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Momo always plays with the wild Pokémon whenever they go into the field for data collection. 

 

 

“Ahh! Eevee, that tickles,” Momo poked the small fluffy Pokémon in the belly. Several other creatures had surrounded the researcher. Some were nuzzled up to her crisscrossed legs the others were nipping at her fingers wishing for attention. Her tablet lay in the grass a few feet away, the item forgotten in lieu of the friendly wild Pokémon. 

 

“It seems they missed you, Momo,” the other researchers smiled at the cuddle pile on the ground. 

 

 

Mina thinks it’s cute how the older lets them crawl all over her. 

 

 

“It’s cute how much they like you Momoring,” Mina moved to sit next to the older. It was a usual sight to see; Momo, wild Pokémon, all playing together in one big lump. It was one of Mina’s favorite parts of going out to research with Momo. It was amazing to see how kind-hearted the older was with the Pokémon. She was always gentle with them and made sure each and every Pokémon they saw that day knew how special there were.

 

 

Momo sneaks them snacks when she thinks Mina isn’t watching. 

 

 

Momo never liked to be hungry. That’s her reasoning for always having snacks with her. A bag of chips for those salty cravings. An apple to state her tummy grumbles before lunch break. And her secret bag of treats she brings every field trip. She knew everyone’s preference. Sweet fruits and berries for forest Pokémon. Spicy kibble for the fluffy Pokémon in the fields. Homemade tofu squares for the water types swimming up and down the river. Momo knows what it’s like to be hungry so she always makes sure her poké-friends have a full tummy when she sees them. Mina has told her over and over not to feed them too often, that it could make them dependent on Momo. But Momo always managed to sneak everyone a little bite to eat.

 

 

But she’s always watching.

 

 

It’s normally just the two of them, Mina and Momo. Everyone knew Momo couldn’t stay inside the lab all day. She was basically an energetic little puppy. So Mina always took her to the river or into the woods for data collection. It turned into a daily thing; just the two of them walking through the lush green woods. Cataloging the number of wild Pokémon they met on their hour-long trips. But when Mina would hear a bag crinkle behind her, she couldn’t help but smile to herself. She would always turn to see Momo holding a snack between her fingers and a smiling Pokémon on the receiving end. Those moments Mina would catch Momo’s eye, the older would look down but still keep a smile stretched across her face.

 

 

Momo is a bit clumsy. She’s fallen in more rivers, caves, and tall grass then you can imagine. 

 

 

Momo treats others with soft hands and gentle touches. Injuring a wild Pokémon is the last thing she would ever want to do. So sometimes she more conscious about the creatures’ health than her own. She’s fallen into the river while untangling a Magikarp from a loose fishing net. Torn her lab coat and cut herself on sharp tree branches in the woods helping Pidgeys back up to their nests. Slipped on the wet floor in caves to check on the family of Zubat she befriended earlier in the month. Almost every time she and Mina go out for research Momo comes back with a pink bandaid and a smile.

 

 

Mina has learned to carry a pack of bandaids with her.

 

 

Momo falls a lot. This is a fact Mina has learned from working in the field alongside the older every day. “Woah! Mina look at how much the Poliwag population has grown in the past month.” Momo excitedly showed her the data on her tablet. Mina scrolled through the organized data Momo had collected as the older returned to the river’s edge. 

 

“You’re right. It’s impressive what a little bit of controlled fishing can do for the habitat.” Mina looked up in time to see a wild Pokémon splash Momo with a friendly spray of water. As if it was in slow motion, Mina stared as Momo laughed then slipped into the river. Her splash was big and the outcome was something both were used to. Momo crawled out sopping wet yet smiling as if she won a grand prize. 

 

“Come over here clumsy.” Mina pulled a towel out of her bag and got to work. Once dry, Mina spotted a small cut on Momo’s leg. She just shook her head and pulled out her box of colorful bandaids. 

 

“Can I have a pink one?” Momo looked down at Mina with puppy dog eyes. That was how Mina learned Momo’s favorite color. From that point on, Momo quickly became decorated in pink bandages. And Mina adding memories to her mental collection of genuine Momo smiles.

 

 

Momo has never caught a Pokémon. 

 

 

The research lab staff never understood why Momo has never caught a Pokémon. For as much as she loved playing with the wild ones around the town, Momo had never owned a Pokémon. Many were curious but Mina was the first to ask. 

 

“Why don’t you have a partner Pokémon yet Momoring?”

 

Momo looked up from her desk work. Mina held her own Piplup in her lap. The older smiled softly, “A Pokémon is a lot of work, I don’t know if I could cook, clean, and maintain both myself and another… I just don’t think I would be a good trainer.”

 

 

Mina thinks she would be the best there ever was.

 

 

Many young kids would receive a parter Pokémon at the age of ten, but sometimes not all Pokémon weren’t chosen. That was how Mina received her partner, Piplup. The small penguin Pokemon gave Mina more joy than she ever imagined. She couldn’t understand how Momo could think she wouldn’t be a good owner. Mina had seen the way she plays with the forest Pokémon. She has seen the effort she puts into picking the ripest berries just to give to the smallest Pokémon she can find. Shes stared at the older as she brushed dirt from a Pokémon’s fur. Momo would be the best, no, the greatest trainer in the world, in Mina’s opinion.

 

 

The Pokémon definitely remember Momo. 

 

 

Momo had a big role in the latest research the lab was conducting. Meaning it had been a few days since Mina and Momo had gone out to do fieldwork. Once they had stepped into the forest, an excited Eevee bounded up to the pair and snuggled into Momo’s legs. It wasn’t the only one, most of the Pokémon they saw that day happily ran, waddled, flapped, swam, and hopped up to her. Each once received a few pats on the head and a small treat. Mina didn’t even try to stop Momo from feeding them that day.

 

 

Mina could never get tired of the smile Momo makes whenever she’s with them.

 

 

They took a bit longer on their data collection that day. Seeing Momo’s smile when spent time with wild Pokémon was worth whatever scolding they would receive from their higher-ups. Mina wasn’t much of a talker, more of an observer. She knew she spent too much of her time gazing across the research facility at Momo. She was different when she worked, more serious. Outside Momo was a different Momo. She lost her mild discipline and became more childish. Mina’s favorite part about “outside Momo” was how much more she smiled. She just wished Momo would see the stars in Mina’s eyes too.

 

 

Mina’s trainer friend visited. 

 

 

Jeongyeon showed up out of the blue. Momo wasn’t aware of how close to her tablet she was until a loud squeal sounded through the research lab. Outside her messy cubicle and across the room stood a tall woman. A tall woman that Mina was excitedly hugging. It made Momo feel a bit swirly in the stomach. Later Mina introduced Momo to said tall woman, also known as Yoo Jeongyeon, the leader of the grass type gym a few cities away. Momo smiled and shook Jeongyeon’s hand politely. But before Momo could remind Mina of their data collecting they had to do later, Jeongyeon had whisked her away. Going into the forest to catalog data shouldn’t have felt so strange. But without Mina, Momo was quite aware of the empty presence. 

 

 

Jeongyeon didn’t leave town for a while.

 

 

Momo didn’t know how to feel about Jeongyeon. The gym leader had been in town for three days. And each of those days Momo had to go out by herself. Although she was never truly alone, it felt different without Mina there. It felt wrong. But today Momo planned to take Mina to the lake. She knew Mina’s favorite place to go was the lake because of all the water type Pokémon. They would leave before Jeongyeon showed up and took her away again. Momo made took all the precautions: she wore her shoes with the best traction to ensure no slips or falls. Packed a homemade lunch for them to have on the lake’s edge. She made sure her camera had all the needed space for Mina to capture beautiful pictures of the lake. But Momo felt like something was missing; it turned out to be someone. Mina hadn’t come into work that morning.

 

 

Jeongyeon promised to take Mina to the lake.

 

 

The morning mist along the water’s glassy surface was mesmerizing. Rarely getting the chance to see the lake in such a way anymore, all Mina could do was look. The last time she had been to the lake with Jeongyeon had been when they were kids. 

 

“It brings back memories, doesn’t it.” As if the older had read her mind, Jeongyeon stood next to her gazing out across the lake. Mina didn’t say anything, just let her mind wander. Back to when she would splash through the water alongside Jeongyeon. Back to the lakeside picnics they shared. Back to the secret kiss they had in the shade of the nearby pine tree. Back to when Jeongyeon told her goodbye and left her standing under that same tree years later.

 

 A Magikarp broke the water’s surface with a clumsy splash. “Yes, yes it does.”

 

 

Mina was smiling a lot more. 

 

 

It was a recent development Momo had noticed. She hadn’t seen Mina smile as much as she had been in the past few days. Maybe it was because Momo never had this weird feeling in her stomach when Mina was present. Or maybe it was because now that she was gone, everything reminded her of Mina. But what Momo knew for certain was that Jeongyeon had everything to do with it. Everyone in town liked Jeongyeon. All the researchers at the lab liked Jeongyeon. Mina liked Jeongyeon. Even Mina’s Pokémon liked Jeongyeon. Momo wasn’t quite sure if she liked Jeongyeon at all.

 

The Pokémon could sense Momo was upset

 

Having gotten used to the Mimo data collection team, the Pokémon noticed the times' Momo would come to visit alone. Her smiles never quite reached her eyes. Not knowing what the problem was, all the Pokémon could do was show their own affection towards the lonely researcher. Solo trips involved longer cuddle piles, more passes of soft fur against her legs, and longer splash fights in the river. They did all they could to cheer up the researcher but she always returned the next day with the same gloomy aura. 

 

 

Momo received good news and bad news.

 

 

After two weeks of Jeongyeon’s visit to the town, Momo finally heard some news she was somewhat grateful for. The thought of enjoying Jeongyeon’s departure made her stomach churn. How could she be feeling happy that someone was going away? It pained her to think that negatively but when she saw Mina smiling down at her phone, Momo remembered why she wanted Jeongyeon gone. 

 

When there were only a few minutes left in the workday, a few soft knocks against her cubicle brought her from her work. There stood Mina looking as angelic as always. Momo was slightly aghast that it took someone else stealing Mina away from her to notice her feelings towards the younger. 

 

“Hey Momo, I just wanted to let you know that Jeongyeon invited me to come to the tournament tomorrow.”

 

“Oh, are- are you planning on going?” Momo watched as Mina’s friendly smile changed into the one she used to get. The smile Momo would see when she was clumsy, when she was feeding the wild Pokémon, or when she was smiling back at her. 

 

“Yeah, I think I am. Jeongyeon promised an amazing performance.” 

 

“I sure hope so. Have fun Minari.” Momo’s heart broke a little with every step Mina took towards the door. That smile wasn't for her anymore.

 

 

Mina thinks it time to move on.

 

 

The battles were indeed amazing. It had been so long since Mina had last seen Jeongyeon in her element. And Mina made sure to give all her compliments to her friend after the matches. A few handshakes later and Jeongyeon was free from all the chaos that was the tournament. She and Mina walked around the upper floors of the emptying stadium. They watched the patrons leave through the glass windows above in comfortable silence. 

 

“Mina, are you interested in anyone right now?” Jeongyeon asked without taking her eyes from the crowd below.

 

Her first thoughts were of Momo. How she had caught her attention so quickly and everything she did was attractive. But of course, Mina didn’t think Momo saw her in that way. She was nothing more than a favorite work friend to Momo. 

 

“There was this one girl… but, I don’t think she feels the same way. You know what I mean?” Mina leaned back and crossed her arms.

 

“Oh yeah, straight girl prob- Ahh! Gosh, you still hit so hard.” Jeongyeon smiled down at her as she rubbed her arm.

 

“She’s just different. Why’d you ask?”

 

“Because I’d like to take you to the café a few blocks away”

 

“Yoo Jeongyeon, are you asking me out on a date?”

 

“It’s only a date if you say you’ll go.”

 

 

 

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