Kavi: Ranking Up
"It's all right. We're all friends here." those were the first words Kavi had said to all of his wild-caught Pokémon in the past, and it was what he was saying to Lumie. She was an Illumise who'd naturally fused with... a Tinkatink, if he wasn't mistaken. She'd fought fiercely in the battle she'd had against his Sizzle, but with a type disadvantage like hers, the burn she'd been dealt was too much for the steel-bug pokemon to do well with, and after a battle of attrition he'd been quick to catch her. That typing combination had been one he and his sister had used in the past, and defensively there was nothing else that compared.
He remembered 'Cho's words from childhood. 'Never let a first heal go to the pokémon center,' she'd explained. 'It's better to build trust with them. If they're left shoved in a ball and popped into a machine, they're not going to appreciate it as much, and berries are hardly hard to come by.' Which was why he sat where he was now, on the carpet of his studio apartment, with a basket full of Oran and Sitrus berries, with two Rawst berries propped on top.
"Come on, Lumie-- have a berry. You'll feel better," he tried to coax.
The moment the flying Pokémon started to approach him, Sizzle lunged forward and hissed. "Sizzle, NO." He wrapped an arm around him, hissing as his skin touched where hers was lighting up, too hot to be comfortable. He refused to yield, and Sizzle curled up against him, her glow fading. "If you don't sit pretty and play nice, I'm going to have to put you in the ball." His expression stayed firm through her hiss. "I don't care. Sit pretty, or ball?" She lowered her head, almost as if trying to emote regret, or maybe determination. Either way, she stayed put.
"C'mon, Lumie. Let's get you healed up. Want one?" He gently picked up the basket and offered it towards her. He'd scanned her for her stats and nature, and while she was almost flawless when it came to her inherent strength, her nature made her dislike bitter tastes, like the berry best-suited to healing burns.
Still, Pokémon had a way of knowing what was best for them, and she buzzed forward to grab one before hovering away.
Sizzle reached for the other Rawst, and he let her, tilting the basket towards her to make it easier. "Good. Sharing is good," he watched as the two of them shuffled forward towards the basket, and grabbed a Sitrus berry for himself.
It was a rather complex berry as far as tastes went-- a little spicy, a little sweet, with good tanginess and a drying bitterness that lingered on the tongue. It had some of everything that pokemon liked to seek out to eat from a berry, even if it was a culinary nightmare until an obscenity of sugar was used... but both of his Pokemon relaxed as he ate with him, which let him watch them carefully for signs of conflict.
Their second meeting was going well enough, but he just knew...
...these two were going to be a pain to co-socialize.
