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soc_puppetThree Pokémon fics for the PokéPod Project, which just went live earlier today! Which means I can finally share them publicly here, as well! 😃
Fandom: Pokémon
Summary: Julian hasn't been working for Hoenn's Safari Zone for long when he first meets a particularly enigmatic Xatu.
Mirrors: This fic on AO3 The podfic version on AO3
Wordcount: 574
Ships: None
Notes: For![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
pokepodproject
Fic: An Eye on the Sky
Julian had only been working for the Hoenn Safari Zone for a few months when the Xatu first showed up. She (as identified by the number of stripes on her "skirt" feathers) had taken up residence on a spot that was inaccessible even with a bike and seemed perfectly content there, so he didn't pay her much mind. Pokémon did strange things all the time, after all, and Xatu was stranger than most.
He started to worry when she'd been there for three straight days, staring at nothing and not seeming to move. The berries and Pokéblocks he left for her always disappeared when he wasn't watching, and she seemed to be doing fine, but when a week had passed, Julian decided to bring it up with his supervisor, Ann.
She thought about it. "You said she seems to be eating and isn't in any danger?"
"From what I can tell, yeah. Xatu are pretty common in Area Two, she's just acting a little odd."
Ann nodded. "We'll leave her be, then. Keep an eye on her and make sure she's healthy, but otherwise, let's not worry too much. Xatu are known to stand in one spot sometimes, so they can better observe the future and past together; this may be one of those cases."
Julian took Ann's advice to heart. For the next few years, he kept up with his duties, checking in on Xatu when he was in the area. There were never any changes that he could detect, and the Xatu seemed perfectly content, so he continued to leave her to her own mysterious devices.
It was on an afternoon in August that Julian noticed a change: Rather than staring out into the middle distance as usual, Xatu was looking up at the sky. Fighting back a sense of unease, Julian finished the rest of his duties before reporting on it to Ann.
"Xatu's looking in a different direction today," he said, a thread of worry creeping into his voice despite his best efforts.
Ann, recently promoted to head of Zone Two, set down her paperwork and frowned. "She's never done that before?"
"This is the first change I've seen since she got here. Do you think that she saw something distressing in the future?"
His supervisor sighed. "There's no way to know. Still, it might be a good idea to have a squad keep watch tonight."
Julian nodded, relieved. "Roger that." He didn't know what might be coming, but it couldn't hurt to be prepared.
That night, a group of five Safari Zone staff, including Julian and Ann, set up camp not far from where the Xatu made her home. They chatted nervously and shared around Pokéblocks, offering crumbs to the occasional Gloom or Buneary who approached.
Two hours after the sun set, Julian saw it. "Look!" he cried, and pointed up to a bright light streaking across the night sky. His fellow staff stared up in awe, watching as stars seemed to fall from above—only to land in Zone Two! Before long, they were surrounded by drifting Minior.
"This is amazing!" Ann exclaimed. "They must have migrated with the Perseids!"
"I wonder if this is what Xatu saw," Julian said.
"I think it might be," said Ann.
By the next day, Xatu had returned to her original position. Everything went back to normal in Hoenn's Safari Zone, aside from the addition of a new species in Zone Two.
--Fin--
Fandom: Pokémon
Summary: Midori had expected that starting a new Pokémon day care would be difficult; they hadn't expected this particular problem, though...
Mirrors: This fic on AO3, The podfic version on AO3
Wordcount: 996
Ships: None
Notes: Forpokepodproject Gen II: Sneasel
Fic: An Unlikely Ally
Midori had known that starting up a new Pokémon Day Care would be difficult. Doing so on Sinnoh's Route 116 was even more so; it was an especially out-of-the-way location, with few trainers willing to dare the ice and snow. Still, when they saw that the Snowbound Lodge was in need of a new caretaker, they'd jumped at the chance to make the space their own. It might not prove as popular as the Day Care on Route 209, but Midori was confident that some visiting trainers would be interested in leaving Pokémon in their care.
Midori's predictions had proven true, both about the difficulty of setting up shop in the Snowbound Lodge, and that trainers would take advantage of their services. While their main job was still making sure that travelers had a way station to rest up at, more than a few opted to leave their Pokémon in Midori's care while they rested or pursued other goals.
Unfortunately, there was one complication Midori hadn't been prepared for.
"Hey!" they yelled at the approaching Sneasel. "Hey, you! I see you! Get out of here!"
The Sneasel, its elongated left ear identifying it as male, stopped in his tracks. "Snee?" Glancing between Midori, their customer, and the pen where visiting Pokémon roamed free, he attempted a cautious step closer. Midori narrowed their eyes.
"Are you sure it's safe?" the young skier asked, looking nervously at the Exeggcute she'd just dropped off.
Midori sighed. "It's fine. See that notch in Sneasel's ear? This one shows up from time to time, but he's pretty easy to chase off if he gets too rambunctious." Noticing Sneasel about to sneak another step towards the pen, Midori called, "Machoke!"
"Machoke?" A hulking Pokémon appeared from the other side of the house and zeroed in on Sneasel.
"S-snee!" Sneasel started sweating visibly.
"Mah-Choke!" Machoke punched a fist into its opposite palm threateningly.
"Sneasel!" the other Pokémon cried, then turned tail and fled into the snowy grass.
"See? Easy as pie." Midori shook their head. "I swear, he comes by at least once a week to hunt for eggs, but Machoke here always chases him off. Sneasel may love eggs, but they're also double weak to Fighting types, so it's ultimately never a problem."
"Oh, that's good," the skier said with relief. "How long can I leave Exeggcute with you, then? Is ten days okay?"
"That would be fine," Midori assured her. "Just give us a call if you think you'll be longer; early pickup is fine, too. And have a great time in Snowpoint City; your Exeggcute is in good hands!"
A few days later, Midori regretted acting so confident. Storms were hardly unusual on Route 216, but this one had blown in something unexpected: A wild Pidgeotto. While Midori was usually more than happy to help out any injured wild Pokémon that got blown in, the second this Pidgeotto had recovered, it noticed the skier's Exeggcute and started dive bombing it.
Machoke had heroically stepped in to defended the little Grass type, only for Protect to fail at Pidgeotto's second Wing Attack. Exeggcute had tried to help out then, but its Confusion had gone wildly off-target, knocking Machoke out and leaving Midori alone to defend it. Midori had been able to fend it off so far with snowballs, but the Pidgeotto was growing bolder.
"Ah! No! Pidgeotto, stop!" Midori cried out as the Flying type dove in and grabbed one of Exeggcute's eggs. Midori dug through their items frantically, hoping for a Revive or a Poké Doll or something, with no luck. "What am I going to do now...?"
"Sneasel!" A cry rang out from behind them, and a Sneasel with a familiar notched ear ran onto the battlefield, his claws gleaming.
"Sneasel?" Midori said, bewildered.
"Sel!" Sneasel replied. It looked over its shoulder and nodded confidently at Midori. Sneasel then launched an Ice Beam at the Pidgeotto, narrowly missing one of its wings. "Sneee... SEL!"
"Geo!" Pidgeotto screamed, dropping the lone Exeggcute egg.
"Cuuuuute!" Exeggcute sobbed.
Before either the Pidgeotto or Midori could act, Sneasel ran forward to catch the egg. He glared up at the Pidgeotto, brandishing his free claws and preparing another Ice Shard. "Sneasel!" he challenged.
Deciding that the odds were no longer in its favor, the Pidgeotto called out one final time and flew off, probably to somewhere warmer. Midori stared at Sneasel and licked their lips nervously; how were they going to get the Exeggcute member back?
Sneasel nodded to itself, then turned around and smiled. "Sneasel!" he declared. He then walked over and... Returned the distressed Exeggcute egg to its colony???
"Exeggcute!" the Pokémon cheered, gathering together and then swarming around a now bashful Sneasel.
"I get it now," Midori said, wonder-struck. "You were never here to steal any eggs; you just wanted to help!"
"Sneasel!" he agreed.
Midori glanced over at the still passed-out Machoke. "Tell you what," they said. "I need to heal Machoke, but after that I have a deal to offer you."
One week later, the skier came to pick up her Exeggcute. She was surprised to see Sneasel helping out, wearing an apron and kerchief that matched Midori's.
"Turns out that this Sneasel is more interested in raising eggs than eating them," Midori told her. "He's been a real asset around here!"
"Sel!" Sneasel said proudly, gently petting the largest Exeggcute's shell.
"Exegg!" Exeggcute chimed in. One of the eggs rubbed against Sneasel affectionately, and the two trainers were treated to the sight of Sneasel blushing.
"Well, I can tell my Exeggcute had a fantastic time here," the skier said. "I'll be sure to come back if I have more business in Snowpoint City!"
"We'll look forward to seeing you then!" Midori said. Together with Sneasel and a fully recovered Machoke, Midori saw their customer off.
"Okay," they said when she was out of sight, "Time to get the Snowbound Lodge ready for the next customer!"
"Choke!" "Snee!"
--Fin--
Fandom: Pokémon
Summary: While stuck in a creative slump, Smeargle helps a Pokémon in need.
Mirrors: This fic on AO3 (no podfic version for this fic yet, but I live in hope!)
Wordcount: About 450
Ships: None
Notes: Forpokepodproject's Rare Candy collection
Fic: Collaboration of the Arts
Smeargle fiddled with the tip of her tail and sighed. She hated to say it, but she was bored of painting around the Ruins of Alph! Sure, there was interesting architecture to mark, and the rain washing her work away only meant that she had a fresh canvas, but painting the same surfaces over and over again had gotten stale. Smeargle was in a slump.
Still, she had to try; if she just... started painting, maybe inspiration would come to her? That seemed unlikely, but no worse than just waiting passively for an idea. She raised her tail tip to a wall to start warm-ups when she heard a distressed cry.
Well, she could hardly paint with a distraction like that! Turning away from the wall, Smeargle went to investigate the forlorn sounds.
On Route 32, just outside the Ruins of Alph, Smeargle found a crying Jigglypuff surrounded by sleeping humans. "Jigglypuff, what's the matter?" Smeargle asked. "Is it because of something these humans did?"
Jigglypuff sniffled and turned to look at Smeargle; at the mention of 'these humans,' she began to weep in earnest. "Oh, Smeargle!" she sobbed out. "They were just, so, ruu-uuu-ude! I wanted to s-sing for them, and they acted interested, but they fell asleep before I was even h-half way through my song! And then, I was, I was going to leave them a message about how inconsiderate they were being, but m-my marker—it ran out of ink! And now I just don't know w-what to doooo!"
"Oh, you poor thing!" said Smeargle. If there was one thing she couldn't stand, it was disrespect for the arts! She gently patted the curl between Jigglypuff's ears. "Don't you worry about a thing; we can work together and show these unsophisticated humans just what they get for behaving so badly!"
Jigglypuff sniffled and looked up at Smeargle with watery eyes. "R-really?"
Smeargle smiled down at her fellow artist. "Really," she promised. She held up her tail tip and gestured to the slumbering humans. "Now, why don't you tell me exactly what sort of message you want to leave?"
An hour later, the humans' faces had been thoroughly decorated with mustaches, monocles, and all sorts of other insulting graffiti. Satisfied, Jigglypuff thanked Smeargle profusely before leaving to find a new marker. "Maybe the next humans I meet will be willing to trade one for a song!" she suggested hopefully.
"They would be fools not to take you up on that offer," Smeargle assured her.
With one last goodbye, the two went their separate ways. As Smeargle returned to the Ruins of Alph, she found that inspiration had returned to her. Smiling to herself, she began to paint mustaches and monocles on the walls' carvings.
--fin--
I originally had this idea over twenty years ago, when I drew it as a one-page comic. I might still have that kicking around somewhere, actually...
Fandom: Pokémon
Summary: Julian hasn't been working for Hoenn's Safari Zone for long when he first meets a particularly enigmatic Xatu.
Mirrors: This fic on AO3 The podfic version on AO3
Wordcount: 574
Ships: None
Notes: For
pokepodprojectFic: An Eye on the Sky
Julian had only been working for the Hoenn Safari Zone for a few months when the Xatu first showed up. She (as identified by the number of stripes on her "skirt" feathers) had taken up residence on a spot that was inaccessible even with a bike and seemed perfectly content there, so he didn't pay her much mind. Pokémon did strange things all the time, after all, and Xatu was stranger than most.
He started to worry when she'd been there for three straight days, staring at nothing and not seeming to move. The berries and Pokéblocks he left for her always disappeared when he wasn't watching, and she seemed to be doing fine, but when a week had passed, Julian decided to bring it up with his supervisor, Ann.
She thought about it. "You said she seems to be eating and isn't in any danger?"
"From what I can tell, yeah. Xatu are pretty common in Area Two, she's just acting a little odd."
Ann nodded. "We'll leave her be, then. Keep an eye on her and make sure she's healthy, but otherwise, let's not worry too much. Xatu are known to stand in one spot sometimes, so they can better observe the future and past together; this may be one of those cases."
Julian took Ann's advice to heart. For the next few years, he kept up with his duties, checking in on Xatu when he was in the area. There were never any changes that he could detect, and the Xatu seemed perfectly content, so he continued to leave her to her own mysterious devices.
It was on an afternoon in August that Julian noticed a change: Rather than staring out into the middle distance as usual, Xatu was looking up at the sky. Fighting back a sense of unease, Julian finished the rest of his duties before reporting on it to Ann.
"Xatu's looking in a different direction today," he said, a thread of worry creeping into his voice despite his best efforts.
Ann, recently promoted to head of Zone Two, set down her paperwork and frowned. "She's never done that before?"
"This is the first change I've seen since she got here. Do you think that she saw something distressing in the future?"
His supervisor sighed. "There's no way to know. Still, it might be a good idea to have a squad keep watch tonight."
Julian nodded, relieved. "Roger that." He didn't know what might be coming, but it couldn't hurt to be prepared.
That night, a group of five Safari Zone staff, including Julian and Ann, set up camp not far from where the Xatu made her home. They chatted nervously and shared around Pokéblocks, offering crumbs to the occasional Gloom or Buneary who approached.
Two hours after the sun set, Julian saw it. "Look!" he cried, and pointed up to a bright light streaking across the night sky. His fellow staff stared up in awe, watching as stars seemed to fall from above—only to land in Zone Two! Before long, they were surrounded by drifting Minior.
"This is amazing!" Ann exclaimed. "They must have migrated with the Perseids!"
"I wonder if this is what Xatu saw," Julian said.
"I think it might be," said Ann.
By the next day, Xatu had returned to her original position. Everything went back to normal in Hoenn's Safari Zone, aside from the addition of a new species in Zone Two.
--Fin--
Fandom: Pokémon
Summary: Midori had expected that starting a new Pokémon day care would be difficult; they hadn't expected this particular problem, though...
Mirrors: This fic on AO3, The podfic version on AO3
Wordcount: 996
Ships: None
Notes: For
pokepodproject Gen II: SneaselFic: An Unlikely Ally
Midori had known that starting up a new Pokémon Day Care would be difficult. Doing so on Sinnoh's Route 116 was even more so; it was an especially out-of-the-way location, with few trainers willing to dare the ice and snow. Still, when they saw that the Snowbound Lodge was in need of a new caretaker, they'd jumped at the chance to make the space their own. It might not prove as popular as the Day Care on Route 209, but Midori was confident that some visiting trainers would be interested in leaving Pokémon in their care.
Midori's predictions had proven true, both about the difficulty of setting up shop in the Snowbound Lodge, and that trainers would take advantage of their services. While their main job was still making sure that travelers had a way station to rest up at, more than a few opted to leave their Pokémon in Midori's care while they rested or pursued other goals.
Unfortunately, there was one complication Midori hadn't been prepared for.
"Hey!" they yelled at the approaching Sneasel. "Hey, you! I see you! Get out of here!"
The Sneasel, its elongated left ear identifying it as male, stopped in his tracks. "Snee?" Glancing between Midori, their customer, and the pen where visiting Pokémon roamed free, he attempted a cautious step closer. Midori narrowed their eyes.
"Are you sure it's safe?" the young skier asked, looking nervously at the Exeggcute she'd just dropped off.
Midori sighed. "It's fine. See that notch in Sneasel's ear? This one shows up from time to time, but he's pretty easy to chase off if he gets too rambunctious." Noticing Sneasel about to sneak another step towards the pen, Midori called, "Machoke!"
"Machoke?" A hulking Pokémon appeared from the other side of the house and zeroed in on Sneasel.
"S-snee!" Sneasel started sweating visibly.
"Mah-Choke!" Machoke punched a fist into its opposite palm threateningly.
"Sneasel!" the other Pokémon cried, then turned tail and fled into the snowy grass.
"See? Easy as pie." Midori shook their head. "I swear, he comes by at least once a week to hunt for eggs, but Machoke here always chases him off. Sneasel may love eggs, but they're also double weak to Fighting types, so it's ultimately never a problem."
"Oh, that's good," the skier said with relief. "How long can I leave Exeggcute with you, then? Is ten days okay?"
"That would be fine," Midori assured her. "Just give us a call if you think you'll be longer; early pickup is fine, too. And have a great time in Snowpoint City; your Exeggcute is in good hands!"
A few days later, Midori regretted acting so confident. Storms were hardly unusual on Route 216, but this one had blown in something unexpected: A wild Pidgeotto. While Midori was usually more than happy to help out any injured wild Pokémon that got blown in, the second this Pidgeotto had recovered, it noticed the skier's Exeggcute and started dive bombing it.
Machoke had heroically stepped in to defended the little Grass type, only for Protect to fail at Pidgeotto's second Wing Attack. Exeggcute had tried to help out then, but its Confusion had gone wildly off-target, knocking Machoke out and leaving Midori alone to defend it. Midori had been able to fend it off so far with snowballs, but the Pidgeotto was growing bolder.
"Ah! No! Pidgeotto, stop!" Midori cried out as the Flying type dove in and grabbed one of Exeggcute's eggs. Midori dug through their items frantically, hoping for a Revive or a Poké Doll or something, with no luck. "What am I going to do now...?"
"Sneasel!" A cry rang out from behind them, and a Sneasel with a familiar notched ear ran onto the battlefield, his claws gleaming.
"Sneasel?" Midori said, bewildered.
"Sel!" Sneasel replied. It looked over its shoulder and nodded confidently at Midori. Sneasel then launched an Ice Beam at the Pidgeotto, narrowly missing one of its wings. "Sneee... SEL!"
"Geo!" Pidgeotto screamed, dropping the lone Exeggcute egg.
"Cuuuuute!" Exeggcute sobbed.
Before either the Pidgeotto or Midori could act, Sneasel ran forward to catch the egg. He glared up at the Pidgeotto, brandishing his free claws and preparing another Ice Shard. "Sneasel!" he challenged.
Deciding that the odds were no longer in its favor, the Pidgeotto called out one final time and flew off, probably to somewhere warmer. Midori stared at Sneasel and licked their lips nervously; how were they going to get the Exeggcute member back?
Sneasel nodded to itself, then turned around and smiled. "Sneasel!" he declared. He then walked over and... Returned the distressed Exeggcute egg to its colony???
"Exeggcute!" the Pokémon cheered, gathering together and then swarming around a now bashful Sneasel.
"I get it now," Midori said, wonder-struck. "You were never here to steal any eggs; you just wanted to help!"
"Sneasel!" he agreed.
Midori glanced over at the still passed-out Machoke. "Tell you what," they said. "I need to heal Machoke, but after that I have a deal to offer you."
One week later, the skier came to pick up her Exeggcute. She was surprised to see Sneasel helping out, wearing an apron and kerchief that matched Midori's.
"Turns out that this Sneasel is more interested in raising eggs than eating them," Midori told her. "He's been a real asset around here!"
"Sel!" Sneasel said proudly, gently petting the largest Exeggcute's shell.
"Exegg!" Exeggcute chimed in. One of the eggs rubbed against Sneasel affectionately, and the two trainers were treated to the sight of Sneasel blushing.
"Well, I can tell my Exeggcute had a fantastic time here," the skier said. "I'll be sure to come back if I have more business in Snowpoint City!"
"We'll look forward to seeing you then!" Midori said. Together with Sneasel and a fully recovered Machoke, Midori saw their customer off.
"Okay," they said when she was out of sight, "Time to get the Snowbound Lodge ready for the next customer!"
"Choke!" "Snee!"
--Fin--
Fandom: Pokémon
Summary: While stuck in a creative slump, Smeargle helps a Pokémon in need.
Mirrors: This fic on AO3 (no podfic version for this fic yet, but I live in hope!)
Wordcount: About 450
Ships: None
Notes: For
pokepodproject's Rare Candy collectionFic: Collaboration of the Arts
Smeargle fiddled with the tip of her tail and sighed. She hated to say it, but she was bored of painting around the Ruins of Alph! Sure, there was interesting architecture to mark, and the rain washing her work away only meant that she had a fresh canvas, but painting the same surfaces over and over again had gotten stale. Smeargle was in a slump.
Still, she had to try; if she just... started painting, maybe inspiration would come to her? That seemed unlikely, but no worse than just waiting passively for an idea. She raised her tail tip to a wall to start warm-ups when she heard a distressed cry.
Well, she could hardly paint with a distraction like that! Turning away from the wall, Smeargle went to investigate the forlorn sounds.
On Route 32, just outside the Ruins of Alph, Smeargle found a crying Jigglypuff surrounded by sleeping humans. "Jigglypuff, what's the matter?" Smeargle asked. "Is it because of something these humans did?"
Jigglypuff sniffled and turned to look at Smeargle; at the mention of 'these humans,' she began to weep in earnest. "Oh, Smeargle!" she sobbed out. "They were just, so, ruu-uuu-ude! I wanted to s-sing for them, and they acted interested, but they fell asleep before I was even h-half way through my song! And then, I was, I was going to leave them a message about how inconsiderate they were being, but m-my marker—it ran out of ink! And now I just don't know w-what to doooo!"
"Oh, you poor thing!" said Smeargle. If there was one thing she couldn't stand, it was disrespect for the arts! She gently patted the curl between Jigglypuff's ears. "Don't you worry about a thing; we can work together and show these unsophisticated humans just what they get for behaving so badly!"
Jigglypuff sniffled and looked up at Smeargle with watery eyes. "R-really?"
Smeargle smiled down at her fellow artist. "Really," she promised. She held up her tail tip and gestured to the slumbering humans. "Now, why don't you tell me exactly what sort of message you want to leave?"
An hour later, the humans' faces had been thoroughly decorated with mustaches, monocles, and all sorts of other insulting graffiti. Satisfied, Jigglypuff thanked Smeargle profusely before leaving to find a new marker. "Maybe the next humans I meet will be willing to trade one for a song!" she suggested hopefully.
"They would be fools not to take you up on that offer," Smeargle assured her.
With one last goodbye, the two went their separate ways. As Smeargle returned to the Ruins of Alph, she found that inspiration had returned to her. Smiling to herself, she began to paint mustaches and monocles on the walls' carvings.
--fin--
I originally had this idea over twenty years ago, when I drew it as a one-page comic. I might still have that kicking around somewhere, actually...
