Welcome to the Pokémon Pit!
A downtown Vegas casino is offering people who are down and out after waking up as a pokemon the opportunity to earn a living by working in the first ever all-pokemon casino pit. Follow a young male Meowscarada new hire as he becomes part of the casino family. Let's Go Gambling!
Introduction
”It’s all about game protection. Be polite and courteous. When in doubt, call the floor.”
You mentally went through the wisdom your instructor gave you
Your first day going solo was always going to be nerve wracking, but you got this.
It’s just playing a game with people, have fun with it.
You had been going to dealer school for a couple weeks before fate decided your life wasn’t interesting enough and threw you a curveball
That came in the form of waking up one morning as a mossy, green cat shaped person
A “Meowscarada” your name tag helpfully said underneath your first name
Learning to cut chips and pitch cards was even harder with paw pads, but over time you adjusted and could handle a game like anyone else.
The audition went so well, you skipped over the usual break-in grave shift job and got hired right away at a Downtown casino
Vegas had always had dancing dealers to lure people in but this was different
The “PokerMonster” pit dodged copyright while telling people exactly what to expect
Nowhere else in the world could you experience an all-Pokémon dealing staff
The management must have spent a great deal to hire all these people together, get them trained up, and outfit the variety of body types in traditional black and whites
Surely there must have been a national recruiting effort, if not global
Given how hard it was to make a living after being turned into a Pokémon, you weren’t surprised people would take the secure paycheck and benefits
There was a Lopunny dealing Baccarat
A Quaquaval done up like a show girl dealing roulette
And for the ladies, the craps table was staffed by an Urshifu, a Toxtricity, a Thyphlosion, and even a Machoke
You were on Blackjack and carnival games tonight
On some level, you knew you were hired as eye candy
At the same time, you had always loved meeting new people, learning a bit about them, and making them feel welcome
Where else could you land a gig like this?
Get to Know the Leadership
The leadership of your casino was surprisingly open and approachable
Since they were a privately owned company instead of being beholden to share holders, things worked a bit differently
After your audition, you actually got to meet the VP of Casino Operations, Kirk Stevens
You got the sense that the VPs were willing to take on some interesting projects, as long as they understood they had to perform or risk getting cut
During your brief chat with Kirk it almost felt like he was running the Red Cross the way he felt the need to give back to the community in these uncertain times.
”I don’t know too much about these monster things, but that’s not the point. Imagine if you had people all around the world waking up and their arms had fallen off, you’d want to help them! My business is people. You want them to have a good time, so they need to be around happy people. I get happy workers who want to do what they’re doing by treating them with respect and making sure they have what they need. If I can give my people a path up where they have dignity and a way to provide for themselves, that means I’m doing something good for the world.”
Bringing the rhetoric back down to Earth, finding and hiring people turned into Pokémon who were in need and needed help was genuinely quite the task
Yes it was dealing casino games and being part of the entertainment, but where else could you be your new self so openly and keep a decently paying job?
Your first week, you'd be shadowed by your two managers
The Pit Boss, Guido, has been around since the mob days and acted like it too
No one could sweat the money they way he did
Change the dice, check for card counters, make sure the ball goes around at least three times after you wave off the table for no more bets
If he caught you mis-dealing, you’d be called out on it instantly and be taken off the game for a break
Thankfully, it went the other way too.
If he saw someone try to take advantage of you, either cheating or touching the merchandise, god help them
The rumor is that he used to be called the Roto-Rooter for what he did to cheaters in the basement
With both the Pokémon Pit and the regular pit to manage, you didn’t see too much of him around
That was why you had a specific floor supervisor David Kim, an elegant looking Gallade
He was a unique character, even among everyone else you would meet
Professionally Unprofessional is the best term you could come up with
He would run everything super well and was always available to help you out
The only problem is that he has the sense of humor of an internet comment section
”Remember, last one to come gets paid!”
”Backdoor BJ? Congratulations sir!”
”Dice off the table! No roll! We call that one the OJ - two die outside.”
”We’ve got a natural over in Bacc. Nine Nine Nine, that’s the German birth control”
”How's it going over here for roulette? Want me to check your balls? You've got to keep them clean!”
Casinos are already filled with innuendos abound but this guy could take it to a level all his own
Being honest, it was probably a good thing for the new hires
If you can deal with David, you can survive any drunk trying to be clever when he tells you it’s a 50/50 chance: “it either happens or it doesn’t!”
HR said this was a David friendly workplace and they meant it.
On the Job Training
Day 3 of working with Guido and David
”Listen up Junior. I’m an old man in a bambino’s world so I know how to survive in the biz.”
”Trust the old man. He’s survived the bimbo world!”
”Go ahead and deal to our three guests here.”
Some of your new coworkers were helping you practice on a blackjack table
Ace / 5 / 2
Facedown for the Dealer
17 / 15 /
BOOOOM
Catlike instincts made you jump, nearly ripping the felt with your claws
Embarrassed but calmed down, you looked at what made the noise
One of the technicians dropped a crate on the ground
”No, No, NO! You gotta work on that”
“I’m sorry about the table”
”No, not that, do you realize what you did? You looked away from the game and left it exposed. Cheats will cause distractions like that to see who looks. Now they know you’re weak and can try to get one over. Some will try to grab chips right outta the tray.”
”If you’re exposed, someone will try to grab your assets!”
”Quiet you. I’ve seen it before. One guy drops a glass on the tile to make a shattering sound, his accomplice on the table that just got dealt a blackjack slips an extra 100 under his wager and we’re out an extra $150.”
”Don’t let them sneak in a black to fuck you.”
”This wiseguy’s gonna get himself killed talking like that… Anyway. You’re doing good. I just gotta put you through your paces. Everyone has a target on their ass -“
”Like a tramp stamp”
”- and we don’t want you to fall victim to any tricks. I’ll leave you with big mouth here to wrap up.”
Guido left for the main floor, clapping his technician conspirator on the back as he walked over
”I joke around, but only because you’re doing really well. Everyone fails that test the first time, it’s just part of learning. You’re handling your change and a new job really well. I can’t deal much anymore with these arms but I can see you’ve got it under control.”
“Maintain eye contact during a BJ session, I guess?”
”Ha! You’ve got it! Get to know these three and run the shoe, then head on home. Great work today!”
Getting to Know the Crew
The dealer sitting on first base was a rather chubby Zangoose, Lauren.
”I remember my first dealing job at the SLS after the rebrand. Was I ever nervous! I had a guy martingale a $5 table minimum to the $1000 table limit over the course of a half hour, make it back to even, start another martingale, and then get stuck with not enough money to split his Aces. I was like, ‘oh my gosh, sir, is there someone I can call?’ worried about him going broke. It was only later in the break room that I learned he was a regular high limit player who liked to do that for the thrill and would play for $500 a hand normally.”
Wow! You really do meet all kinds of characters is this job huh?
The young meowscarada was listening intently as the cards flowed from the shoe
Lauren had clearly been dealing the longest time of anyone here and had even been a relatively early transformation victim
David said she was the go-to for advice for anyone looking to take their game to the next level and you could see why
Being able to follow a conversation while moving the cards and chips was the key to any dealer’s success
Being able to do so without accidentally marking a card with a claw tip or grabbing the wrong number of chips with a puffy pink paw pad was even harder.
“I’ve got to ask, you’ve been dealing for a while right? Even after your change?”
"Yep. Trained on every single game, including high limits and European roulette”
“How do you manage to do that with your claws? I’ve still got to pay attention with these things.”
"Two things. I found one of those rotary nail files for dogs works really well for me. Keeping a rounded tip prevents accidents. And two, aren’t you part cat? I thought those could retract their claws?”
“That’s good advice, I hadn’t thought of it. And no, try as I might, these seem to be permanent. I’m a grass type so do you think these are supposed to be like thorns or something? My fur is kind of mossy.”
”I wouldn’t worry about it too much. I make do with mine, and I don’t even know how to do my nails like you girls do!”
That was Jeffrey. A tall imposing Incineroar, who still had a goofy lovable air about him.
“I’m not a girl. I’m a guy like you. My name is Alex, short for Alexander.”
”Oh, geez. My apologies. I’m so sorry. Shame the universe decided to turn us into Japanese characters huh? If we were living in a comic book universe, I bet things would be different huh? As a kid I always liked DC and Marvel equally and never got the rivalry.”
“No harm done. Just another thing to live with. I never read many comics.”
”Yeah, I was always a bit of a nerd. Makes being turned into a jock cat all the more confusing. Makes talking to people a bit easier though. I just sort of pretend like I’m an entertainer and I feel myself get better at it. A neat trick that works for me is to play the bad guy representing the “house” so the players feel like they’re defeating me when they win! It just starts to come naturally to me! You should try it!”
“You don’t happen to know what a ‘heel’ is do you?”
”No, why?”
“No reason.”
There was that instinct thing popping up again.
Apparently some people felt strong urges to act like the pokemon they had been turned into?
You hadn’t felt anything out of the ordinary so far.
Just something to keep an eye on, I guess.
Oh you felines and your claws. I guess not everyone can be so lucky as to have feathered hands… I’m only kidding. I genuinely love your handsome style and can’t wait to work alongside you. We’re starters from the same game aren’t we? I’m sure our fans will love that!”
Roxanne. The fabulous, flamboyant Quaquaval lady.
Every single time you had seen her so far, she was always clad in some kind of showgirl styled elaborate costume.
If it was an act, she never knew when to drop it. If it was Pokémon instinct taking over, then it was confused about what culture it was supposed to represent.
During an aside with David, he assured you that this was her natural self.
“You have fans?”
"Oh yes, we all do, and you will too with that classy masquerade mask. The girls will be breaking down your door. Ever since I was a little girl I’ve wanted to be a star. I don’t know how you feel about your change, but I honestly think this was the best thing that ever happened to me! I love every minute of being this fabulous!”
“Well I hope your optimism rubs off on me.”
”In that case, I’ll give you a tip. Every day you wake up, shower, and haul yourself down to work, you have a choice to make. Do you want to be average and just go along to get by, or do you want to make today the best it can be and help everyone else find the joy in it too? All you have to do is give someone a smile and tell them you’re glad to see them, it goes a long way!”
”Wow! Miss Roxy did you have that prepared or something?”
”She’s not wrong kiddo, just don’t burn yourself out. You don’t have to give 110% every day.”
”You know, because you can’t give more than 100%, that means if you say you give 110%, you were really only giving 92% when you said you were giving 100%”
What a crowd to be a part of.
If you were unsure before, you were certain now
This was the right choice
You were never going back to before.
The B Team
Your first week went off without a hitch
No more training wheels and no more dealing to your co-workers
Time to show 'em what you're made of
Granted, that also meant you would have to start getting scheduled for shifts now
The “PokerMonster” pit was not 24/7 like the rest of the casino
It came down to who was trained for which games and worked which shifts
10am to 6pm was the “midday”, 6pm to 2am was “swing”, and 2am to 10am, normally the “graveyard” shift, was closed completely
During orientation, it was explained that this was a “keep your own tokes” position.
If you gave excellent service and someone on your table who tipped handsomely, you got to keep all of what you earned
Alternatively, if you were a sourpuss or got some real cheapskates, you might not make much more than minimum.
This led to an interesting strategic decision: do you go for the midday crowd when regulars come in with a smaller budget but are looking to build relationships ? Or do you go for the swing shift when the high rollers play and the crowd gets a bit looser?
You decided it was necessary to try both and get a feel for the clientele
Knowing how to deal all the major games meant you always had a spot at any table
The unusual hours didn’t bother you as much as you expected it would
Whether that was some cat-napping feline instinct or the result of having a messed up sleep schedule while going to school would have to just be left as a mystery of life
You swear you didn’t used to knead and fluff your pillow this much either, but that’s probably nothing to worry about
Joining a morning “coffee and craps” table during your a trial shift meant you got to meet more of your coworkers more closely
You were always drawn to craps because of the camaraderie and excitement of the table
Plus, a fully staffed game had four dealers working so the time went fast when you could riff off each other to entertain the players
You were third base with a couple guys standing on the hook
The boxman was a dapper Meowth named Joey, overseeing the game from a tall barstool setup for him to stand on
He seemed to be a crowd favorite with the dice players.
Working the other side of the table was a tall, surprisingly lanky Urshifu wearing a vest, Rodriguez dealing a couple on the straight out
”Six, Point of Six. Five-one to get it done. Odds for you ma’am?”
His accent was thick but ambiguously latino
Apparently, he was the new hire just before you, and had been recruited from a rough part of town
His stature and demeanor gave him the sense of a resolute brick wall
No one but a fellow dealer would notice his hands shaking as he cut out change
and finally, a Lopunny, Sarah, was working the stick and trying her best to sell the table on prop bets
Was she really wearing a playbunny outfit, or was that just how a sleeveless dress looked on her?
”Hardways? Horns? Hops?””Yeah I bet you know all about the hops! Give me a three-way red.” one of your players offered as he tossed three chips to the center
For a second, you thought of saying something, about respecting the dealers and making comments like that
She answered first, glaring with surprisingly hard eyes, but pulling a cutesy pose
”If you really, want to see me hop, I’ll need some kind of carrot on a stick””Fine. Dollar each on the hardways for the crew.”
Her voice was naturally mellifluous, but you swore you almost heard a sigh or grunt before she started talking
Whatever it was, the customers didn’t notice
You got the rest of your players taken care of and their bets all set up
”Dice out. Hands up!” the rabbit girl annunciated as she pushed the cherry candy cubes across the luxurious black felt of the table over to your side of the table
A woosh, a clack and a cheer immediately followed”Hard six winner. Three and a Three”
”Two Threes?” Rodriguez said expectantly, as he looked over to Joey
”That’s a small forest!” Joey answered back with a laugh
Dice humor never gets old does it?
”Thank you sir.” Sarah says flatly as she locks up the $10 in the dropbox for the dealer team
Not bad, she got lucky and timed it just right for all of us
”C’mon Joey, give us a payday! We’re hot this morning!” cried out the husband
Joey gave the player a convincing look like he was in thought before smiling like a parent giving a kid a cookie
”Oh all right. Here you go!”
In the blink of an eye, metallic gold coins were slung in front of every player at the table
Uh, what do I…?
Joey leaned over and started to explain
”This is my schtick. They’re $5 free play chips. They have to match it with real money and they only get the payout if the bets win. What do you think? We can talk later during a break.”
Well, as long as it was cleared with the floor
The game continued as usual, point of nine, about eight rolls of box numbers, including a hard ten paying out for us again, until it came to an end
”Seven out. Line away, Don’ts to Pay” came the call from Sarah
“Five-Two says you’re through”
”Clever. I say Cinco-Dos and Adios” Rodriguez answers your call
And so the game would go on with players buying in, sometimes coloring up, and sometimes going broke
Eventually, your meal break time came around during an extended lull and David said you could take it all together
Off to the Employee Dining Room
Nothing better than to bond over free but mid food
If you were paired with the all-star dealers last week, these were definitely your average dealers
Joey started by explaining how he worked with leadership to use his talent as a promotion
“How did you learn to throw coins around like that?”
”I didn’t really. One day while I was sitting at home I just got a splitting headache and next thing I knew, there were coins everywhere. Shame they’re not real gold. Otherwise, I’d be on easy street!”
“So where does it actually come from? How does that work?”
”We’re all magical animals from a Japanese children’s video game. How is any of this supposed to work?” Sarah interrupted while scrolling on her phone
“Fair enough, I guess. What’s it like being a…?”
”A Lopunny? Terrible honestly. You know exactly what the internet and every freak that comes in thinks of me. But I’m making it work. At least I have this charity job at the combination animal sanctuary and gambling parlor and I don’t have to become a streamer or onlyfans model or something.”
”What are you calling a charity job? I had to work for weeks to be able to do this. I had a real job, I had a dream to take over my dad’s auto business. You try working on a car in this body! It took me twice as long to learn this job as it did to master assembling a MacPhearson strut.
”Alright geez. I’m sorry. I’m just frustrated alright”
”I'm sorry too. I HATE being emotional like this. These damn instincts. One minute I’m fine and just flowing. The next, I feel like I need to deck someone in a boxing ring if they insult me. It’s this dumb bear body. Hey Alex, how do you deal with this kind of thing?”
“I don’t have much advice to give, I was training to be a dealer before I changed and I don’t feel different now.”
”You know, I kinda like sardines now. Used to hate them. Go figure.”
”...thanks for that Joey. I guess it’s time to head back to work?”
Double Down
Another day, another shift, and another thank god that the casino is non-smoking
The pandemic changed things in a lot of dumb ways, but masks sure made it a lot easier to enforce a no smoking policy and gave a good excuse to not bring it back
It also made $15 minimums, 6:5 blackjack, and triple zero roulette the new standard, but hopefully that would eventually settle back down
You couldn’t handle much second-hand smoke these days and would get a hacking cough
Whether it had just started or if it had been happening for a while was hard to say, but you swore your cat instincts had caused you to start licking yourself in your sleep
You showered and dried off as soon as you got home every night, but would occasionally wake up to damp patches of fur on your arms or paws
You really hoped you would never have to experience what a hairball is like
Anyway, head in the game
The game of the day was “Punto Banco”Mini Baccarat
No, Mr. Double-Oh-Zero, that means you don’t get to touch the cards and we don’t use the paddle to move cards or checks. Please see our high limit room for Midi Baccarat or see a casino host to reserve a seat at the “Chemin de fer” Big Baccarat tables.
Joey was across from you dealing Blackjack and playing his table like a stand up comedian”Uh-Oh! Ace in you face! Insurance is open, care for a bit of Geico on your bet?”
”No, keep your 18? Alright. Like a bully on the playground, this is a big Push. Ace-7 tie.”To your right was a new pair you hadn’t seen yet dealing roulette.
The man, judging by his bow tie, was the primary dealer interacting with customers
The woman, judging by her dress, was the mucker, assigned to collecting and sorting losing chips
Most unusual of all was that they were both Blazikens
Reports of people waking up changed were still rare enough that every headline was a different so-called species
How in the world did they manage to find two of the same?
Over your lunch break you got to know them better”No, believe it or not, we are completely unrelated and had never met before this job.” said Austin, the male
”I don’t know a which is worse. People that think we’re a couple, or people that think we’re brother and sister.” said Stella the woman
Did you know about this when you got your shifts?
”Not at all. I’m actually just covering for someone else. I usually have Sundays off.”
”Yep. I’m just partnered for the day here with mister Texas.”
”Mr. Iowa actually. I grew up around corn and was a farm hand as a kid. I became a ticket writer at the local horse track out there until I turned. Becoming this “Blazingken” has literally been quite the trip. One of my colleagues told me about this place and I ran out West for double the paycheck.”
”I didn’t have to travel nearly as far for this gig. I used to be a hair stylist about a half hour away from here. Going through dealing school wasn’t much fun, but it sure beat having to smell burning hair all day every day. Every little piece that landed on me would combust. I shaved a guy’s head and nearly set off the smoke alarms.”
”Do you get that too? I have to be careful working out at the gym or I’ll melt the grip on handlebars. Flames just start coming out of the wrists when I get worked up.”
The two of quickly started trading tips and stories about how they lived their new lives
She would talk about proper feather preening methods and nail trimming adapted from her cosmetology background
He would talk about keeping physically fit and discoveries made while trying to figure out the limits of his body
For you, it was just fascinating to sit and listen, hearing two strangers slowly become friends
Transforming was a pretty isolating experience, but having someone who knew exactly what you were experiencing had to be a nice
Over your lunch break you got to know them better”No, believe it or not, we are completely unrelated and had never met before this job.” said Austin, the male
”I don’t know a which is worse. People that think we’re a couple, or people that think we’re brother and sister.” said Stella the woman
Did you know about this when you got your shifts?
”Not at all. I’m actually just covering for someone else. I usually have Sundays off.”
”Yep. I’m just partnered for the day here with mister Texas.”
”Mr. Iowa actually. I grew up around corn and was a farm hand as a kid. I became a ticket writer at the local horse track out there until I turned. Becoming this “Blazingken” has literally been quite the trip. One of my colleagues told me about this place and I ran out West for double the paycheck.”
”I didn’t have to travel nearly as far for this gig. I used to be a hair stylist about a half hour away from here. Going through dealing school wasn’t much fun, but it sure beat having to smell burning hair all day every day. Every little piece that landed on me would combust. I shaved a guy’s head and nearly set off the smoke alarms.”
”Do you get that too? I have to be careful working out at the gym or I’ll melt the grip on handlebars. Flames just start coming out of the wrists when I get worked up.”
The two of quickly started trading tips and stories about how they lived their new lives
She would talk about proper feather preening methods and nail trimming adapted from her cosmetology background
He would talk about keeping physically fit and discoveries made while trying to figure out the limits of his body
For you, it was just fascinating to sit and listen, hearing two strangers slowly become friends
Transforming was a pretty isolating experience, but having someone who knew exactly what you were experiencing had to be a nice.
Playing the Field
Convention season in Vegas is a unique experience all its own.
One week you have literal rodeo cowboys strolling through the floor fresh off a tournament win
The next, you’ll have a mix of stuffy engineers and their entourage of big spender sales representatives trying to woo business for the next year
Maybe the next will be college professors discussing admissions trends
The week after that, nothing but tech frat bros and basement dwelling hackers testing every inch of cybersecurity they can get at
Not to mention that big motor car race that turns the normal nightmare of traffic into a nightmare squared by taking over the streets
This was all layered on top of the regular background noise of college and professional sporting events
If the world was panicking about people turning into Pokémon, people’s poker faces had gotten a lot better in the last couple of years and they were hiding it well
As a dealer, it was important to develop a sixth sense for these different types of people and know what they’re expecting from their experience
Talking with David, it was clear that almost everyone who had settled on working in the pit long term had developed some kind of a gimmick”The public can get someone slinging checks and making corny puns anywhere. If they want things jiggling at them while they play, there are places for that too. They come here because they’re curious about our, let’s call it an alternative lifestyle. You gotta give them some kind of ‘shtick’ to latch onto, it doesn’t have to be much, we’re not asking for a song and dance number. A young gun like yourself, you can probably develop a pretty sizable shtick. Just gotta decide, do you want a long shtick, or maybe you want it girthy? Who doesn’t love a girthy shtick!”
Buried beneath the entendres was a good point
Casino games are fundamentally a form of entertainment people are paying for and you’re part of the show
Give the people what they want
First, you should know what people are expecting so you can play it up
[With skillful misdirection, it rigs foes with pollen-packed flower bombs. Meowscarada sets off the bombs before its foes realize what's going on.]
What? That’s not happening.
[This Pokémon uses the reflective fur lining in its cape to camouflage the stem of its flower, creating the illusion that the flower is floating.]
Cape? You always thought it was a scarf.
[Meowscarada occasionally attempts to perform magic while it sleeps. However, this performance tends to not go as planned.]
Note to self: set up the Paranormal Activity cameras in the bedroom
That could explain why, even though you didn’t wear socks anymore, they seemed to be disappearing from the drawer
[Meowscarada has a proud, showy personality; however, it is also sensitive and prone to jealousy.]
You always spoke your mind and weren’t shy about who you are so that wouldn’t take much getting used to.
Isn’t there something more you could do to add some pizzazz?
[Magician Pokemon]
Huh, that’s actually straight and to the point
You could definitely work with that
You were already pretty dexterous for having paw hands
Might be worth trying after some practice
{LATER…}
After clocking in and checking with David, you took your place at the game
High Card Flush, not the most technical game, but a favorite as players get to hold a whole lot of cards in their hand
Partnered behind you was a Lucario you hadn’t met yet, but David had introduced to you as Gene.
Dressed in a plain button up shirt and shorts, you noticed how he was standing on a pressure relief mat on apple crate to reach the proper height.
Poor guy, hope he doesn’t have to deal with the manlet torture.
Anyway, game on. The crowd this week was from the International Roofing Expo
No really.
If their business is doing well enough to attend an event like this, surely have have some budget for gaming
After playing carnival barker to entice guests, you were eventually able to fill up the table and get the crowd going
“Are you sure you’re roofers and not plumbers? You guys are doing great with all these flushes!”
Ugh, that was a reach. But they seem to be enjoying it so far, even if it was a pity laugh
The big spender of the group laid out a wager for you on each of the side bets
Now seemed like as good a time as any, say thank you by putting on a show
Alright everyone, let’s see some good hands and make it rain!
With practiced skill you made a large arc in the air with the cards, up to eye level and catching them back down in your other hand
After an extra shuffle and cut, you dealt them out
Most lost, but a couple players were able to keep their hot streak going so you paid them out
They were loving it now
Suddenly you heard the pit phone ring
You kept dealing, not daring to look over
After finishing the hand, David came over and tapped you and Gene out”You two both need to take your break. That was surveillance. Gene, you paid a push five hands ago. As for you Alex, they’ve got to review those last couple hands. I know you’re trying to play the crowd, but the cameras lost focus during that trick arcing so high. They’re afraid you might have exposed some cards doing that. Next time you try something like that, warn me. I’ll let you know what they find out.”
Damn it.
Well, you could use the break anyway, I guess
Drat.
The two of you weren’t ready for a meal break yet, so you decided to just take a lap walking through the utility corridors
So, what’s it like being a Lucario? Being one of the most famous mons can’t be easy can it?
”No, it really isn’t. But hey, what’s a girl to do? I guess I could be out playing human lie detector if I wanted to be a… wait a minute.”
“What?”
”You suddenly felt confused. Not when I stopped talking, before that.”
“Yeah. How did you know?”
”My aura can make me feel people’s emotions. Like empathy, but constant. What confused you?”
“Wow. Uh, I guess when you said what’s a girl to do?”
”Why did that confuse you?”
“I’m not a girl. I’ve been called for one before”
”I know you’re male.”
“Then why did you say that?”
”Oh. Then you can’t… oh man not you too! What am I supposed to do? Wear a pink bow? I’m trying my best!”
The Lucario sat down on the ground with their head in their paws
“I’m so sorry. Is there something I can do?”
”No, no. It’s fine. Don’t panic. Please don’t worry about me. I just get overwhelmed with these things. Just breathe girl, breathe.”
The realization made you feel like an idiot
”Don’t feel bad. Please, genuinely don’t. I know it’s weird. Let’s start over. My name is Jeanie but I’ve always gone by Jean. I am a female Lucario. Yes, this blue dog body is built muscular and not very curvy so people get confused. But I am still 100% female. I have a kid getting ready to graduate from UNLV. My husband is incredibly supportive. I get unsettled by unexpected emotions so I have to keep a guard up. Please don’t feel sympathy, let’s just move on.”
She straightened her self out and dusted herself off after literally jumping up from her seated position
“Uh… Okay… Uh… Do you think UNLV will make the playoffs?”
Your attempt at levity must have shown through as she gave a smile of relief