by KJ Harlow
“And I have your father to thank for this,” he said, holding his hand up. “Was in a dark place for a long time until he gifted me this replacement hand. How is Trev now anyway?”
“He’s laying low for a while,” Chester responded, not missing a beat.
“Well, tell him I send my regards.” The captain turned his scarred face to Yoshi. Gray whiskers grazed the turned-up collar of his navy jacket. “Do you know where we are going, boy?”
He frowned. “To the south of Sapphire, a place called Agate Island.”
Maplefingers nodded thoughtfully. “I’m glad one of us knows how to get there.” He stared at Yoshi with a deadpan expression before bursting out in hearty laughter.
“The only thing Captain Maplefingers is more competent than steering ships at is bamboozling people with his sense of humor.”
“Bah, you spoil all the fun, ya urchin.” Maplefingers cleared his throat. “The Agate Islands are the southernmost point before we reach the Downedge. It’s one of the coldest places on Ohno and has been for the last decade or so. We won’t actually be getting off there, but we’ll go around the rocks and give people plenty of time to take your damned selfies and what not.”
“So it hasn’t always been this cold?” Yoshi asked.
He scratched his chin thoughtfully. “That’s right. Back when I still had my hand, it was a tropical place. You could bask on the beaches and watch all the seawater plummet right off the Downedge.”
“What changed?”
“Not sure,” he said. “Something cold took over the island. Ever since, the waters have been choppy and every sailor who’s tried heading out that way has had to turn back… or drowned.”
Yoshi stared at the Captain, waiting for him to break out into laughter. “Come now, m’ boy,” he said, turning to face the platform. “Let’s head on up to the deck.”
“Byyyyyyeeee!”
“Who you waving at Flick?” Yoshi asked.
“No one in particular. Hey, you know what I’ve always wanted to do?”
“What?”
Flick lifted up her white tank top and bra, flashing her goodies to the thousands of people on the port. Catcalls and appreciative cheers from people lucky to get a glance floated up to the deck.
“I say! You may not expose yourself in public in such an obscene way!”
Flick glanced to her left. An older man with a perfectly sculpted mustache, a monocle, and a glossy cane stood there, glaring at her.
“Says who?” Flick said. “Show me the rulebook.”
The stuffy, old man grumbled and huffed away, his cane clopping against the deck.
“I’d hate to be his girlfriend,” the water-type said.
“Can’t imagine that his would be getting much action between the sheets,” Yoshi responded.
“Hey,” she said, shuffling closer to Yoshi. She wove her fingers into his hand, pushing her breasts into his arm. “It’s been a while since we… you know.” She winked at him exaggeratedly.
Yoshi couldn’t help but laugh. “The tickets come with a room. We’ll check it out later and see how suited it is for… that sort of thing.”
“Hey Yoshi, I found everyone.” Starry came back, with Soph, Crystal and Arlif in tow.
“This ship is huuuuuuge,” Arlif said, wide-eyed. “I walked for 10 minutes and was still on the deck.”
“That’s because you have short legs,” Soph teased. The grass-type stuck her tongue out at the flying-type.
“I didn’t call you guys back here to hear you bicker,” Yoshi said. “I wanted to introduce you to the newest member of our team.”
The five girlfriends fell quiet, watching their trainer unlock the sixth ring from his belt.
“Come out, Aion.”
Blue light blazed for a moment. When it disappeared, it left a 5’11” girlfriend with bunny ears standing there. She blinked and looked around in confusion, her eyes settling on his party.
“What are you all looking at?” She sniffed.
“Aion.”
The bunny turned around. Her red irises flashed in annoyance and she wrinkled her nose. “Who are…? Oh, you’re…”
Yoshi stared at her, her stats materialising next to her:
NAME: Aion
REL’SHIP: Daughter
NATURE: Vain
TYPE: Steel
ACC.: NIL
LEVEL: 5
HP: 25/25
- ATTACK: 5
- DEFENCE: 9
- SPCL ATTACK: 8
- SPCL DEFENCE: 7
- SPEED: 6
MOVESET:
Shoulder Charge - Type: Normal - 30/30 PP (Ram foes with your shoulder)
So she gets a daughter tag. Thank Frank. If for some reason he was to release her and catch another Aion, the last thing he would want to hear mid-thrust is ‘Daddy!’ - and to literally mean it.
“Yes, I am your father. I’m going to name you Ai if that’s OK. I heard it means ‘love’ in some sort of ancient lang–”
“That’s cool, that’s cool, hey got a mirror on you, Daddy?”
Yoshi blinked. “Um, I don’t, but I’ve got a smartphone? You can use the front-facing camera if you want.”
She held her hand out as Yoshi fished his phone out. Starry cleared her throat but Ai didn’t so much as look her way.
“Ai, I want you to meet your team.” He went around the group, introducing each one. They waved or said ‘hi’. The entire time, she held the phone at arm’s length, stroking her ears.
“Cool story. Hey, you reckon I could hold onto this?” She jiggled the device in her hand. Without waiting for an answer, she leaned in and pecked Yoshi on the cheek. “Thanks, Daddy.” She hopped away, weaving her way through other trainers and people before dissolving into the crowd.
Yoshi had a big, stupid smile on his face. “She called me ‘daddy’.”
“She’s a spoilt, stuck-up bitch, that’s what she is,” Soph chirped.
“It’s her first time being out with us. I’m sure that after some time she’ll fit right in,” Yoshi said.
“We should give her a chance,” Starry said, stepping next to Yoshi. “We’ve all gotten on each other’s nerves at some point before we got to know each other.”
“That’s right,” Yoshi nodded. “I expect each of you to make her feel welcome. You might have also noticed that she is currently level 5 and only knows Shoulder Charge. She’s only just reached maturity, so she’ll most likely need to share EXP for her first few battles before she can stand on her own two feet.”
“From the way she bounced off, seems like she can stand on her own two feet fine,” Flick sniffed.
“I’m happy to back her up, Yoshi,” Arlif said, putting her hand up. “I’m still one of the lower-level ones out of the five of us, so I need to train up too.”
“Thanks, Arlif,” Yoshi said, smiling at her. “Does anyone know where she went?”
“She’s your daughter, dude. Didn’t she tell you?” Soph asked. “Oh wait no she didn’t, she was too busy being a bitch.”
“Enough, Sophie,” Yoshi said, using her full name. “I put up with you, the least you can do is do the same for her.”
“Put up with me? What’s wrong with me?” Soph squawked. “You know what, forget this.” The bird-kin turned on her heel and marched off, leaving a trail of feathers in her wake.
Yoshi sighed. Still have to work on my girlfriend management. “We’ve got five days on this ship, let’s check it out.”
The older gentleman who didn’t appreciate Flick’s puppies was just one of hundreds of people on the ship. They stood around, sipping champagne and laughing haughtily as waiters carried platters of hors d’oeuvres around.
“Are these people actually trainers?” Flick asked. “They look like they should be at home with a blanket on their knees watching reruns of crappy daytime TV, not out in the middle of the ocean.”
Yoshi eyed the people around him. Most had belts with rings sticking out of them, albeit hidden by
trench coats or luxury jackets.
“They are.”
“Then why aren’t they battling?” Arlif asked. “They’re just standing around talking.”
“There could be a place to battle on this ship, like the Battle Theater back at the Sapphire Guild. Let’s keep looking.”
Arlif wasn’t kidding, this ship was huge. After they eventually got off the deck, they found themselves in a huge dining hall. Waiters were darting from table to table, setting cutlery and arranging delicately folded napkins. In the middle, there was a dance floor and a DJ table set up.
Yoshi and his remaining four girlfriends walked through the dining hall and came to a set of corridors. One of them pointed towards a staircase that descended further down, while another pointed up, back up towards the deck on the starboard side.
“Look,” Flick said. She walked over to a sign. “‘Battle Arena.’”
“That sounds like where we want to go,” Yoshi said. “Now, we just need to find Ai and So-”
“Aaaargh! Daddy!”
Yoshi’s head snapped towards the staircase leading down so fast that he almost gave himself whiplash.
“Ai!” He ran down the stairs two at a time, slipping several times but not completely falling over, to his credit.
Ai used Shoulder Charge!
Soph used Dagger Wing!
It’s not very effective…
“Soph!” Yoshi roared.
“She tried to use your phone to buy something!” the flying-type screeched, pointing at the steel-type.
“It’s just a top! What’s the big deal?” Ai barked.
A pimply storekeeper was wringing his hands, trying to decide what to do. “Please, refrain from raising your voice in the sto–”
“SHUT UP!” all three yelled in unison.
Yoshi looked at the gym bunny. “What do you want to buy, sweetheart?”
“‘Sweetheart!’ Listen to yourself, you don’t even–”
Yoshi withdrew the flying-type back into her ring without even looking at her.
Ai smiled sweetly at her father. “This one. Look, it’s so cute.”
“What stat bonuses does it give?” Yoshi said, looking at the price tag. 1,000 Coins? For this?
“None, but I’ll look really good in it.”
“Hmmmmm…”
“If you let me get it, I’ll start training straight away. I promise.” She offered a pinky to him.
Yoshi looked at it and hooked his to hers. “Alright, deal.”
“You know, I think I’m getting the hang of this dad thing.” He had withdrawn Ai to let her change into her new top.
“Like most girlfriends, I don’t have the concept of a father. She’s lucky to have you,” Starry said. She stood in front of him. “But you’re lucky to have us. You wouldn’t have made it this far without us. Don’t forget that.”
Yoshi blinked and stared at his first girlfriend. “I don’t take you guys for granted. Not at all.”
“All I’m saying is, don’t be too hard on Soph,” Starry continued. “She won’t admit it, but she appreciates your respect as much as we all do.”
Yoshi kept quiet, fiddling with Ai’s ring. If they’re going to keep fighting like that, this is going to be a really long cruise. Maybe I should have picked the fire-type instead.
23
Back On The Deck
NAME: Aion
REL’SHIP: Daughter
NATURE: Vain
TYPE: Steel
ACC.: Carrot Top
LEVEL: 5
HP: 25/25
- ATTACK: 5
- DEFENCE: 9
- SPCL ATTACK: 8
- SPCL DEFENCE: 7
- SPEED: 6
MOVESET:
Shoulder Charge - Type: Normal - 30/30 PP (Ram foes with your shoulder)
“How does it look?”
Yoshi gazed at his daughter’s orange top, which had a picture of a carrot drawn in anime-style, flashing a peace sign.
“It’s… cool,” he said, before glancing at the rest of his girlfriends. “Right?”
Starry, Flick, Crystal and Arlif stared at the newest member of their team, unsure of what to think.
“All I can say is that you’re lucky Yoshi has withdrawn Soph,” Flick smiled.
Ai twisted around and looked at herself in the mirror, twitching her fluffy, little tail.
“OK, let’s head upstairs now. We’ve got to start training you up,” Yoshi said.
The bunny pouted. “Aw, do we have to? Is there a gym on this ship? I’ll just hit that up instead.”
Yoshi shook his head. “Not the same. And you promised, remember?”
Ai rolled her eyes. “Fine.”
Yoshi paid for the overpriced top and headed towards the stairs. Ai skipped along beside him while his girlfriends trailed not far behind. Hmm, what do we talk about?
“So… how’s life been so far?”
Wow, Yoshi, that’s a new low even for you. He banished the voice from his head and looked at Ai.
The metal-type shrugged. “I dunno. OK I guess. As good as being raised in a grinding chamber can be.”
“Grinding chamber?” Yoshi echoed.
“Yeah. That’s what the Labbies called it at the police station. I was taken there, made to fight dummies over and over that only awarded me 1 EXP at a time until I levelled up. Did that for a few days, then before I knew it, BAM!” She punched her fist into her hand. “Level 5.”
“So you’ve never fought a real battle?” Starry asked.
Ai ignored the question but after catching Yoshi’s encouraging nod, she nodded.
“That’s OK,” he said. “It might seem a bit scary at first, but once you go through a few, it’ll be fine. You’ll learn new moves and might even evolve afterward. You’ll get a lot more EXP, that’s for sure.”
She drew her lips together into a line. “Can’t wait.”
They rounded the stairs and stepped through the sliding doors. The salty air entered their lungs as they gazed around the deck. The Battle Arena was divided into spaces spanning ten by ten yards. Trainers stood outside the taped-off areas while their girlfriends circled around one another, trading blows inside. Hundreds of trainers and girlfriends leaned against the railings, cheering and clapping.
Yoshi walked up to a screen on his right, where a trainer had just completed his preparations.
G1 - Horace B. vs. Terry C.
G2 - Greg S. vs. Bob C.
G7 - Art X. vs. Ian R.
G5 - Sam T. vs. Anthony W.
G10 - Mike U. vs. Eric A.
Hmm… these must all be trainers battling now.
“How does this work?” Flick asked.
Yoshi scrolled through the screen. “Looks like it scans our tickets and then adds our names to a queue.” He took his tickets out, holding the codes over a scanner.
BLIP… BLIP… BLIP… BLIP… BLIP… BLIP.
“OK, that’s all of them.” His name had joined the back of a list, which currently had five people in it.
“Let’s have a look at the current competitors,” Starry suggested. “We could be going up against them.”
“Good idea,” Yoshi said. They walked away from the screen and towards the battle grounds.
“Janette, use Spinning Elbow!”
Yoshi froze. Janette? Is Gonzales here?
Yoshi turned around just in time to see the fighting-type backspin and crunch her elbow into a hapless Tina’s face.
It’s Super Effective!!!
The Janette’s attack launched the hapless rock turtle sideways. Holy Frank, she’s going to hit those people! The rock turtle slammed into an invisible wall, blue gridlines shuddering before becoming invisible again. The Tina bounced off, fell to her face and stopped moving.
Tina fainted!
Trainer Greg S. has defeated Trainer Bob C.!
Greg withdrew his Janette, bowing to the applause of several people who cheered him on from the sidelines. Bob pursed his lips and stepped out from th
e battle ground. He made a beeline straight for a man in pink scrubs who was standing by the entrance to a room with a neon pink heart on its side.
Yoshi exhaled a sigh of relief. Not Gonzales, though that Janette’s pretty tough. I’d hate to have to take Greg on first up.
“Can we take on someone who’s got weaker girlfriends?” Ai asked.
“I’m not sure. The system decides that for us,” Yoshi responded. “But I won’t let you get hurt out there. I’ll send you out then immediately withdraw you and send out one of the others.”
“So you’re happy to let us get hurt instead?” Flick said, crossing her arms and turning a violent shade of red.
“Of course not,” Yoshi said quickly. “But you guys know what I mean.” The water-type looked less than impressed, turning her attention to another battle.
“if we come up against someone who uses a lot of water-types, pick me,” Arlif said, putting her hand up. “Or even if they’re not, pick me anyway.”
Yoshi did a 360, looking at each of the battles in progress. “These trainers seem like experienced guys with balanced teams. Look,” Yoshi said, pointing at Ground 1. “Horace there has a Fiona. She looks a lot stronger than the ones who were helping us at the slide network back in Sapphire, though. His opponent Terry has something that looks like Fumi, the poison-type, but possibly her evolution?”
He quickly pulled out his slick GF-wiki and pointed it at the second girlfriend:
Name: Phyx
Entry #: 63
Species: Asthmatic
Type: Poison
Nature: Anxious
Rarity: **
Phyxes have been known to gas out an entire 20-story office building and poison everyone in the process. Their Kiss Of Death breathes a noxious poison that can shut down the nervous system of any girlfriend and instantly make them faint.
Shit, that’s pretty bad ass. “So yeah, Arlif, I’ll call you out if there’s a type advantage,” Yoshi said while putting his GF-wiki away. “These guys seem pretty hardcore.”
They stood around, watching the end of Horace and Terry’s match.