bottlecaplogs | mayaka's april catch-all !

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!