On the first day after my second mission as a junior ranger, my bruises hurt so bad that I was barely able to get out of bed.

  Well, technically it was the same day, but it didn’t feel like it after I slept in until two PM.

  Fun side effect of the herbal poultices and remedies that accelerated recovery. Not only were they so bitter they were almost unpalatable, they also made your injuries burn for a few hours or so while they did the majority of their work.

  It was, to understate things, extremely unpleasant.

  Chansey had offered to take the day off to look after me, when I all but crawled into the house at six AM, but I told her I’d be okay. Judging by the hours mom was pulling, things were getting crazy at the hospital again, probably because people were gearing up for the promotion tournament next week.

  Alyssa was certainly putting her all into preparations. It’d been two weeks since we’d last met up, and I couldn’t even message her since I was currently down a device for doing so.

  We’d had a few late-night phone calls on the landline, but neither of us were inclined to stay up too late with our busy schedules.

  I hadn’t gotten her a birthday gift yet, either. Something I’d need to think about.

  Mana was still unhappy, no matter how much I reassured her that her protection had bought crucial seconds in the unhappy scrum from the day before/this morning. She was also almost as sore as I was, even after a round of treatment in the old healing machine at outpost .

  My knights were much the same and even they, training junkies though they were, expressed contentment at the opportunity to take the day off for some rest and recovery.

  The only ones antsy were the newest additions to our little family. The as-yet unnamed Maushold was having a bit of trouble acclimating to the new environment. I had released them, and had given them the run of the house when we got back, but not without extracting a promise that they wouldn’t destroy anything in the apartment.

  Apparently, in their minds, repurposing and destroying were two different things, as I and an unfortunate set of bedclothes learned.

  When I woke up, I couldn’t find hide nor hair of my newest partners, except for a few scraps of cloth left on the floor. Closer inspection revealed that the industrious rodents had shredded a spare set of sheets and assembled a tidy little nest underneath my bed. I could just barely make out their tiny white bodies beneath the metal bed frame, comfortably slumbering the afternoon away.

  Maushold were typically diurnal, according to yesterday’s briefing, but they’d apparently been up later than I had, assembling their new home, so it wasn’t surprising that I was awake before them. Some aborted part of myself was angry with them for not following my directions, but I knew that wasn’t really fair. If a set of bedclothes were the worst casualty of our relationship, I’d be overwhelmingly satisfied.

  I was pretty sure that wouldn’t be the case, but it was nice to hope.

  Still, I’d need to talk to them to make sure they got permission before ‘repurposing’ anything else.

  My knights were vegging out on the couch, having long since figured out how to work the remote. They were watching a Blue League match, staring with rapt attention as the commentators said something or other about the battle. Last year, I would have been right there with them, but now, For whatever reason, television just didn’t hold my attention like it used to. Plus, I was out of touch with the scene, so I wouldn’t really be able to appreciate what the battle meant, anyway.

  Mana was still sulking, resting in her aquarium and slowly moving water around above the glass enclosure.

  I was able to tempt her out with lunch, which briefly got all of my partners together, but after telling them that there was a moratorium on training today, they filtered off again.

  I really wanted to return to bed as well, but there were things to do, so after getting Kay to look after Maushold, I popped a few anti-inflammatories and caught a bus to the shopping district.

  A new partner meant a trip to the Poké Mart was in order. I limped my way over there, and it was an immense relief to step into the heated aisles, away from the autumn chill of the city streets. First snowfall hadn’t arrived yet, but it should be showing up any day now. In fact, the official start of winter was a little less than a week away.

  Time to break out the mittens and winter coats. I’d definitely grown since last year, which meant there was a good chance my down jacket wouldn’t fit anymore. I resolved to try it on when I got home. Better to find out now than be surprised later.

  For now, my shopping had to be focused on my new partners. What did I need to take care of a Maushold? More food, obviously. Berry mix seemed like a winning proposition, along with restocks for Mana’s meals. An exercise wheel? Sure, in the cart. Specialized water bottle? According to the Poké Mart staff, a must for rodent Pokémon.

  Supplies acquired, I staggered home, carrying my backpack by its straps, instead of wearing it. Otherwise, the bag pulled uncomfortably at my bruises.

  Fortunately, my myriad partners had yet to burn down the apartment when I got back.

  My knights were still relaxing, and Mana was stationed in her tank right where I’d let her, focused wholly on improving her water manipulation. That left Maushold, who’d emerged from their new nest, and were currently exploring the apartment under Kay’s watchful eye.

  He wasn’t exactly subtle about it, or particularly friendly, which was an oversight on my part. I could tell he was stressing them out a bit as they wandered, so I sent him back to the couch and took over.

  I gave them the grand tour, which took maybe ten minutes in sum and total. Our apartment was just two bedrooms, a living room, and a kitchen, after all.

  Curiously, they seemed to have an intuitive understanding of what each room was for, demonstrating a far greater understanding of the space than my knights did when they first arrived.

  I also took the opportunity to negotiate some ground rules. My parents bedroom was off-limits unless I was with them, as were the refrigerator and the kitchen cabinets. Food would be left out, in case they were peckish, and if they were really hungry outside of meal times, they just had to let me know and I’d make something up for them.

  They didn’t seem all that interested in the TV, though maybe they just didn’t want to share the space with my knights right now, but they were enamored by the bathroom faucet, of all things, demanding that I explain how to use it.

  After some more pantomimed conversation, I was able to figure out that what my newest partners wanted more than anything else right now was a bath.

  The washroom that I used had a shower attached to it, but the master bath attached to my parents’ room had an actual porcelain tub that I had long-ago negotiated the use of for caring for my partners. The trio were impressively fastidious, insisting on using their paws and incisors to clear their fur of mats and debris before getting into the heated water.

  As soon as they touched the warm fluid covering the bottom of the bath, the three Normal-types let out matching sighs of relief, as if some tension they’d been carrying were exorcized. They luxuriated in the bath, enjoying it even more than Mana would. They simply lay there, letting the warm water seep into every bit of their bodies. After watching for a few minutes to make sure everything was alright, I left them to it, though not before showing them how to drain the tub and refresh the hot water.

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  They emerged an hour later, practically sparkling. Their fur was almost snow-white, instead of the tawny shade it had held before, and the large pair's gray markings stood out starkly against their milky coat. The three of them took turns fawning over each other’s much cleaner appearance, clearly enjoying their newly refreshed state.

  It put a new perspective on the trio’s willingness to dig through the grime and dirt to approach the pacification arrays.

  I resolved to put fur-friendly soap and shampoo on my shopping list for tomorrow. They certainly deserved it.

  Unfortunately, any further plans I might have had for the evening were forestalled by the return of the throbbing pain in my chest and arms as the medicine I took earlier this afternoon wore off. I swallowed a couple more anti-inflammatories before making dinner, but begged off the regular chess game with my knights, asking that they introduce the game to Maushold instead.

  A quick shower of my own and I turned in early for the night. Luckily, I was able to fall asleep before my body started aching enough to keep me awake.

  -

  I felt better on the second day. Marginally. I still needed some NSAIDs, but I definitely had more range of motion than before.

  Mana and my knights were both doing way better, the benefits of a Pokémon’s constitution. There was no way I’d get away with not leading them in some training today, but I kept it pretty brief so we’d have time to run some other errands.

  First was getting my newest partners registered and checked out at the Pokémon Center. The red-roofed building consumed a good chunk of the morning, since I forced Mana and my knights to get check-ups as well.

  With clean bill-of-healths given, and some dietary advice requested, we made our next stop of the day: the shopping district.

  Walking around a few different Poké Marts and showing my newest partners the range of products available took up the rest of the afternoon. Unlike Mana, my sweat partners were quite particular about what they wanted. Not food-wise, they seemed to have little preference for any flavors or textures in their meals, but rather in their habitat. I staggered out of the last mart we visited weighed down by at least two meters of corkboard, several folded cardboard boxes, a package of Nurse Joy-recommended vitamins, more food (we never had enough), and strangely, a set of non-toxic finger paints.

  My knights were similarly encumbered, bid to carry several sheets of sound-proofing foam, a few blocks of carving wood, a bottle of Sticky-Web derived adhesive, and a box chock-full of fur-care paraphernalia.

  I wasn’t exactly sure what my newest partners wanted with all of this material, but if it kept them from using the things already in the apartment for their arcane purposes, it was worth the small dent it made in my funds. Really, the vitamins and food cost more than everything else combined.

  Once home, it was dinner time once again. I went a bit harder this time, trying to get a sense of what Maushold might like, but again they showed little preference for the various dishes I offered them. Mana churned through her sweet berry-purée fortified with seaweed, and my knights enjoyed their spice-riddled stew, but Maushold just calmly consumed whatever was put in front of them, seemingly uncaring of what it was, only that it was filling.

  After that, we settled in for the evening. Mana took the television, but only after I told her to take a break from training. She preferred documentaries and educational programming, so after setting the channel for her and moving her tank so she could watch conformably, my piscine partner settled in.

  My knights got their deferred games of chess. I still won most of our matches, but the comfortable lead I’d started with was gone, replaced by close games and hard-won battles. After drawing once and eking out a victory, I left them to compete against themselves, breaking out the other two sets I’d purchased for them and having them go at it against one another.

  My older partners situated, I checked on the newest, who had claimed a space on my bedroom floor. The trio were hard at work, assembling… something.

  The corkboard and cardboard were being chewed into various small panels, which would then be held to measure against the bed frame, or rather, the space beneath it. Then, they’d gnaw it further, until the panels were flush with the floor of my room and the ‘roof’ created by the underside of my bed.

  Except, there wasn’t any hardwood floor under my bed anymore. Instead, more corkboard was laid out, with notches cut into it where I imagined the panels they were working on might slot in.

  With a flash, I realized what was going on. The Maushold were constructing a nest underneath my bed. Except, the word nest conjured images of collected twigs and broken scraps in my mind, not the veritable house my newest partners were currently working on.

  Donna did tell me that Mausholds could construct impressively elaborate domiciles, but clearly, I hadn’t been giving the ingenious Normal-types enough credit.

  The littlest one was even carving furniture out of the blocks of soft wood they’d bid me to buy, using those frighteningly-large incisors to shave away the bits they didn’t need. A tiny table stood on four legs off to one side, and it looked like they were currently working on a stool.

  Faced with the industriousness of my newest partners, there was only one thing for me to do.

  “Sorry to interrupt Maushold, but can I help?”

  The rest of the evening passed in a blur of arts and crafts as my newest partners and I turned the various supplies they’d had me purchase into a cozy little home beneath my bed. I had to take the mattress off and rest it against one wall so we could slot in the last bits and pieces, but when we were done, the nest looked cozy enough that I felt a bit jealous.

  There were two bedrooms with little cots made of sound-proofing foam, a living room with a table and three stools, and even a small pantry that I agreed to let them store snacks in. The whole thing was held together by the Sticky-Web adhesive, and painted in a riot of colors courtesy of the finger-paints. The walls were impressively insulated, layers of cardboard, corkboard, and packing foam forming almost airtight barriers, and I knew that it was sure to be warm and cozy in there.

  Satisfied with their night's work, my newest partners slid into their new home, but not before the littlest one asked a favor. They made little grabby motions with raised arms, which I took to mean they wanted me to pick them up.

  I lifted them into the air, and they scurried up my arm, coming to rest on my shoulder. I felt a small, wet nose poke me in the cheek, and heard some chittered giggling, but before I could do more than blink in surprise, the little scamp leapt from my arm onto the bed, scrambling away into their cozy nest.

  I spent the rest of the evening with a small grin tugging at my lips. We weren’t all the way there yet, but we were making progress.

  -

  On the third day after we dealt with the maus horde, Donna took me out to the underpass. I met a colorful cast of trainers, who were more than happy to share their assumed names with me and show off their various methods for covering their faces.

  The most novel was someone wearing a plaster skull over their head, created to match their Cubone’s own mask. The two made a cute, if slightly disconcerting, pair.

  The battle with Underleader Tran felt like a massive breath of fresh air, the excitement making me forget about my injuries. We got to try out our new commands, named after famous chess stratagems, in the field, and overcome a three-on-one challenge.

  It felt right. Like we were finally making progress again.

  Unfortunately, not all of my partners were so satisfied with the day’s events.

  -

  On the fourth day of my recovery, Mana was sulking. Technically the underpass, which ran on weekends, was open again today.

  While I would have liked to go, I knew trying to participate in more battles before working things out with my piscine partner would be an absolute disaster. From what I was able to grasp, she was upset that I hadn’t allowed her to participate in the underleader’s trial.

  Which was understandable, but the truth was that Mana was still weak. Even Igni the Darumaka would have been able to beat her in close combat, let alone when elemental moves were involved. She was making slow and steady progress, gradually increasing the volumes of water she could manipulate, but I really didn’t feel comfortable throwing her onto the battlefield yet.

  Unfortunately, she was far from happy with my explanation, and ended up giving me the cold shoulder the whole day.

  My knights at least were happy, and threw themselves into training today with more intensity than I’d seen from them since Drake left. I also started working with Maushold.

  We mostly spent the day figuring out what moves they could use, which ended up being a surprisingly impressive range. Stand outs were Echoed Voice and Super Fang, both of which I remember them using to great effect.

  Unfortunately, the day ended without Mana seeming any closer to forgiving me, and I knew if things continued on this way, I might need to take more desperate measures.

  -

  Sure enough, while I was feeling far, far better by day five, Mana showed no signs of forgiving me.

  We’d reached an impasse in what we could communicate with my fumbling words and her pantomimes alone, and I still wasn’t at the level of reading or communicating intent necessary for this conversation.

  Which meant I needed help. Only two days left until I was back at the outpost, and we needed to be in sync before then.

  So I gave Mrs. Peters a call.