up! Wait, that's not a move. Agilty!"

Scout's Zebstrika took a leap. The little trainer girl made an 'o' shape with her mouth as Scout and his pokémon soared over her.

"Hey, Sally!"

"Hiii, big brother Scout!"

His mount took a leap over a row of hedges and disappeared down the route. Rapidash rushed after them both, until flames surrounded them all, like a meteor hurdling through the atmosphere.

"Ooh, flame charge! Zebstrika can do that, too! C'mon, Zebstrika, let's leave them in our dust!"

Scout and Zebstrika rocketed down the route.

"Not on my watch! Rapidash, follow them!"

Except, by the time she got there, Scout had disappeared. She dismounted and shaded her eyes to better look for him.

Had she won? Lost? She glanced at the town map. They were almost set to come onto one of those little villages which were little more than a pokémon center with a store inside, and a few houses. They sprung up on routes heavy with trainer traffic. Sometimes, people with get rich schemes hung around as well, or the elderly who hung around, dispensing wisdom and on occasion, nonsense to the passing trainers.

She heard a neigh, and finally saw him down the route, where he'd abandoned their race for a food stand. Scout gave her a smile as she finally caught up to him.

"Hey, Miss P. Didja get lost?"

"I was trying not to hit children. All the young trainers seemed to come out at once."

"Aww, we'll have to have a rematch sometime!"

"I'll pass," she said dryly.

"Then, I won?"

"Try not to sound so surprised," Miss Pauling said dryly.

"Haha, Freedom!" Scout called out. He lifted his arms to the sky in a cheer.

A Braivary landed, and Soldier let out a shriek to match the bird.

"Freedom!" he echoed.

He wore his red uniform, stolen from a garbage can somewhere, and there were patriotic colors painted on his helmet.

"Oh, hey, we found Soldier! I should've known it'd be that easy."

Well, it been either that or say the word 'communism.' Either would've summoned him from the skies. Only he was much happier in this scenario.

"Soldier, the Team is back, and we're fighting communists. Go stay in around my villa, got it?"

"The dump's just down the road, so you should be able to find a nice cardboard box around there to sleep in," Scout said.

Miss Pauling gave him a look. "Scout."

"Oh, good! My Trubbish wanted one of those!"

Oh, right. Soldier kept bringing Trubbishes home.

"Right, uh Soldier, don't make yourself too at home. I'd like to still have my villa standing when I come back, okay?"

"You know there's communists in the caves around Miss P's villa, right?" Scout said.

Soldier balled his fist in rage. "I'll hunt every one of them down! EAGLE!" He lifted his arms up and flew off, while screaming.

"I....guess that one solved itself," she said.

"Phht, as if. I solved it through my quick thinkin'. Now, let's get some food, I'm frigin' starvin'."

As long as it didn't involve Soldier using explosion on any of the buildings around, it was a happy ending. Probably.

*


Ponytas ran through the fenced fields. A sign with Conagher Ranch hung down from a wooden arch. The gates were open, and little flaming horses came nearer as Scout and Miss Pauling walked up towards the house.

"Lookit 'em all. All this time, Hardhat's been breedin' pokémon. I knew he had a ranch, but I didn't know it was a Ponyta ranch. Think he's trying for a shiny?"

"Maybe. You sound surprised, but you were the one who said he'd be here?" Miss Pauling said quizzically.

Scout rubbed at his neck. "I mean, yeah, he mentioned it, but I'm surprised he had this much time to get so many. The Team just dissolved. You think he's been usin' teleporters to come back here?"

"Maybe he's been working on this ranch for a while. He could've hired a few ranch hands to keep it while he worked elsewhere," Miss Pauling said.

Though Engineer would totally be the type to use company property for his own uses.

"Could be," Scout said.

The house was large, practically a mansion, yet rustic in a way that spoke of an earlier, perhaps less complicated time. A rocking chair creaked from the faint wind there, and right next to it were several empty bottles, likely from earlier, because unlike Medic, Engineer wasn't the messy sort.

She used the elaborate knocker, which sent an echoing noise through the entire ranch. The door opened, and his expression was hidden away by goggles.

Engineer had kept his work overalls, but changed his hard hat for a ten gallon hat instead. He smiled as he caught sight of her, a smile that dampened slightly as he saw Scout.

"Well, Miss Pauling, I didn't expect to see you so soon."

"And me, too," Scout said.

"And you," Engineer said, with a slight trace of disgust in his voice.

She cleared her throat. "I'm bringing the team back together again. We're going to reform Team Fortress."

Engineer rubbed at his chin. "That so? I was awful lookin' forward to a nice vacation."

"I'll give you a pay raise...when we actually have money to give you. Which might take a while....we can just run up a tab--or an IOU until then."

"And I'll throw in a berry," Scout said. He pulled a big, juicy and fresh Oran berry from his pack.

"And a berry too? How can I resist?" Engineer said dryly.

"I know, right? Berries are frickin' awesome! I find these sumbitches all over the place. I've even started growin' at Miss P's digs."

Scout wasn't exactly the best at reading the room, often too wrapped up in his own ideas that everyone thought he was amazing to ever realize that some of his coworkers found his 'helpful notes' rather annoying.

"Come on in for a moment. Have some sweet tea and sit a spell. You've been on an awful long trip, I bet."

"Oh, we been ridin'. I let Miss P use one of my pokémon," Scout said.

"Then you'll head on back towards Miss Pauling's villa--or at least meet us there later when we got the rest of the guys?" Scout said hopefully.

Engineer rubbed at his chin. "Hmm, I wonder. Did you see my Ponytas? They're my pride and joy."

"I mean, if it's that you want some pokémon to help convince you, I could catch you somethin' and sweeten the deal," Scout said quickly.

Engineer gave him a pitying look. "Catch somethin', like a Genesect? Because I got me one of those," he said.

"You--you got a legendary? Seriously?!" Scout sputtered.

"Of course. I could've gotten more, but I was rather busy buildin' up defenses. What, you're our big catcher and you ain't even found one measly legendary yet?"

Scout sputtered. "I-I--"

Engineer chuckled. "Guess not, because if you did, Miss Pauling would be ridin' in on it," Engineer said.

"E-Exactly!"

Engineer chuckled. "Go on and take a seat on the benches. I'll go get the pitcher of tea and be back in a minute."

When the door closed behind him, Scout immediately started talking again. "I can't believe Engie got a legendary before me. I'm the catcher here. The pitcher, too. In fact, I was goin' to catch you somethin' real special, but it ran off!" He puffed his cheeks out in irritation.

She patted his shoulder. "A giant bug with laser cannons on its back isn't really my type of pokémon," she said.

"I was thinkin' somethin' more majestic or cute. Like a Suicine!"

"Hmmm... Maybe it's best to let sleeping legendary pokémon lie. Most of these stories seem to begin and end with some Team becoming obsessed with capturing some legendary, and it always ends with them disbanded," she said.

Scout crossed his arms. "It'd be different for me--for us."

She patted him on the shoulder, even though their height difference meant she practically needed a stepladder to reach him. "Sure it would, Scout."

"Are we going to ride--" before she could reply, Pyro hopped out of the bushes and hugged the pokémon. A Ponyta let out a nicker, as Pyro reached to pet its flaming mane.

"Oh! Hey there--How you doin', firestarter?"

Pyro didn't respond, too wrapped up in the pokémon. They never were much for talking. And even what they said tended to come out muffled and indecipherable.

Engineer chuckled. Neither she nor Scout had even heard him come up behind with his tray of drinks. "Pyro followed me here and been hangin' around. Always puttin' flowers in the Ponyta's manes."

"Well, you know what they say. Where there's fire, there's Pyro," Scout said. Scout looked around with a grin, waiting for his laughter and applause. Miss Pauling gave him a pity chuckle.

Miss Pauling cleared her throat. "Team Fortress was defeated, when a trainer took out Saxton Hale. But, this isn't the end. We're going to rebuild, and renew. And until then--I'm in charge."

Pyro looked in confusion towards Scout.

"I don't think they knew," Scout said. "They always seem kinda in their own world."

"Pyroo, you remember Miss Pauling, right?" Miss Pauling used the soothing tones one would usually use for a young child of a dog which might bite.

Pyro nodded furiously.

"And you want to go become part of the Team again when we reform, right?"

Pyro nodded again, perhaps with a bit less enthusiasm.

"...Right. Anyways, until then, you answer to me, and your new job is... To stay where you are. And protect pokémon, and make sure no abusive teams spring up while we get everyone back together. As long as it's near this ranch. Do you understand, Pyro?" Miss Pauling said.

Pyro gave her a thumbs up.

"Well, if Pyro's in, then I guess I'll have to go. How about this? I'll keep on my vacation, right here on my farm. If the Team comes back, I'll consider joinin' back up. And I'll keep Sparky busy here."

"Deal," Miss Pauling said.

"Wait, one more thing. Here, lemme show you somethin'," Scout said. He fiddled with their phone. Pyro watched wide eyed, and set to giggling as the numbers beeped.

"It might be a little hard with your gloves, so you'll just have to take 'em off," Scout said.

He connected to the net and went to a LOLMeowths.com.

"See, and this is how you look at Meowths on the internet." Scout went to a picture of a Meowth playing with a bunch of yarn. All tied up at the moment was the caption.

Pyro let out an appreciative Hudda! and burst into laughter. They grabbed for the phone and began to scroll.

"Should keep 'em busy and from burnin' anythin' down until we get back," Scout said.

"Wow, utterly genius," Miss Pauling said.

Scout puffed out his chest at that. "Yeah, I am," he said.


*

The city was black, and full of sleek, modern buildings. Even more so, the crowds were so imposing that people had to constantly step away not to run into them. Scout quickly took her hand so they wouldn't get separated.

"You think someone's here?" Miss Pauling said. She gave a critical glance over the bustling city.

There were still so many side alleys to look through. Just the thought of of how much time it could take to try and find them made her head ache--especially if she counted the number of floors each staggeringly tall skyscraper had.

"No worries--The desert's right up ahead, and I remember Sniper sayin' he always wanted to explore it. So I figure that's where he'll be. Besides, it's got lots of Sandiles and Sniper likes those."

"So--if Sniper's there, why are we here again? Did you think Medic came around here?"

Medic usually preferred places with less witnesses, like secret laboratories.

"Naw, we're here for the cones. You gotta try one. And we'll get some for the pokémon, too. Mine always loved it when I gave them some.

They stepped away from the crowd. He tapped his pokéballs and let his pokémon spring free.

"Are you sure they won't mind?" Miss Pauling said.

"Nah, it's fine," Scout said.

She let her own pokémon out, and reached down absently to scratch her Liepard's ears. It didn't even try and bite her, though that would surely come if she tried to pet its stomach.

Scout handed over some money and handed back cone after cone to her.

More and more people walked down the road, on to corporate jobs up in the sky-high buildings. A line had begun to form behind them.

"We should eat somewhere else," Miss Pauling said.

Scout glanced back at the coming crowd. "Yeah, gotcha."

He turned back to the ice cream stall salesman. "Can you give me some containers to go?" Scout said.

He held up two cardboard dishes made for cups. His pokémon kept their gaze on his hands, with a few of them attempting to take nibbles out of his shirt in an attempt to reach the sweets.

"Hey, guys and gals, just be patient already. We'll be to the fountain soon enough."

She smiled to herself. He had never been that patient a person, and it was always about speed with him. "Like trainer like pokémon, huh," she said.

Considering that he didn't respond, she doubted that he'd heard, not with such a loud and bustling city around them. The sounds faded slightly, the rumbling of vehicles, phones, the buzzing of electric wires (and on occasion, electric pokémon) were distant, down the road. Vending machines lined the sides, as several trainers rested

He placed the little Styrofoam dishes down, and they took a seat by the fountain. His Buizel wolfed down the food and took a dive towards the spray.

Scout too, had taken a dive, but it was for his ice cream. He ate like a sailor who had been stranded on a desert island for several months. Or, to be more literal, he ate like the youngest of many boys, all bigger than him.

The ice cream looked like a beard. She couldn't help but laugh.

He winked at her, and licked it all up.

She took her ice cream slower. After all, the last thing she wanted was brain freeze.

Scout smiled, and leaned in. She let out a gasp that shifted to sudden laughter at the feel of his tongue at the tip of her nose.

"Scout, you--you licked my nose."

"You had some ice cream there. You know what they say: waste not, want not.
In fact, I think that was the tastiest ice cream I had. Certainly, it was the cutest ice cream," he said.

"Nose ice cream. How delicious," she said.

"Your nose, though..."

"Maybe it tasted so good because you ate your ice cream in two bites," she said.

He snickered. "Yeah, you got as many brothers as I do, and you get used to things getting snatched."

She finished the last of her ice cream as he tossed away the containers in the trash.

"You ready? We got some ruins--and crocs--to find."

"And Sniper," she said.

"Yeah, but find the crocs and we'll find Sniper," Scout said.

"Too true," she said.

*

Her pokémon were none too pleased with the constant swirling sandstorm, and Miss Pauling had to agree. She put them all back into their pokéballs, to save them from the roughness of the winds. She hadn't even realized how much she'd appreciated being away from the sandy wastelands that she'd left behind with the Team Fortress base. She hadn't had sand in her shoes, and down her dress, and in her underwear for quite some time.

Though, Scout probably would've liked to hear all her issues at the moment, she thought to herself. Except, she wasn't about to tell him, or they'd disappear into the ruins and, well, they might miss Sniper if some time together took too long.

Ruins rose above the sprawling sands. They spoke of an earlier time, and an earlier people. The dwellings had largely been hollowed out of any possessions, which now were kept safe in museums.

Scout ducked into one of the more sturdy looking ones. Still, Miss Pauling stayed near the door. Yes, they might be historically fascinating, but she still wasn't convinced they would hold steady and not cave in right on top of her.

"Do you see Sniper in there?" Miss Pauling called after him.

Scout peeked out from ruins. A mischievous smile spread over his face, and he grabbed her wrist and suddenly pulled her in from the sandstorm, and right in the ruins.

"Scout!"

Scout laughed and spun her around. "We could pretend we're in an apocalyptic state! Just you and me--and our pokémon. We gotta build a bomb shelter. We-we gotta repopulate the earth."

Scout lifted his eyebrows suggestively. She gave him a wry smile.

"Scout, we're still searching for Sniper, remember?"

"He ain't goin' nowhere, ey? Probably just out in his van, drinkin' himself to sleep."

"We don't know that. For all we know, he might have already moved on. We were lucky enough to have this lead at all."

Lead being a rather tentative word here, given that it was more a hunch from Scout. Not that they had much else to go on.

"Oh, I know Sniper. He's pissin' away the night, for sure. Probably literally."

The ancient stone dwelling was covered with strange, old drawings. For a moment, she wondered if one of the letter like ones moved.

But, that couldn't be right, could it?

Scout continued talking, and she shook off what must have just been a trick of the eye.

"C'mon, where'd he even go? To visit Engie? Then we'll go back there, no biggie."

She tapped him on the nose playfully. "One kiss. And then we'll go back to work."

He smiled big, so much that she could feel him still smiling as he kissed her.

But as she pulled away, she found herself leaning in, like his touch was magnet, and drew her near. Her eyes were half-lidded.

"Okay... one more...." she said.

Scout was only too happy to pull her in for another kiss.

*

A tiny group of Sandiles nibbled at pieces of bread left all over the sandy corner of the world that Sniper had parked at. Sniper kept ripping slices of bread into pieces as more and more crocs came to him. Crumbs fell down onto his cowboy boots, but he kicked them away. His hat was pulled low to keep out the sun. Miss Pauling could see just a faint hint of a smile at this distance.

One of the little sand crocs lifted their gaze and let out a noise. Sniper looked up too.

"So, you went and found me," Sniper said. He let out a sigh. "I should've known everythin' was goin' too good to last."

Miss Pauling repeated her pitch for rebuilding the team. Engineer had been polite in his faint disinterest, but Sniper was a bit more blunt.

"And then, we'll reform the team and help the kiddos keep all pokémon safe!" Scout cut in.

"Protectin' pokémon now? Now there's a change in works. First we were takin' out companies, and the like."

Miss Pauling cleared her throat. "Well, first I'm going to find the rest of the team. Then hopefully we can find the Administrator and convince her to come back. She'll be the one to set the tone of the team, not Scout. But until then, I'm in charge. And what I say goes."

Sniper blew out a sigh. "I was gettin' kind of bored of buyin' bread just to feed the Sandiles and birds around ere. Ain't had a client call in ages," he said. "And it's always a hassle, callin' home and tellin' them I don't have any jobs. I keep telling them, I'm just between them, that's all. It's fine to take a break now and then. My camper van's paid off. I got enough to live off of for a while, and if not, I can win some battles until then. Lots of tourists around here. Or as I call 'em: easy prey."

"Just don't make any kiddos cry, that's the worst," Scout said.

Sniper chuckled. "Mate, if you get any more soft-hearted, you're gonna be a dad of four."

Scout smiled mischievously, and nodded towards Miss Pauling. "Sure, eventually~"

"Sheesh, if you break up, it'll be hell to watch him cryin' his eyes out and then tryin' to win her back. Utterly pathetic and miserable," he said.

Scout sputtered. "W-we ain't breakin' up! Not now, not ever!"

"Always had his head in the clouds, that one," Sniper said.

"I am literally right here," Scout said.

"Ahem! Aside from your rather unwelcome comments on my love life, we'll pay you nicely--when we actually have money. You can just keep in touch, and head back towards my villa when the time comes," Miss Pauling said.

He shrugged. "Eh, why not. It'll give me somethin' to say when I call my parents. Tell 'em I got rehired. That should get them off my back for a little while."

The sun came out from behind the clouds, and the little Sandiles all went running under the camper van. "Now, it's time for my nap. You best get out of that sun, before you both get burnt."

"Right, we still have to find Heavy and Medic," Miss Pauling said.

"Good luck with that one. I ain't even sure they're still in the country."

There were so many places Heavy and Medic could disappear to. Medic had worked on the Cinnabar Island (SP) top secret project long before, and it wouldn't be surprising if some other shady team snapped him up. Though how long he would last, for while Medic was brilliant, he had certain eccentricities.

*

The compartments of the Ferris wheel looked like pokéballs and lit up the night skyline. Scout couldn't stop smiling as he watched them spin gently on. There were whole sports stadiums which Scout wanted to eagerly check--only

"Who would be here? We already found Pyro," Miss Pauling said.

She had a startling image of Heavy and Medic going on rides with tiny, silly hats on. Probably holding hands and letting out screams on roller coasters.

She wouldn't put it past them, honestly.

Scout reached for her hand, and caught her up, tight between his fingers. "I've been dreamin' about bringin' you here for a long time, ever since I first saw it," Scout said.

"Of course, back then, you weren't mine yet. But I knew I wanted you to be. I got a ton of places I wanted to go with you. And I'm finally here."

On one hand, there was so much yet to do. Just because they'd gotten lucky and found Pyro, Engineer and Sniper on the first try didn't mean they could rest on their laurels.

On the other hand, it was a beautiful night and she was out with a guy who adored her more than anyone ever had, or ever would.

And in the end, there was no fighting that.

"Well, we can spare a few minutes. Who knows...we might run into Heavy and Medic on the way there," she said.

She settled in beside him as the ride roared to life. The neon lights of the city was a spectacular view as they slowly rose up into the sky. The pokéball shaped compartment was actually a bit snug with both of them, though that only seemed to make Scout happier.

Scout squeezed her hand. "Every day I wake up and remember you're mine and I just am like--wow! I did it! I can't believe it. I keep forgettin' and wakin' up and thinkin' like this is the day I'm goin' to ask Miss Pauling out for real, then I remember I already am and just smile and feel like I won the lottery all over again."

She laughed. "Scout..."

"No, really. I liked you for so long. I had sooo many plans. And now I get to actually do somethin' with 'em. I just feel--really damn frickin' lucky."

She smiled. "I kind of guessed, given that you kept bringing me gifts."

"Yeah! Everywhere I went, there were cute little pokémon. I wanted to give them all to you. Shinies, legendaries, all of them. I ain't found none of them legendaries for you yet. One day, though! I'll friggin' capture gods for you."

Miss Pauling blushed. "I...always looked forward to when you'd come. And when you were out on catching duty, the hours would really drag. It got pretty boring without you around."

"I promise I'll always keep things interestin'."

She laughed. "Oh, I don't worry about that. I know dating you, I am never going to get bored. Set on fire, chased by wild pokémon, and thrust into fighting a Team, sure, but never bored."

"I mean it, though. While you were pushin' papers, I been goin' around the world catchin' pokémon. And every single time I find something cool I would feel kinda this bittersweet feelin' because you weren't here with me. I hope when we got the team together like this we got time to do stuff like this again."

Miss Pauling remembered back to the times she'd been so swamped in work that she'd barely noticed the passing of days. Scout interrupted that, with new little friends in little red balls, and often the lunch she'd forgotten to get.

There was still so much that was uncertain. Would she even be able to bring the team back to its former glory? But, she knew one thing was for sure. There was no going back to how it once was. She squeezed his hand.

"I'll make time," she said softly.

She leaned in, amused by how he still looked so happy just to have her near, and laid her head on his shoulder. A perfect fit. The city was so achingly beautiful. Something she never would've seen cooped up in a base, doing paperwork and then shredding it.

"Thanks, Scout. For everything."

"Oh, anytime. Anything for you, Miss Pauling."

He traced his thumb over her knuckle. "Really. Anything...just ask if you ever like, need anythin'. Even a hug. Especially a hug."

"Oh, I'll be sure to. There's still so much to be done. But you're surprisingly helpful," she said.

"Waaaait, how's that a surprise? I been a top tier catcher for ages!"

Miss Pauling smiled. "I guess when you've spent as much time working and studying, everything's a surprise. Even you," Miss Pauling said.

"Actually, maybe it's kinda cool to surprise you with stuff. Surprises are fun, right? I'm gonna take it as a compliment. Like a surprise birthday party but every day."

Miss Pauling laughed. "You kind of are like a party being thrown every single day of your life. Like you've got the spirit of a party deep down inside you."

"Like a walkin' birthday party, huh? You know what they say: the party don't start til I walk in. That song was written about me, you know," Scout said.

She chuckled. "Sure it was, Scout."

"I'm not kiddin'! It really was! Look, it all started when I met this trainer who was also a singer..."

She held tight to his hand as they came to a stop. "Whoa, that was fast. Think they'll let us go again? "

"We have to find the rest of the team, Scout," Miss Pauling said.

"Yeah, I guess. Plus we might make kiddos cry if we bogart the ferris wheel. Man, they might've been waitin' for ages. Hey, Miss Pauling, you think Heavy and Medic are in the stadiums?"

"They aren't sports fans, so it's unlikely."

Scout looked so disappointment that she relented. "But they might be, and it would be awful to just miss them because we didn't perform a thorough search."

"All right! I can't wait!"

Miss Pauling thought she'd have to get a bike to catch up with him, for how he kept rushing on ahead to get to the massive stadium, which had a section for football, tennis, soccer and Scout's preferred sport: baseball.

"Lookit the teaaams, Miss Pauling! They're practicin' real hard." Scout had such starry eyes as he gushed on about sports. "H-hey, Miss P! Think we could watch them practice just a little more? You never know, Heavy might be in those bleachers right over there!"

She couldn't help but smile. His enthusiasim was adorable.

"You never know. I'll go search the bleachers, you keep an eye on the field to see if they show up there.

Scout's enthusiasm waned a bit. "You ain't gonna stay nearby?"

She leaned up to give him kiss on the cheek, which instantly brought his mood back up to bouncy. "I'll be quick. And I'll bring back a stadium hot dog, too. Which do you want, ketchem ketchup or Meridian mustard?"

"Uh--both! Definitely both! And get me two--I'm starved!"

Scout continued to yell down at the baseball team as Miss Pauling threaded her way through the sparse crowd. Only the superfans were there this early, to watch the baseball team do stretches with their pokémon. But Scout was a true genius about getting excited about baseball. The only things that she'd ever seen him get as enthusiastic about were himself, pokémon (and helping new trainers) and most of all, Miss Pauling herself.

After scanning the bleachers for a few minutes ,she got into the line for the hot dog stand.. She could safely say that Heavy and Medic did not stop to suddenly take in a sports game, or to watch the players train. Still, it'd been worth it just to see Scout smile like that.

*

The cave was lit by shining floating crystals. But that wasn't the only shining thing. As she looked up, the entire walls and ceiling were filled with crawling, fluffy spider pokémon.

"Whoa! It's like we crashed the family reunion," Scout said.

"I think we did, actually," Miss Pauling said.

"Great, maybe they got weenies."

"Probably more like flies," she said.

"Then I'll skip snacks, or like, just bring my own," Scout said.

Scout let out a whistle, and pulled out his pokéballs.

"Okayyy, which one of you wants to come out and walk with us?"

His Zebstrika burst out of its ball, and pawed the ground with its front hooves.

"Yeah, you'd probably like the vibe here. You needed to stretch your legs, anyways. Wait, what--What the hell?"

"Scout, there's something...."

He glanced down.

A little fluffy yellow spider had clung to his leg. Fluffy spiders covered his Zebstrika. It flickered its spiky tail, but kept nosing the electrified blue crystal, just to enjoy the shock.

Little spiders climbed up his back. With a shriek, Scout dropped his bag. Candy and pokéballs, and potions and drinks all spilled out. When the pokéballs hit the ground, they opened, and the pokémon disappeared right into them. They only twitched a little before they all fell still. Miss Pauling stared down, speechless. It took a moment for her to realize that Scout really had accidentally caught dozens of pokémon.

No wonder he was such a prolific catcher. Pokémon literally climbed into his pokéballs without him even trying to weaken them. Though, most of his captures were passed along to any young trainers he met, or her. Which would explain why he rarely had any left for the tea when he came back.

Back when they had a team, that was.

"Well, you're certainly popular," she said.

Scout smirked. "You could say my personality is---electric!"

His Zebstrika nosed his hand. Scout flinched and drew back, but tried to play it cool, like he'd done a sudden dance move instead.

"Jeez, talk about a shockin' turn of events."

"You just caught....over a dozen pokémon by accident," she said.

"I'm just cool like that," he said.

He grinned, and tossed up a new ball. "They're pretty cute. Not as cute as you, though."

She laughed. "Glad to know I'm cuter than a spider."

"Hey, this is a fluffy spider," Scout said. "The cutest frickin' spiders I ever seen. Like if all spiders were like this, nobody would be afraid of them."

"A Joltik," she said.

"That's what I said, a total jolt," Scout said.

"That's the name of..." she saw his smile. "Oh, right."

"I have no idea what we'd even do with this many pokémon. We don't even have a team rebuilt yet," she said.

"Easy, find some kiddos just startin' out their journey and start handin' them out. Of course, you can keep a couple for yourself or the gardens if you want."

"Hmm, they'd probably like Engineer's laboratory," Miss Pauling said.

"Heey, good point. He'd probably make them power his machines, but they might actually like that. Good thinkin', Miss P! It might you know, butter him up to be back in Team Fortress!

Ah, yes. The man who had a legendary pokémon would certainly be impressed by a bunch of fluffy spiders. Still, she didn't pop his bubble and let him think his ideas were all brilliant. The thought of little fluffy spiders powering Engineer's sentries was too cute.

*


The tower had a somber air. An elderly couple stood just a few feet ahead of them. From on top of the basin, they doused the stone in water, and bowed their heads in prayer.

Scout put his hands in his pockets. "Pretty much only Psychics and Ghost Freaks are goin' to challenge you in here," Scout said.

She mentally thought about the types. Her Liepard and Murkrow might have an advantage if she ran into a psychic user. Though, with Scout around, she wouldn't have to worry about much. His pokémon were top notch, after all. And completely devoted to him, too.

"Would you really think one of the men would be here? In such a solemn place?" she said.

Perhaps she could see Spy hidden away behind gravestones, waiting for a contact.

"It ain't for battlin', or for the men. I had to go visit while I was here."

Scout stepped forward, and left a dog treat on top of a small grave in the middle of the floor.

"It's been a while, boy. Hope you're chasin' Meowths in doggie heaven," Scout said.

He pulled out a picture. It had grown slightly creased in time. She would be able to recognize that buck-toothed smile anywhere.

"There was this Stoutland that used to live near us. So big it used to give us rides. Then the old lady who kept it died. He just wasn't the same. Spent all day outside where he used to live, waitin' on her to come home. Her grandkids tried to take care of it, but he kept goin' back."

Scout's voice choked up. "The poor guy missed her so much, he just kept on waitin' and waitin' for his trainer to come back...."

He pulled out a little charm, and held it in his palm.

"Are you leaving an offering?" She asked.

"Nah, my dad left it for me. I never met him, though. I keep it around. Dunno why. It ain't gonna summon him. Sometimes I just pull it out when I feel low."

"Can I see?"

He opened his hand.

"It don't mean anythin'. I spent a long time trying to figure it out. Eventually I realized it don't mean a damn thing. And I been like that Stoutland, waitin' on nothin'."

She turned it over and began to read the text immediately.

"Undying love for my son," she read off.

"What? You can read it?"

"It's just from Kalos."

Scout rubbed at his cheek. "Should've known you'd crack the code in seconds. Should've frickin' shown it to you earlier."

"Did he leave anything else?" Miss Pauling said.

He shook his head. "Naw. Just this. It's kinda useless, though. Undyin' love, but he never even showed up or wrote? Ain't worth much if he can't even send a friggin' card."

She couldn't offer any comfort. Instead, she reached out and rested her hand on his shoulder.

"It's all right, I'm over it. His frickin' loss," Scout said.

A light burned bright in front of them, and it slowly came closer over the tombstones.

At first, she thought it was a candle someone had lit in honor of the dead. Then she saw the eyes. Miss Pauling drew back. The flame on the candle creature started to blaze bright.

"Oh, a Litwik. I think it likes you. I don't blame 'em; I like you, too," Scout said.

Mentally, she thought back to her pokémon types. Fire definitely. Was there another type? Ghost, perhaps.... Or was it dark? Water would be effective, then what? Dark? No, she didn't want effective. But then, normal types would also not be able to hit a ghost...

Scout grinned. "You want me to catch it for you? I bet I can get it that ball in five minutes or less."

She wasn't like Scout, who could stumble into catching pokémon, like the little critters were so enamored by him that they practically jumped into the pokéballs.

But for once, she wanted to give it a try. Even though it would be so easy to accidentally knock it out.

She grabbed a pokéball from her hip.

"Let me try, okay?" she said.

"Hey, if anybody can do it, it's you. Good luck, Miss P!"

"Go, Murkrow!"

A purple-feathered raven flew up, and let out a caw. It flew right over the Litwik, whose flame flickered under the force of wings.

"Murkrow, use peck--but not hard! Just a little one! Just enough to get its attention."

Murkrow let out another caw, and flew in towards the little candle. It drew back with a burnt beak. In a second, little embers surrounded those purple feathers.

"It's okay, you can take this. You just have to keep it up for a little ways longer. I'll give you a potion right off!"

Maybe it wasn't enough, but she wasn't going to risk accidentally knocking the little candle out.

She tossed the pokéball. One twitch, two, three...and finally four. The red and white ball was completely still.

"Heyy! That's your first catch by yourself, right?"

She nodded. "I've always been assigned pokémon. Or somebody kept giving me some."

He leaned in, and planted a congratulatory kiss on her cheek. "Good goin', Miss P!"

She blushed. A solemn place like this wasn't quite the place as Scout would put it 'to get smoochy.'

Scout's charm fluttered to the floor.

"Oh, Scout! You dropped your charm."

As Scout leaned down to pick it up, the charm began to float in the air.

"Crap, some Ghastly or other ghost type pokémon got ahold of it. C'mere, buddy. I'll give you a poképuff."

He slowly appeared.

"So you've come."

A glove appeared from the dark. Perfect, pristine, and distinctly Kalos fashion.

Spy shifted the charm in his gloved hands.

"Hey, give it back. It ain't no trash--It was my dad's. I didn't ever meet him, but I ain't gonna just throw it away. It's the only thing I got to remember the bastard by, after all."

"A missing father...An all too common story among trainers," he said.

"It shouldn't friggin' be. When I have kids, we're havin' family journeys. Because I'd never leave my girl and my kids alone to just wander around and stumble into adulthood, with nothin' but pokémon to cling to. I'm gonna do better."

"I hope you never reach a point where you must disappear," Spy said. He slowly began to turn invisible.

"Pppht, as if," Scout said. "C'mon, Miss Pauling. We still got Heavy and Medic to find."

He took her hand and headed out.

"Scout, I'm not as fast as you," Miss Pauling said exasperatedly.

"Yeah, you're right." Scout breathed out a sigh. "Who does that guy think he is? Touchin' my dad's stuff." Scout let go of her hand and began to pace. "Maybe I just gotta run it off."

He stretched out his limbs, to prevent injury.

"You gonna be okay on your own? I gotta blow some steam off."

"I've got plenty of pokémon to keep me safe, Scout. Unless some legendary drops from the skies, I'll be fine."

"Or a team comes out of nowhere. Eh, screw it. I'll run on the balance beams until my head is clear."

In the grassy spaces near, there were a series of balance beams. For some reason, a very large amount of clowns walked through.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Scout rubbed at his cheek. "What's to talk about? Lots of kids had their dads go off on a journey. Though I don't even remember mine. Mom don't talk about him much. Don't even know if he's alive. But ain't nothin' gonna change that. Especially not talkin' about it. Anyways, runnin' is nice. I feel good, burns off the anger, makes me feel like a super hero."

"Runner's high. It's endorphins," she said.

"Yeah, I knew you'd know the reasonin'."

Scout hopped up onto a balance beam, with his arms held out. Each step he took, he looked like childhood days of running with arms outstretched, pretending to be an airplane.

"You'll fall off if you don't go fast enough," she said.

He smiled, for the first time in a while. "I'm always fast enough, trust me."

With a little sigh, she climbed up on the beam as well. The grasses beneath were filled with trainers and wild pokémon. All which would slow them down more. She took each careful step, while he ran ahead. Mentally, she wondered exactly what the local authority was thinking. It couldn't be enough to just have a raised walkway, no, they had to put a Circus show.

But, Scout looked so much happier as he bounced around that balance beam. And so, she supposed that made these balance beams worthwhile.

*

Scout stretched, and glanced down the route. "So, where do you think good bros like Heavy and Medic would be?" Scout said.

Miss Pauling lifted one eyebrow. Was Scout joking here? "....Good bros?"

"Yeah! Ain't nobody closer friends than those two. It's nice, really. Some guys are afraid to get touchy feely, but not those two. They're always out touchin' each other on the shoulder, or helpin' each other. Warms your heart, really."

And did Scout think them kissing in the back storage rooms also was just 'dudes being guys and bros' as well? Though knowing Medic, maybe he convinced Scout that it was the fraternal communist kiss--never mind that neither Heavy nor Medic were communists. Most of the base sort of assumed Heavy was, just by association. The sky was blue, and Russians were red--that sort of thing.

Or Scout had been so wrapped up in himself (and her) that he'd never run into any of their not so well hidden trysts around the base.

A small white trainer's school was nearby, just across the path. .A thought came to mind. There had to be a largely empty schoolroom somewhere. Because she was going to need diagrams to explain this to Scout. It might take a while.

Children played outside on the paved parking lot, on hopscotch chalk outlines, and with pokémon hopping along behind them. Perfect. The classrooms would be empty.

"Scout, follow me," she said.

Scout tugged at his baseball cap. "You think Medic is around here? He is kind a nerd. Make that definitely a nerd," Scout said.

"Well, it comes with the medical degree," she said.

"Huh, so that's what happens to the eggheads that get shoved in lockers," Scout said.

She had a feeling Medic was never the type of person to be shoved in any locker. Or that any person who tried wouldn't live very long.

"Well, that or they become pokémon trainers. Or engineers. Or both," she said.

"The Elite Four better watch out, the doctor-engineer-trainers with 11 degrees are comin' for them!"

"To be fair, people with PHDs are counted as 'doctors' as well..." Miss Pauling said.

"Seriously? Wouldn't be the kind you could call to do CPR, though," Scout said.

"Er, I guess," she said.

He followed her up the stairs, until she finally found a room.

"All right, sit down. Teacher Pauling is going to give you a lesson," she said. She lifted up a ruler, and gave him a smile.

"Hot! Though, uh, babe, we should've started when the kiddos leave. It'd kinda be a buzzkill for them to see you like that. Maybe if you locked the door and kept it down--"

"Not that kind of lesson, Scout," she said.

"Oh, then what? We doin' pokémon battlin'? Because I'm real good at that. And catchin'!"

Technically, he backflipped upon all the rules of catching pokémon and somehow managed to be the best pokémon catcher she'd ever seen. Over half the time he didn't even bothering weakening pokémon.

On the white board, she started her diagram.

She wrote out their names Heavy and Medic over the stick figures. They were holding hands.

Scout held up his hand. "Ooh, I know this one. I already know Heavy and Medic are total bros, I mean I got eyes," Scout said.

Well, technically they were friends. Boyfriends, that was.

Miss Pauling started to draw hearts around them.

"This is pictionary now? Uh....brothers from another mother!"

She lifted one eyebrow and drew a heart around them both.

"Really, really good friends?"

Miss Pauling drew up to the side. gay people exist, Scout.

"Yeah, nobody said they didn't," Scout said. He leaned back. Already his attention was beginning to wander. "Dunno what this got to do with Heavy and Medic, though."

In parenthesis, she put in (bisexual and trans people exist too.) Though his attention was already caught by a Butterfree flying outside. She didn't have the energy to explain the entire LGBT+ community to him this second. Baby steps and all.

"Scout, please pay attention."

Scout glanced back from the window suddenly, and gave her a smile. "What's it? This Pictionary thing again? Thought I already solved it."

She pointed down a line to Heavy and Medic and then wrote GAY. She underlined it several times, and put underneath Heavy and Medic are GAY, Scout.

Scout rubbed at his chin. He tilted his head and reread the words over and over. Miss Pauling underlined the words again for good measure. He looked over the works over and over as if they were in a foreign language.

"Gay as in happy? Or you sayin' Heavy and Medic are like... smoochy?"

"Yes, completely number two," she said.

Scout pulled his hat off and rubbed at his hair. "And not into women, like, at all?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying, Scout."

Scout leaned back, completely nonplussed by this revelation. "Good, that means I don't gotta worry about either of them tryin' to steal you away."

"They're really not my type. And I'm not theirs, either," she said.

"Though a part of me figures sure there's gotta be dudes like that. But, it seems kinda like--how? Boobs are so great! Like, sure, I hope their happy but I still don't get how anyone could not be into boobs. They're just so--boobs you know? Like I could understand somebody bein' a communist, sure, but not even a little into boobs? It takes all kinds and I'd punch anybody who called him anythin' mean, but I can't relate at all."

She sure hoped Soldier didn't hear Scout say that.

"Technically boobs are gender-neutral. Men have them too," Miss Pauling said.

"Never thought about that before. So, Medic is into gettin' his face shoved into boobs and motorboatin', just a different type of boobs?"

"I never asked his um, preferences. But, sure. If that helps you understand, then go for that. Wait, you think everyone in the world is into women? It's that hard for you to fathom anyone in the world couldn't be attracted to women? So what, you just assume all women are bisexual or gay?"

"I mean, sure. Of course lots of you ladies are into other ladies. Women are totally hot. Though, none as hot with you! Honestly, I still haven't gotten over how powerful you ladies must be to just get up in the mornin' and not play with your boobs all damn day long. I could never be that strong. I would just stay in my room. Wouldn't even get dressed. Just boobs. All day long, boobs."

She patted him on the shoulder. "Yeah, women are great too. I get it. I really do."

Scout looked up at her curiously. Yeah, she still hadn't done the bisexual and trans 101. Considering how distracted by breasts he was now, she'd probably have to save that tidbit for another day.

"But how did you know that Heavy and Medic?" Scout said. "You got some kind of gay radar? Some bi frequency?" Scout chuckled to himself. "So that'd be...Gaydar and Bi-fi?"

"Actually, that's pretty brilliant," she said. "The latter, the first one is pretty widely used."

The phone began to ring.

"It's Sargent Asshole. I gotta take this."

"Soldier has a phone...? I thought he believed that phones were a communist plot to fry our brains."

"No, Spy! Should I have called him Mon-sigy-your HonHonHon Baguette instead?"

"It'd have been clearer," she said.

Scout looked as if he'd sucked on a lemon as he answered.

"Uh-huh. Right. What? She's right here. Nah, we ain't found 'em yet. Miss Pauling was just tellin' me that Heavy and Medic were super gay married or some crap. Of course I didn't know, why would I? I respect people's privacy and right to fuck who they want in peace! What? My Mother? Fuck you!" Scout hung up without saying goodbye, and looked about ready to throw his phone across the way.

Miss Pauling lifted her eyebrows. "Well?"

"I got a hot tip from Mr. Baguette himself. Heavy and Medic were seen on a beach nearby after their weddin'. Undella town is right up, so it's the first place we'll start lookin'. Hopefully that's the beach and not Alola. Though it'd be pretty nice to go to the islands with you."

"This isn't a vacation, Scout. It's more like a rescue mission," she said.

"But it could be," Scout said. "You love multitaskin', eh? Eh?"

"Of course I do. But--"

"No need for buts. Butts are plenty welcome, though," Scout said. He lifted his eyebrows suggestively.

She rolled her eyes at that, but it was done fondly.

"We can make a time allotment for some breaks, however, let's not go overboard."

"I'm just sayin'. Beaches and cute swimsuits--on you, of course--and my ass lookin' fantastic in swim shorts, splashin' around and sippin' fruity drinks on the shore when we get tired."

As tempting as it was, she was still very close to getting the rest of the team back together.

"You gotta take care of you too, you know?" Scout said. "All work and no play is just no good."

His hand rested on her shoulder. And it sounded so good. A break. Before Scout, she'd barely even known the meaning of the word. Unless they were talking about breaking down the competition or breaking through their defenses.

His fingertips brushed against her neck. And it'd be so easy to take a moment out of their journey.

"Technically, Heavy and Medic were spotted on the beaches anyways...and if we don't, um, blend in, then we'd cause a stir..."

"Exactly...so, did you pack your swimsuit?"

"You wish," Miss Pauling said.

"Know what that means? We gotta go get you one. You'll probably gotta try tons on. A-and you'll need a second opinion. Definitely need one of those second opinions." Scout had a look on his face that belonged in a cartoon with him surrounded by hearts, and possibly his heart making foghorn noises as it rocketed out of his chest in a way that would certainly kill him in real life.

"Was this your plan all along?" she said.

"Beaches just sound good, you know? It's been too long since I had sand between my toes and that ocean spray. Not the juice, the smell. I come from the shore so I miss it. Back where we was workin', we had all the sand and none of the sea. And it was constantly blowin' all over. Too much of it, it got annoyin'."

She couldn't argue with that. She couldn't even imagine what the Administrator would think of this. But, she didn't let that potential recrimination get her down. After all, the Administrator had left them all, and she was the only one left to bring them back together.

"Well, there's really only one thing to do," Miss Pauling said.

Scout crossed his fingers. "Please say it's swimsuits, please say it's swimsuits..."

"It's swimsuits," she said. "But, we have to make it quick. If we don't, Heavy and Medic might fly off somewhere else."

"That's the thing, baby. I'm quick at almost everythin'. Though I'm plenty slow at the things that matter."

With that, they were off.

*

The shop in Undella served all sorts of tourists, though nearing the lunch hour, they filed out with their straw hats and new bags, and sarongs tied about their waists. The blond cashier idly looked at a magazine while eating chips, barely sparing them another glance.

Scout was full of energy as he sifted through the racks. He lifted up a purple one with white vertical stripes, and lifted his eyebrows. "Eh~? What about this one, ey?"

The two pieces weren't really suited for much serious swimming. If she planned to actually do any swimming (as opposed to simply sunbathing. Then again, she wasn't much for sunbathing. She tended to burn, not tan. Also, she had no time to take in the rays.)

"I'll give it a try," she said.

She put it over her arm and glanced through the rest of the rack. She found a one-piece with purple flowers. It had much sturdier fabric, and even better, a built-in bralet. Which was good, because if Scout saw her nipples through her bathing suit, she wouldn't get him to focus on the work again for the rest of the day.

"Holy crap, it's so cute... Am I in heaven? Did I die?"

"Nope, you're still kicking," she said dryly.

She'd grabbed several, just in case. At her height, she tended to have a lot of wardrobe malfunctions. Shirts were too big, until they made her look as if she were trying out her mother's clothes, and jeans would have to be rolled up at the cuff or she couldn't even walk in them.

"You look so cute in them all, you'll have to buy 'em all! You know what they say: gotta buy 'em all."

"I'm pretty sure it doesn't go that way."

"S-still, you should try 'em all on. And get a second opinion. Just to make sure."

He was so transparent. Still, his eagerness was amusing.

Well, it wouldn't due to be conspicuous on the beaches. Actually, wait. Now they didn't have to worry about any police or errant ten year olds taking down Team Fortress because it didn't exist any longer. And if Scout had his way, it would be turned into some kind of pokémon preservation group that also volunteered with inner city children.

She smiled. "These look like they'd fit pretty well. I'm not sure it's necessary. After all, I know my size."

Scout had a panicked look. He was the least stealthy person she had ever met, which made who his father was all the more surprising.

"I'm teasing. I always try on clothes to make sure they fit."

Scout let out a long, relieved sigh.

She came out again with the purple one with stripes. Scout gave her a dreamy look. "God, you're so cute... You should get 'em all. If you don't have enough cash on hand, I'll get you some. A-and if we need more, I'll just go fight some trainers on the beach until we got enough."

"I think I can afford a few swimsuits. Considering I've barely even spent most of the money I made for years."

"Yeah, you should live a little. And buy all the cute swimsuits. Trust me: Scout knows best."

She laughed, and returned back to the changing room.

*

The sunset spread long and golden across the horizon. Waves splashed across her feet. Her Sylveon leapt from wave to wave, as blue as the ocean about it.

He held out a cold drink in a clear tumbler with pokéballs all over it. It was cold, and tasted of fruit and berries of kinds she couldn't quite place. There were plenty of little tuber trainers, swimmers did laps further out, while attractive women spread sunscreen over their long legs.

"Beaches, huh.... Well, there's Alola...that place is practically one whole long beach," Scout said.

"We should check around here first. I just hope they haven't gone that far yet," Miss Pauling said.

"Wait, we can't go just yet! We ain't seen the marine tunnels yet!"

"This is coming off more as some kind of honeymoon than a rescue trip," she said.

"Wait--Don't you gotta be married for those? Because if you wanna---" Scout said.

She cleared her throat. "Um, you mentioned something about marine tunnels?"

Scout's face lit up at the mention. "Oh yeah! They look neat! It says you can see Matine in the morning and Frillish in the evening. It's gorgeous. I always wanted to see it with you."

"We still need to find Heavy and Medic--"

"But they might be in there!" Scout burst out.

Well, it was a local attraction. And it was more likely than finding them in the stadium, and she'd still allowed that.

"We might as well head in there. Maybe they went down there for...some reason. You said it's a romantic spot?" she said.

Scout burst into a big grin. "Totally," Scout said.

*

They'd put their pokémon back, just for a while, to make sure the Frillish didn't get scared away.

Their tentacles spread out like lacy dresses, and the Frillish looked like ballroom dancers, twirling around together.

"Says here the pinks are girls and the blues are boys," Scout said. "Huh, some of the blues are dancin' with other blues, and pinks with pinks. And at least one of them is dancin' with both. Good for them."

"There's some other colors, too. Are those shinies, or are they not male or female?" Miss Pauling said.

"Maybe both," Scout said.

She smiled, and rested her palm against the glass. "Aww, look at them dance."

"Hey, no fair that they get to be smoochy and cuddly and I don't," Scout said.

"Who's stopping you? We're completely alone here. Well, except for the Frillish, and they're pretty busy," she said.

He bent down and pushed back her dark hair.

"You always make good points, Miss P," he said softly. She clutched to his red shirt tight, until it bunched in her grip as his lips covered hers in perfect warmth.

*

Scout had taken a small detour--for him, anyways. Just on a hill above Undella town, he headed through the tall grass. He lifted up his binoculars up and looked down to the beaches below.

"See, we'll get a great vantage point up here. They don't call me 'Scout' for nothin'. This brilliant plan that will totally bring Heavy and Medic into focus was brought to you byyyy me!"

"Just let me know if you see them."

She stood just at the edge, when a slight weight settled on her head. Miss Pauling craned her neck to see, but all she saw were--clouds/?

Scout snickered. "Hey, nice hat."

She felt up and felt nothing but moisture. A little coo rose up as a small blue bird, with clouds for wings.

"I always wanted to catch a Swablu for you! It looks like one picked you out."

Scout picked up a pokéball from his bag. Instead of throwing it, he booped the Swablu on the beak with it.

Four twitches. It didn't break out.

Miss Pauling blinked and stared down at the little red and white ball. "I vastly underestimated how easy it would be catch pokémon."

"It ain't easy, we just make it look easy."

A bright tacky shirt caught her eye. "Wait, is that--" She put the binoculars to her eyes.

"Wait, look down there. In the loud Alolan shirts, surrounded by birds--"

"That's them! We found em!"

"Now, how do we get down in time?"

Scout tossed up a pokéball. "I got this."

His Pigeot spread its wings wide, like it was posing.

"C'mon, climb on. We'll swoop right down and tell them to go back to the base and reform the team!"

She hung tight as Pigot started on a dive down towards the beaches.

*

Medic had a drink of beer in each hand, while Heavy had a peach bellini in a cup about the size of his fist.

"Where to next--"

"HEAVY! MEDIC!"

Scout landed right in front of him..

"Nice bird," Medic said.

"You can't have 'em, he's mine!"

"There you are--we've been looking all over for you," Miss Pauling said.

Medic shrugged. "We've just returned from Alola. We're on a long break together. You could say it's as sweet as honey, and as long as a month." He gave Heavy a knowing look. The massive, bear of a man smiled.

"Indeed, Doktor."

"I'm sorry to interrupt your honeymoon, but I need to talk to you about the Team," Miss Pauling said.

"Whoa, they're married for real? I thought Spy was pullin' my leg. Congrats, big guy," Scout said. He held up his hand.

"What do I do with this?" Heavy said.

"You make a fist and you bump me with it. Easy."

"I see," Heavy said. He held out one large hand, that completely eclipsed Scout's fingers and he did as Scout instructed--except with a bit more force. His 'bump' was a punch that made Scout clutch his arm. "Yeow! What the hell man? I said bump! Not bump off!"

Medic chuckled. "He does not know his own strength. Or, you could say he does and was simply enjoying himself...

"Now is drinking time," Heavy said.

"Oh, come on! We ain't seen each other in ages!"

Heavy grimaced, and downed a big gulp.

"The Team? Which one? Fortress? It is over now. These things happened. The project I was on before broke up when the subject escaped. A shame. It was so powerful, too. A clone of an ancient pokémon," Medic said.

"This doesn't have to be the end. The Team can get back together. And we'll be stronger than ever before," Miss Pauling said.

"Yeah! We're rebuilding the team!" Scout said.

"And who will lead us? You?" Medic said. He broke into raucous laughter. "Oh, my sides hurt."

"Sure she will! Miss Pauling is super smart and she already helped take on Team Stupid Knock Off!"

"I was pointing at you," Medic said. "If you led the team, it would become a pokémon daycare before the day was over."

"He'd still be catching pokémon," Miss Pauling said mildly.

"AND bein' her boyfriend, all official and like," Scout cut in.

"That's not a job that's part of Team Fortress," she said. "But, yes."

Miss Pauling didn't even come up to his chest, let alone his shoulders. She had to crane her neck to even see Heavy's expression.

"What do you think, Heavy?" Medic said.

"Wherever Doktor goes, I go," he said. "But I must go tell my family."

"We could visit there. Your mother makes the best pies," Medic said thoughtfully.

"Yana is artist in Castleia City, Bronislava is studying in there as well. She is deciding majors. After many years in snowy mountains, they are happy to see the cities."

"We were just there," Scout said. "They got great ice cream."

Medic shrugged. "It sounds uneven and sloppy, especially with Scout influencing her so much, but I could give it a try. As long as I do not have to babysit any children."

"Sloppy and uneven? I think you mean awesome and awesomer!" Scout burst out.

Medic chuckled. "You are something else."

"All right, meet up with the rest at my villa. That'll bring us to part two of the plan."

"The next part is...." She took a deep breath.

"Defeating Team Machine and getting the base back. Then we can use the coordinance to find out where The Administrator went to."

"Do you truly think she'd be happy with what you've done with the team? Turned it into pokémon playtime?" Medic said dryly.

"I-I'll deal with that bridge when I get to it," Miss Pauling said.

"Well, do what you will. We will be there soon enough. We still have to see the tunnels," Medic said.

Scout grinned big. "See, I told you they'd go down there! We just missed 'em!"

She nodded.

The road ahead would be difficult. The Main Nine may have been back together, but it would be a very different Team than the one the Administrator had started. Sometimes she still wondered if she was enough.

Scout put his hand on her shoulder, as Heavy and Medic walked down the beach away from them.

"We can do it. And the Administrator would be a fool to ever doubt you. You--you're the coolest, most capable person I ever knew, and ever would know. She'll be totally stoked with what you did with the team," Scout said.

She smiled softly. "I hope so."

"Team Machine? More like Team Rusty old can when we're through with them," Scout said. "So, when are we gonna punch their clocks out?"

"Right after we all meet up."

"Really? Just let me make a few calls."

Scout pulled out his phone and made lively phone call after phone call to his fellow trainers.

The waves foamed at her feet. Miss Pauling took in this last moment of peace before she turned and left the beaches and all their romance behind.