bottlecaplogs | mayaka's april catch-all !

"You don't need to—" He's trying to be encouraging, but the Fairy Wind picks up and knocks him back hard. A super effective wind move of all things. Of course. He tumbles until he manages to find his footing again, looking a little worse for wear when he glances back up at Mayaka. "I'm— ... I'm okay. Promise."

And if he really isn't, he'll make himself okay, for her sake. He shakes off the pain for now, even if he shouldn't.

"You're doing good. They'll back off before you can really hurt 'em." Most Pokémon are closer to animals that way. He gets back on two feet, shuffling for some seeds in his pockets. "Get in close again, but jump back after you hit, okay?"

Mostly so they don't get another move off her, but also because he has a few Seed Bombs and a Stomping Tantrum to follow up with. He shudders slightly.

"No, you're not! I can see!"

Maybe it's because the Morpeko is smaller than her, or because she's just remembered that Fairy-type moves have a greater effect on him, but she'd seen how the blast had knocked him back.

No time to talk back to Bigby, she needs to do something so it doesn't get worse. She listens to his instructions with a frown etched on her face, and readies herself to engage the Floettes once more. Her claws -- or was it the poison on them -- had done some damage just now, so she should try again. She remembers one the drills Umemiya taught her, to be aware of the reach of her arms, so that she knows how close enough she needs to be to land a hit.

The Sneasel lunges at the nearest Floette, keeping her claws close to her body, until its within her range of attack, and throws out a rather clumsy Poison Jab (that ends up connecting with the Floette still)! Then, she hops back as fast as she can so that Bigby can follow-up.

Bigby grits his teeth. She's right, but now's not the time. All he can do is keep shaking it off before loading up on seeds. Just like he told himself earlier, this isn't about him. He's been hurt plenty before, and by far bigger opponents, but Mayaka can't be distracted worrying about him. She needs to get something out of this, to know she can handle herself and help when she has to.

Watching her try again, he nods to himself: "That's it."

Once he sees her land her hit, he charges forward again, firing a couple of Seed Bombs at the Floettes to keep them from following her when she pulls back. Only when she's fully away does he start does he start to focus, fur bristling as he growls into a Stomping Tantrum. It's not that intimidating on it's own, but the ground starts shake, enough to send rocks flying at the wild Pokémon.

"Alright, Mayaka. Let's scare 'em off for good." They're not running off without trying one more time, but they do pause to get in a Synthesis. Bigby stances back up for another scuffle, pressing a paw to his shoulder, cheeks sparking again. "Now we know what to expect."

"Okay, B-chan!" she sounds more confident now, thanks to the adrenaline of battling and from seeing the Floettes fall back and regroup.

The Sneasel pushes off into a Quick Attack again, appearing in front of the Floettes in a flash, and striking them with Poison Jab once more. One of the Floettes recovers from the punch faster, and bonks her with its tattered flower staff.

"Ow...!" She clutches her head while rolling out of the way to make room for Bigby to land the finishing blow.

Despite feeling pretty worn out himself, Mayaka does plenty of damage on her own. He beams slightly, noticing most of the Floettes aren't willing to risk it anymore with a Poison-type around. There's always one eager to keep fighting though.

"Hey!" he shouts, trying to distract it from smacking her again. It chitters aggressively, waving its flower to keep him at bay, as if that would work. He runs in with a Quick Attack of his own, leading to another, shorter scuffle that ends with him on top. This time, he'll land his charged up Thunder Punch, growling all the while, only to get struck by a Dazzling Gleam at the exact same time.

Well, at least that Floette is taken care of, but so is Bigby as he stumbles back, completely dazed.

Mayaka watches on, first in awe, and then with anger and worry when the concentrated flash of Dazzling Gleam connects with her friend. As Bigby falls back, she storms up to the defeated Floette and snatches the wilted flower from it.

"And don't you dare come back!!" She shouts while hurling the flower into the forest.

Both Floettes shoot her looks of exhaust and confusion, before retreating to find their lost possession.

Mayaka approaches Bigby, having channeled her anger into that final throw, all that's left now is concern. She wants to reach out and help steady him, but flinches back when she realises her claws are uncovered.

"B-chan... you're okay right? Did you see that? I did it!" she asks, trying to put on a smile, and hoping he's still well enough to return it.

Edited 2026-05-21 14:54 (UTC)

He groans a little in response. Even when he opens his eyes up at her, his vision takes a second to actually focus. Fur bristling from the adrenaline, he at least manages to sit back up, though not without another shudder as his injuries start to catch up to him.

Just give him another minute to shake it off, Mayaka.

"You... you did it," Bigby repeats, rubbing his face and ears not unlike a regular rodent. Cautiously, he glances over at the Floettes, only to feel immediately relieved. Hard not to meet her smile with a tired one of his own. "Knew you had it in you, kid. Wasn't so bad, right?"

As hurt as he is, he's not completely wiped out thanks to her, so he's considering this a win.

"Wouldn't have been able to handle 'em myself, you know."

Her first instinct is to retort and disagree, but she knows that Bigby isn't saying that just to encourage her. The two enemies could have overwhelmed him if he'd been alone, so Mayaka's glad that she was here, even if she hadn't particularly enjoyed the stress of the battle itself.

"Thanks for watching out for me."

She can see that he's injured from the fight, and starts to look around for berries or something to help. She should've brought her own kit!

"Do you need a berry? Or a trip to the clinic?"

Like Mayaka, his first thought is to casually shrug off her thanks as no big deal. Nothing to it, he almost says, even if he knows that's not true. She needed the moral support, and lucky for her, he's willing to take the brunt of a battle until she was ready to reach her potential all on her own. Of course, that doesn't stop anything from hurting less, but it does help ease the pain on an emotional level at least.

"Yeah... glad I could help." He tilts his head at the choice, though from the curious twitch of his nose, he's already made up his mind. "I'd rather stay away from the clinic if I can help it, but..."

He sighs before starting to dig through his pockets. Doesn't matter how long he's been here; Bigby will always be a bit embarrassed about this.

"Remember what I said about drying my own seeds?" he asks before pulling out a few personal snacks. They're small like the seeds he's known for nowadays, but distinctly different in color. Again, he sighs. "Works on berries too."

Mayaka squats down next to Bigby, eyes widening with ignited curiosity. First, at his in-built pockets, then at the dried berry.

"Can I try one??" she asks, even though she's hardly injured except for the sore point on her head where the Floette had swung at.

Bigby could only imagine what she might be thinking. He knows it must look ridiculous.

At least pockets offer one advantage, which he starts to nibble on. Dried berries aren't as potent as the regular things, but for him especially, it's better than nothing.

"You... really want to?" He tilts his head, half-expecting her to be kidding, but if she's serious, then, well. He pulls out another dried Oran berry for her to take. "Uh. Here. Might be a little tart."

"Yeah. It reminds me of the dried cuttlefish I used to snack on from the convenience stores." If anything, she'd like to try something different from what she can usually get here. Bonus points for making her think of home, though she's not sure if that's a positive or negative.

Mayaka inspects the berry, sniffing it tentatively before taking a bite.

"It's more like a dried plum sweet, but less sour," she says as she chews thoughtfully.

"Did you come up with this to store more food in your little pockets?"

"Cuttlefish?" That's different. It's almost hard not to be pleasantly surprised by it when he's so used to kids snacking on sweets around here. Bigby snickers lightly before adding: "Remind me to get you Veluza jerky next time."

Ethically sourced jerky, he should say. He doesn't think it's on the same level as other meats around here when the Veluza is filleting itself. With a thoughtful glance, he takes a much bigger bite than her, ears wiggling happily despite himself. It's always the first seed or berry that puts him in a weirdly good mood, but it's not long for his expression to flatten back into its usual grumpy state.

Little pockets. Right. He's still a ridiculous hamster during all of this.

"It's... a thing Morpekos do, yeah. Keeps them from going bad for longer too."

Not that there are any other Morpekos around to begin with. The instinct was strong enough for him to figure it out himself.

"That sounds good!" Mayaka doesn't think too deeply about the source of the jerky for now, though this might change if she were to befriend more fish-like Pokémon.

Studying Bigby's pockets again, she says, "It's cute... and useful."

Got to add that second part to soften the blow. Then, she finishes up the dried berry and poses another question she's been meaning to ask.

"Where'd you learn how to fight like that, B-chan?"

Bigby will remember that. Her birthday is coming up after all. Maybe he could even look into dried something-or-other. Surely there's some kind of Pokémon around that's like cuttlefish—

His ears suddenly flick. He's getting ahead of himself.

"They're... definitely a lot more than what other people have, yeah," he mutters. Not a lot of them could boast having thumbs and pockets, even if her other comment makes him slump slightly. He's not going to let it get to him too much this time. Finishing his own snack, he stretches a bit before starting to brush the dirt off his fur.

"I've been training since I got here. If I'm going to be stuck like this, I should at least know how to handle myself." He glances at her for a quick second, only to look back down at one of his paws. "But I have some experience from back home too. Just... part of my job."

"Yeah... I shouldn't use my inexperience as an excuse to avoid battling. Thanks for showing me how to defend myself."

Seeing a Morpeko hold out against larger and stronger foes, it motivates her to want to do the same! Bigby is setting a good example, it seems.

"Oh, what kind of job was it? I don't really know much about where you're from."

Since they were all done here, and the other teams have successfully warded off the Floettes, there's no reason to linger around if Bigby wants to brush off Mayaka's nosy questions.

"Just know when to pick your battles, and you'll get used to it," he adds with a gentle tone. Something about teaching a kid how to protect herself feels right somehow, almost like he's actually a pack animal. Funny that.

Talking about his job though doesn't quite hit the same way though. As much as he doesn't want to get into it, he's too earnest not to.

"I'm a sheriff." He's sure that might conjure up cowboy imagery, but he's quick to put a stop to that. "Gotta take care of a whole community back in New York, including dealing with people who don't really want me around."

There's more to it than that for the Big Bad Wolf, but that's the part he'll avoid for now. He motions for her to follow.

"C'mon. Let's get going. We should get some real treatment."

Does New York City have sheriffs? She's only really heard of sheriffs of the Wild West variety, so this is news to her.

"Alright, Sheriff B-chan!" Mayaka says with a laugh before following after the Morpeko.

mayaka's april catch-all !

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i just realised the pockets are part of morpeko's body????

LMAO it's my fave thing he hates it sm

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good to wrap!