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 Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2009 10:05 pm
Mikey wandered through the streets of the city, her trusted Eevee, Volpone, at her side. Her latest project was to find and draw/photograph a Suicune, and was stocking up on supplies in the city before she headed out. Volpone didn't seem too happy about traveling out in the brush for the umpteenth time. He was still itchy from the last time his trainer drug him out to photograph a beached Wailmer. Volpone was fairly certain he still had sand in his fur, regardless of the amount of time his trainer spent trying to brush it out. Mikey was definitely not a pro at grooming.
"Vee?" Volpone nudged Mikey, an unhappy expression on his face as he scratched at the fur behind his ears. She knew he was still suffering, but she couldn't figure out how to get the last bits of sand out of his brown coat. She had tried everything she knew how, but...nothing helped. "I'm sorry, Volpone. You know we don't have the pokedollars for a groomer until I sell some pictures. I suppose I could get you a bath in the next river we see..."
Volpone sighed. He loved Mikey, but sometimes he wished she would pursue a more monetary-based career, rather than being a wandering artist.
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Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2009 10:18 pm
It was just their luck that just off the edge of town, a small tent had been set up. This tent wasn't the prettiest thing but it was durable and inexpensive, which gave its owner money for more important things. A rather plump Delibird was in the process of putting up a sign that read something about free groomings, stew and checkups to trainers who stopped by. However, there wasn't much of a line as the tent seemed to dissuade people from thinking it was worth the time to check.
A good look at the pokemon putting up the sign's coat would tell a different story. He was a healthy color, his feathers all neatly brushed and in place, the broken ones removed and his manner quite comfortable. The critter's mood alone was enough to give hint that whoever he was with probably was good at what they did.
Seated on a few pillows atop a crate was a young woman with long green hair, braided down her back. A thick hat kept the sun from getting in her eyes as she stirred a steaming pot of soup. Beside her, laid out on a cloth on another crate, was an immaculately kept set of grooming supplies and beside them a bag of medical supplies too. Whoever this girl was, she was prepared and knew how to save.
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Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2009 10:32 pm
"VEE!!! Vee! Vee!!!" Volpone, literally bouncing up and down, tugged on his trainer's pants leg in excitement. "Volpone! What's gotten into you? What is it?" Volpone pointed, in proper pointing form reminiscent of a hound dog, his nose dead in line with the smallish tent set up a few feet from the last building on the block. "I don't see what's so special about a tent, V," Mikey said, brushing back her blond bangs from her eyes. "It just looks like someone decided to camp out in the city. Which, actually might be kind of fun." Volpone made an exasperated face, and ran off towards the tent, leaving his trainer in the dust. He had seen the shining tools, and, knowing that meant relief from his insufferable itching, had decided to get rid of the problem himself, if his trainer was unable to.
"H-hey! Volpone! Come back!" Running behind him, it wasn't until she was almost on top of the tent that Mikey saw the sign. "Oh! Well, isn't this grand!" she said, stepping up to the entrance of the tent. Volpone was out front too, little tears in his eyes as he told the Delibird about the sand. "It's all stuck in my fur, and it itches something awful...she tries to fix it," he said, motioning towards Mikey, "but she really doesn't know what she's doing."
Mikey, noticing the woman, walked up to her, slightly out of breath, and said, "Hi! I'm Mikey...and this is my Eevee, Volpone. Um...your sign says something about a free grooming...you see, we were on the beach, and Volpone got sand all in his fur. I tried to get it out, but I couldn't get all of it, and he's just plain miserable. D'you think you could help him out?"
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Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2009 10:43 pm
Ornith blinked at the sudden assault of words from the Eevee and rubbed the back of his head a bit. "Oh. That sounds awfully uncomfortable." the pokemon commented, looking concerned, before the edges of his beak turned up into a smile, "But I'm sure Steve can handle that. She likes grooming." he assured the other pogey with a nod, pointing his free hand over to his partner. "I have to mind the stew while she works."
And as he said this, Steve was looking up from her stirring to answer Mikey, the green haired girl's eyes widened in surprised. "Oh, you were? Poor thing, he must be very itchy. Sure, I can help. That's what we're set up here for. Why don't you sit down and have something to nibble on and I'll get Volpone all fixed up."
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Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2009 10:59 pm
"Oh...that's wonderful! I can't wait to be free of all this sand!!" Volpone said, starting to scratch his chest fur with a back paw. It really was quite uncomfortable for him, and he only made it worse for the scratching.
"Sounds great! Let me just get....VOLPONE! C'mere, little guy! This nice lady is gonna get that sand out." Mikey went over, gently picking up Volpone. He had an excited expression on his face, and as Mickey got closer to the curiously green-haired lady, he wriggled out of his trainer's grip into the groomer's lap. Peering up at her with his big blue eyes, he curled up in her lap, waiting expectantly for the luxurious grooming sure to come.
Meanwhile, Mikey sat on a crate near the Delibird, a bowl of stew warming her hands. "This really is quite good," she said, taking a sip of the hot broth. "And what a gorgeously groomed Delibird you are! She takes such good care of you...I'm sure she'll be able to help Volpone. I feel so awful, not being able to get all the sand out myself. Did you know, I was thinking about giving him a bath in the river to the north to get the sand out?"
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Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2009 11:13 pm
Ornith smiled, turning to pay attention to the trainer, when the Eevee jumped up into Steve's lap. He blinked a bit before his eyes and beak showed a smile at her compliments.
"Deliiiii~." he cooed, bowing a bit and puffing his feathers up a bit proudly. He made coos and noises at the appropriate points in her dialogue, though the creature really though the idea of giving a sand covered pokemon a bath in a river was a bad idea. But no need to discourage a young trainer that can't understand you right?
"Good thing you got out of that river thing." he chirped up at Volpone while moving around to monitor parts of the camp. Ornith was a very busy and very important Delibird in a ways, monitoring the tent and the food and all. And he took his job very seriously.
"Oh, how sweet." Steve cooed at the Eevee, petting his head as she reached to pick up one of her more fine combs. This was to pick through his fur to remove any burrs, dirt or sand that'd gotten lodged in there that was big enough to be gotten out without washing. It was also to help the girl find where any tangles in his coat might be so that she could condition them right. All pokemon deserved to be happy, healthy and well cared for and she took her work in that department very seriously.
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Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 6:51 pm
Mikey finished off the last of her stew, then grinned happily. "I didn't know I was that hungry! This really is nice..." She set the bowl on another crate near the pot of stew, and stretched her legs out in front of her. "Ahhhhhh," she said, crossing her arms over her full stomach. She felt so much better now that she had eaten, and knew that Volpone was being taken care of. Truth be told, she hadn't had a decent meal in weeks. She's been living off of trail mix and pretzels as she rushed from one place to another trying to capture pictures of Pokemon.
Volpone was enjoying himself too, as with every stroke of the comb, more sand was being lifted from his fur. He closed his eyes, a big smile on his face. "Eeeeveeeee," he sighed, snuggling close to the groomer. It was heavenly, as she combed out the fur that Mikey couldn't reach. He cracked an eye open at Ornith when he spoke. "I know, right? That river's cold!" Volpone grinned at the Delibird, "Although...if she had dunked me in the river, she wouldn't be talking your ear off and dirtying your dishes." Volpone chuckled to himself and closed his eyes again. He loved Mikey. He firmly believed that he was one of the only Pokemon who could tolerate her crazy personality. But it didn't matter too much what anyone else thought. She was his trainer, and she loved him. That's all that counted.
Mikey stood and walked over to where Steve was combing Volpone. "Is it bad?" she asked in a soft voice. She still felt a bit guilty that she couldn't get the sand out herself.
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Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 7:02 pm
Ornith laughed, picking up the dish to put into the pile. "De-lilili!" the bird pokemon at least sounded pleased as he cleaned up.
"Oh don't worry. Steve's fond of grooming and it's nice to have company." he told Volpone, moving into the tent to push out a wash basin full of water they'd been heating on a fire. "She's gonna bathe you so if you aren't fond of getting too wet, try not to struggle."
Steve grinned up at Mikey. "Naaaah. Apart from some of the sand - which is hard to get without the right tools and training anyway, given how thick an Eevee's fur can be - this is just general maintenance stuff. You can take a seat if you like. I'll give him a full special grooming treatment. It puts most pokemon in a terrific mood."
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Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2009 8:58 am
"A bath? Well...at least it won't be in a river," Volpone said, a grin on his face. "Besides...a nice warm bath might be nice." He knew there was no question about him not behaving. Mikey wouldn't like it if he put up a fuss....and Steve was so very gentle with him. She was doing such a good job, and Volpone was enjoying being groomed. It was nice for the itching sensation to leave, one brush stroke at a time.
Mikey smiled as she realized that there was nothing she could have done more for Volpone. She nodded, and went over to take a seat. Volpone sure looked like he was having fun! Mikey wondered if she could treat herself to a day spa, since Volpone was being pampered so much. But he had needed it, and she didn't. And there wasn't money for it. So, Mikey merely grinned, knowing that her Eevee would prance around like a Ponyta for the next few days, a gleeful expression on his face. That was enough of a reward for her.
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Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2009 10:55 am
Ornith decided to move over and keep Mikey company some more, taking a seat on the girl's lap and cooing up at her. Why not give the human something to pet and be amused with while she waited for her own partner to be ready to go?
Steve carefully set Volpone in the tub, putting her comb back on a cloth, away from the others. It'd need to be washed after they were gone, after all, since she didn't want to get any other pogeys that visited sandy. She washed the eevee off in the water, making sure his fur was all properly wet. The girl then pulled out a few different fur shampoos, looking for something that'd be suitable for the Eevee - how she'd whipped up this stuff was anyone's guess though it did make things seem even more professional.
"Why dont' you tell me about yourself and your friend here?" Steve suggested to Mikey as she worked the sweet smelling stuff into Volpone's fur.
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Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2009 3:51 pm
Mikey was delighted with the Delibird, gently stroking his feathers. She hugged him, gently of course, grateful for his company.
"Well, we've been friends since last year," she said, thinking back on the first time she met Volpone. "He was all alone...and although he likes to pretend he's all tough, I know he was scared and lonely. He came running up to me like I was the first person he'd seen in a long time. He had to have had a trainer before me. I wish I knew what happened to cause him to be all by himself."
Volpone was actually enjoying his bath. Steve was gentle, and careful not to get shampoo in his eyes. He blinked as he heard Mikey tell their story. He didn't know that she cared so much about what had happened to him. She had just been so happy to have found her first Pokemon, he never realized that she had known that he hadn't just been there. That he had to have been somewhere before then.
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Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 3:56 pm
Ornith cooed and snuggled into Mikey's arms, liking the girl quite a lot already. She was nice and friendly, and gave good hugs. That was always appreciated.
Steve smiled over at Mikey, "that was good of you." she said softly, putting a bit of a conditioner into Volpone's fur now to help it fluff up nicely. Many pokemon had very nice coats with special needs, so she was careful to brew the right things. "Ornith wasn't mine originally either. He used to belong to a family friend, but that friend ended up on super hard times and couldn't take proper care of him so she gave him to me." the woman explained with a nod.
"Volpone's very well behaved." she complimented the two. "You two must have a lot of fun together." The woman said, pouring more water into the basin to help him wash the conditioner out.
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Posted: Thu Dec 03, 2009 9:52 am
"I think..." Mikey said slowly, "that the Pokemon we are given by others, or have had owners previously, are the ones we cherish the most. Because we know that they need us...and we're given the responsibility of doing a good job because the Pokemon already know how this whole trainer-Pokemon relationship goes." She smiled, tickling Ornith softly under his chin. "Isn't that right? You and Volpone already know the deal, so we have a lot to live up to."
Volpone liked Steve. She was careful to be gentle when bathing him, and used warm water and shampoo that didn't hurt his eyes and smelled nice. Steve also got all the sand out of his fur, and he was eternally grateful for that. He wagged his tail when Steve complimented him, a little smile on his fluffy face.
"Aww, thanks! So's Ornith. You must be a great trainer...as well as a great groomer!" Mikey laughed softly, a big smile on her face. "As far as Volpone and I go...I like to think we have fun. We get to travel around and see things that a lot of people don't get to."
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Posted: Sun Dec 06, 2009 3:21 pm
By this point, Steve was carefully lifting Volpone out of the basin with a thick fluffy towel. She dried his fur off carefully - a hair dryer would be hard to plug in here, and it'd make him all poofy. "We're almost done here unless you want his nails checked or any of that. I can check for breakages or make sure they're not dulled from using techniques like Scratch too often." Steve commented, smiling at Mikey as she took up another brush to finish up Volpone's grooming.
"Do you want a ribbon or a scarf, pretty boy?" she cooed to the Eevee. He was adorable really.
Ornith cooed and laughed at the tickles, "Deli Deliiiiiiiii~!" this girl was nice and had good consideration for pokemon, which was good. So long as there were trainers like this in the world, they would be fine.
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Posted: Sun Dec 06, 2009 5:53 pm
Volpone snuggled into the towel, batting at Steve's hand playfully, a big smile on his face. "Veeevee!" he sang, poking out his paw for Steve to examine his nails. He hopped over to paw at the scarf, indicating his preference. Ribbons were for girls, after all.
Mikey grinned at the Delibird. He was just so cute! Mikey wondered how Pokemon could be friends and playmates, friendly with everyone, but still formidable in battle. It seemed almost impossible.
"If you don't mind, that would be wonderful." Mikey said, smiling at Steve.
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