Chapter 3: Learn and Do

Illya frowned as she looked over the odd page in front of her, blinking as she reviewed the options on-screen. “Lady Caroline, how can Pokemon be sold? I mean, they’re… people, right?”

Caroline snorted. “Yes. But they’re not quite human, and Pokemon breeding and training is a big business. Most of them are done with the cooperation of the Pokemon in question, though; it helps any species to get widely distributed and sent to willing, happy partners.”

“I also saw several papers that said otherwise, Professor.” Shirou said, face neutral, “Though I also saw that by far and large the actual sale of Pokemon has dropped sharply in the last fifty years.”

“Heh, yes indeed. Global communications means you can’t just take a Pokemon and sell it off two or three towns away.” She nodded. “Also, there’s a lot more people around that see even ‘working’ Pokemon as friends and allies, not tools.”

Illya turned back to the screen, pouting. “But… these are all so expensive! Except the Wurmple or Magikarp, I can’t afford any of these!” She paused. “Erm, could I–”

Shirou gave his sister a light chop. “No, Illya. You received plenty of pocket money for the week, and you know our Trainer budgets.”

Illya, as it turned out, had no proper context for the value of money. She’d learned fast, but only because Shirou had prevented her from making several impulse purchases and leaving her without any spending cash, including her League Stipend.

“... You’re right, Shirou.” She said eventually, deciding that she couldn’t really, closing down the website, “Besides, it’ll be more fun to catch them anyway!” The girl continued, pumping her fist, “... When do we get to leave, anyway?”

“Three and a half more weeks, Illya.”

“...so, plenty of more time to go make some money, then.” She eyed her brother. “When we’re not training.”

Shirou shrugged. “I have proper circuits, so I can train a lot longer before it hurts too much. But that is a good idea.”

Caroline hummed. “If you kids do want some more money, there’s always odd jobs around the city.” She acknowledged. “Though I’d prefer if you stay in my neighborhood and old town.”

Illya shook her head. “I was thinking more putting my magic to use. I mean, I could probably wish up a gem-finding spell…” She mused.

Shirou shrugged, looking at the screen. “What Pokemon were you looking to buy, anyway?” He blinked. “What is a Growlithe, and why is the Hisuian variant four times the price?”

Caroline sighed. “The Pearl clan, one of Sinnoh’s old families, are the only ones with a proper breeding population, or free access to the areas they roam wild. So anyone wanting a Hisuian Growlithe needs to go through them, and that requires real connections, or a lot of money.”

Shirou nodded. “Why do you want one, anyway?”

“It’s fluffy!” Illya responded.

“... Illya, Flareon has it beat in fluff by far, and a Ninetales has even more fluff than that.” Shirou responded.

“Do you see how pricey a Vulpix is?” Illya responded, shifting to a different page. “Even more than the Growlithe!”

“Oh, huh, you’re right.”

“Eevee doesn’t want to be a Flareon, anyway.” Illya nodded, as her Eevee perked up, nodding in tandem. “She’s more interested in Leafeon, Espeon, or Sylveon.”

Shirou blinked, then looked at his Eevee. “...I suppose that is something we should think about…”

“Bui!” The aforementioned cat-fox barked, looking rather happy, “Ei-bui!”

“Yes, Umbreon or Glaceon would be rather cool.” Shirou muttered, receiving a happy bark from his Pokemon, “Have you considered the Stone Evolutions as well?”

“Ibui!”

Shirou blinked, before nodding, “Jolteon?”

“Vee~”

Illya stared, fascinated, as Shirou and Eevee began to converse.

“Good choice.”

“Bui~”

“... You know, it still freaks me out that you can communicate so well with your Eevee, Shirou.” Caroline muttered as the cat-fox leaped into Shirou’s arms, glomping him. “It takes most trainers years.”

Shirou shrugged, idly adjusting his pokemon so he was more comfortable. “I just had to focus my magecraft on imitating his wavelength.” Shirou pulsed his circuits, letting the light he’d found within surge slightly, blue light dancing over his skin. “See, easy.”

Illya’s eyes bugged out. “What is that?”

Beside her Caroline choked. “...Shirou, is that Aura?”

“...I don’t know what that is,” the boy deadpanned. “I just landed here a while ago, Professor.”

“Does it make you stronger? Can you feel other Pokemon nearby?”

“I haven’t tried the first… the second…” Shirou closed his eyes, letting his senses spread out. “Yes. Your Chimecho is currently getting into the cookies again, Caroline-san.”

Caroline rose, exasperated, looked into the kitchen, then returned her guilty-looking pokemon. “...well. Mystery gifts, indeed.” She muttered. “Do not strain yourself, Shirou. Aura is… well, it’s a sem-legendary art for a reason.”

“Art?” Illya asked, looking a bit lost.

“Because technically anyone can learn it.” Caroline stated, “But only the individual can awaken it. Don’t ask; no one really knows how it works. There’s no way to truly test for an affinity towards it.” She sighed. “I’m going to need to make some calls. If you stumbled into an Awakening, you’ll need some basic training.”

Shirou watched as she walked off, then turned back to Illya. “So… jobs?”

Illya shook her head rapidly. “Shirou, you just discovered you unlocked a hidden power that requires specialized training on accident!” She yelled, waving her arms. “Why aren’t you freaking out?”

“I can’t do anything about it, and we still need money.” Shirou shrugged. “So… job hunting.”

“... Fair.” Illya grumbled, “We should wait till Caroline comes back, though, before we commit to anything.”

Her brother nodded, smiling. “Good point, nee-san.” He heard over to the computer and switched to a new tab, pulling up the local want ads. “So… you’re going to gem-hunt?”

Illya nodded. “Elemental gems and evolution stones are both pretty valuable, but even normal gemstones are worth money. And with Eevee to break rocks or dig with me, we can probably make some cash hunting them down in the rocky woods nearby.”

“Wouldn’t it have been picked clean by now?” Her brother asked, before remembering an important piece of information. “Ah, wait. Elemental gems aren’t like our gems. They form differently, right?”

“Yep!” Illlya chirped, “Though that’s why metals and natural gems are still valuable here. Especially since evolution stones and elemental gems are consumed on use. They practically disintegrate!”

“So there’s always a market.” Shirou acknowledged. “I suppose collapsing gems are useful in that regard…”

“NOOOOOOO!” Rin wailed, staring in horror at the shards of her newest creation. “WHY?”

Beside her, the more studious of her two moms eyed the results of Rin’s experiments. “Why did your family create a field of magic reliant on a very expensive substrate?” Aurea mused, looking over the shattered remains of the six elemental gems Rin had wheedled out of her old battling reserve. “Seems kind of wasteful.”

“It has to do with mystery.” Sakura stated, “It might also have been a statement of prestige, but I can’t actually see our ancestors buying into that kind of talk. I think the family tomes said something about gems being ludicrously efficient in terms of mana storage; they can store mana and spells for as long as they remain unbroken, and most of the mana spent is retained. Most other materials can’t say either.”

Aurea nodded, before she looked over Rin’s work. “Well, that might work here, with something other than the least stable gem formations. However, I don’t keep any precious stones which aren’t Pokemon-related around, and I’m not letting you experiment on Evolution Stones. Those are pricey, especially if they’re shelf-stable.”

Rin sobbed. “A whole new world, and I still need more money…” She looked up at Sakura. “...oh imouto…”

“No, Rin. You cannot have my pocket money. Not even as a loan.” Sakura replied primly. “...you know, since you’re not going to therapy, or training, you could look for stones of your own. Or do some exploring.”

Sakura’s recovery had coincided with Alder sending over the preliminary adoption papers for both girls; letting them stay with the Juniper family even as the real paperwork went through. Of course, as soon as the ladies had full authority over the girls, they’d attempted to set up therapy appointments for both of them.

Sakura had… enjoyed her first session. The Gothitelle matron who was her therapist hadn’t been more than sympathetic, even after reading her memories… and seeing the Beast manifest briefly. Rin, on the other hand, had promptly (and poorly) attempted to psycho-analyze her therapist, though thankfully the Gardevoir simply reported that Rin was ‘stable, if a little stubborn.’ She had then added that ‘If she wants to psycho-analyze someone, she should actually do some research on the subject first, the punk.’

In addition to her mental therapy, the local Joys had recommended Sakura take up some sort of regimented exercise to prepare for her journey; without Zouken’s worm reinforcing her, Sakura was pretty frail. Sakura, however, hadn’t gone for yoga or pilates; she’d taken a look at her options, then signed up for a course at the Throh Judo Center.

Fennel wandered into the room, nursing a cup of tea. “So, how did the experiments go?” She eyed the table. “Ah. I’m sorry, Rin.”

“... Nothing can be done about it.” The Tohsaka heiress stated after a few moments pause, “Besides, it just gives me a reason to divert to another aspect of my family’s craft.”

Fennel hummed, lost in thought. “Magic… it’s not a common thing, these days. Even aura users and Adepts are more common, and you find one of those in a quarter million. But it used to be more common, in the days before Pokemon and humans coexisted.”

“Indeed!” Rin and Sakura looked up to see Aurea’s father, Cedric, walk into the room. “Doesn’t make much sense to do things the hard way when you have Pokemon to help.” He grinned. “Hello again, girls! Good to see my accidental grandchildren again!”

“Hello grandpa.” Sakura replied dutifully, a small smile on her face, “How are you today?”

“Doing well, thank you!” His smile dropped to something less wide. “Well enough, anyway.” He looked over at his daughter. “Alder called me. He can get the full paperwork through the system without much trouble, though the loopholes the Conductors left in the bureaucracy. But it’ll be a little bit before it’s finalized.”

Aurea turned to look at her father. “Oh? How long?”

“Four weeks, maybe five. Despite starting outside normal channels, it’s important to get this sort of thing right.” He looked back at both the girls. “...I know we discussed it briefly, but what do you girls want to do?”

Rin sighed, pushing herself away from the desk. “Well…” She looked around. “...I can’t continue my research–”

“Rin, please do not become mono-focused on your magecraft.” Sakura cut off her sister, then turned back to Aurea and Fennel. “...I like it here. I’d be happy to stay, but…” She looked out the window. “I’d also be happy to see more. I don’t know yet.”

Cedric chuckled. “Well, you don’t need to decide right now. Spend a few days, recover, and do some research.”

“...research.” All eyes spun back to Rin. “Don’t you all need trainers to look over the world? Look at Pokemon, record their habitats, and all that? Could we help?” She looked around the room. “I refuse to freeload, and it sounds like needed work.”

“It’d also be a good reason to explore.” Sakura added thoughtfully, smiling, “A good idea, nee-san.”

“You do not need to feel like you’re a burden in the slightest!” Fennel objected. “If you want to stay here…”

“...then we’ll let them. But both of them have been chained to certain expectations, right? And trapped, in many cases, by circumstances.” Aurea acknowledged. “You’re both old enough to go on your journey, at least in the traditional sense. You might be a little young, Sakura, but going with your sister should be fine.”

“Then it’s settled!” Rin declared, “Time to prepare for our journey…” She paused for a moment, before grinning sheepishly at the deadpan look her younger sister was giving her, “... How do we do that again?”

“Well, first would be doing your research.” As Rin opened her mouth, Fennel silenced it with a shake. “On survival skills, Pokemon, the terrain. You’re smart enough to get all of that down, and catch up on how to use modern technology, in a few weeks.”

“Why would I need to use that out in the field?” Rin groused, before Aurea produced a red device folded in half. “Um, what’s that?”

“This is a Pokedex. Last year’s model, but it’s still a very effective device.” Aurea explained. “Built in scanner, satellite uplink to servers for data storage and communication, archived information about local and global pokemon, and status readings of your own team. All trainers use a derivative of Pokedex tech to manage their teams, but Lab Trainers get dedicated pieces of equipment.”

Rin twitched, a low keening sound coming forth from her mouth as she stared sightlessly at the cursed, cursed device in her (adopted mother) boss’s hands. She almost didn’t notice her sister start patting her head, muttering “there there” as she sank to her knees in abject defeat.

Cedric chuckled as he watched his newest family members. “Well, they certainly bring a bit of liveliness to this house.” He walked over and gave Rin a nudge. “So… going to let this little device beat you?”

“... Never.” Rin growled, standing, “I’ll master the use of technology even if it’s the last thing I do.” She stood, glaring at the device with a scowl. “Okay… so…”

Aurea opened it up, pulling Rin over to her, even as Sakura moved to stand at the woman’s other side. “So, this is how you turn it on…”

Shirou looked over the busted oven with a gimlet eye, triggering his circuits as he started his Analysis. “Let’s see…” He hummed, reading the path the blown fuse had scorched into the metal and the wiring within he wrecked appliance. With a murmur, he felt Eevee press a screwdriver into his hands, and proceeded to crawl inside the device, pulling out the bottom panel and the element to get at the internal wiring.

The woman nearby peered at the legs of the young man protruding from the oven with some concern. “Ah… Young man, I wasn’t expecting you to go through this much trouble…”

“Bui!” Shirou’s eevee replied smartly, the young boy frowning as he began to unscrew the panel he needed to get access to,

“It’s no trouble. Helping people is rewarding, and I know exactly what the problem is here. The fuse blew. Just need to replace it.”

“I see.” The woman murmured as Shirou reached out a hand, Eevee scrabbling through a nearby belt pouch and spitting a widget into the waiting hand. Minutes later, Shirou emerged from the oven, soot-touched but smiling. “Well, I’ll need to test it, but if it works I’ll pay you what the workman would charge.”

“There’s-”

“Deal.” Illya cut in sharply from the entrance of the building, “Shirou, you know what the Professor said about working for free.”

“...yes, nee-san.” Shirou acknowledged, turning back to the woman and bowing. “Thank you for giving me a chance, grandmother.”

“If it works, you’ll have saved me a lot of time and trouble, young man.” As he turned to leave, she pressed a small parcel into his hands. “For your troubles, even if it doesn’t work.”

As Shirou walked outside and returned his Eevee, he took a look over at his sister. “How did you find me, anyway?”

“I just followed the rumors of the little handyman. Care to explain, little brother? We’ve already talked about this.” Illlya grumbled, frustration coloring her tone. And was that concern? That was odd. Illya tended to not emote that openly.

Shirou shrugged. “I’m not a licensed handyman, and practicing my analysis and reinforcement techniques without a practical use seems wasteful. This is a good way to flex them both, and you’re bringing in enough money with your searching. At least, I think you are.” He looked at the bulging pouch at Illya’s waist. “Make any good finds today?”

“That’s not the… Shirou, the people who I talked to, the ones that you helped, they want to reward you. Some of them think you’re being arrogant because you aren’t accepting a reward! Others are quite clearly very concerned! People pay other people for services rendered! That’s just how people work!”

“I know.” Shirou sighed. “But it’s… I guess I’m just uncomfortable asking for payment when I barely know what I’m doing.” He kicked the ground. “Not like it stops them. Most of them send the payments to Professor Caroline anyway.”

“... I’ll drop it for now, Shirou.” Illya stated sadly, “My day went okay. Nothing really big, just the normal elemental gems; though I may have discovered a vein of ore. Nothing too valuable, just some non-precious metals. I’ll be letting the Professor know later so she can do some basic surveying.”

Shirou stopped, and took his sister’s shoulder. “If it makes you feel better, I’ll start charging people for my time, or letting them give me recompense.” He smiled sadly. “I don’t… I’ll try to see things your way.” He looked at the parcel in his arms. “I wonder what this is, anyway?”

“Open it when we get home?” Illya suggested, a small smile gracing her face at his words, “I have to stop by the Pokemart to drop off today’s finds. Anything you want me to buy?”

“Nothing yet.” Shirou shook his head, then changed his mind. “Actually, can we swing by the market? I would like to pick up some fresh ingredients for tonight.”

“Of course.” Illya replied immediately. She liked that Shirou enjoyed cooking; not purely selflessly, of course. Her brother was more of a budding chef than a normal cook in her mind. His food was amazing.

A few minutes later, Illya happily skipped beside her brother as the two of them entered the afternoon market. Stalls of all sorts lined the closed-off street, manned by Pokemon and humans alike as they traded coins for anchovies, carp, fresh veggies, berries, and Pokemon produce. Shirou eyed one stall with interest as he saw fresh Tropius eggs and fruit, then frowned as the implications passed into him. “Wait… aren’t those…”

“Not fertilized, mate. Some Pokemon species lay eggs regularly, with or without mating.” A nearby man explained, setting down his crate of fish. “A lot of larger bird Pokemon are like that. Something to do with needing larger nests, or used to needing such before Pokemon started hunting each other a lot less.”

“Less?” Illya asked, genuinely curious. The man nodded, smiling,

“Good to see young kids like you interested in history. Pokemon aren’t static. Just like us, they’re constantly striving to better themselves. Wouldn’t be surprised if some of the more secluded wilds have herds of domesticated animals at this point.” He shrugged. “Also helps that when injured, a Pokemon can head to civilization and find a Joy or a ranger for help. Used to be, that Pokemon would have to hunt down some protein, wherever it could get it.”

Shirou nodding seriously in response, “Yes. Free healthcare is indeed nice.”

Illya tilted her head. “So… who pays the Joys?”

“The local communities get support from the League. Makes sense to have healing stations everywhere for trainers, you know?” The man finished laying out his catches. “Nice talking to you kids, but I’ve got to sell this lot before the market closes.”

Shriou eyed the fish, a gleam in his eye. “Well, I may be able to help with that…”

Two minutes later, and eight filets of sushi-grade fish later, Shirou happily stuffed his new ingredients into the refrigerated section of his backpack, smiling gayly. “So, Uramaki and vegetables tonight, I think. Any preferences on dessert?”

Illya hummed, her grin turning coy, “Whatever you want, little brother. I chose the last three times. Your turn now.”

Shirou frowned, only to get bumped as he was beginning to look around the market for inspiration. “Oh, sorry.” He looked up to see a young woman with deep purple hair, a single silver streak running through it. “Didn’t see you there.”

The woman glanced over both of them, her eyes sharp. “I think it was more my fault, really.” Holding out one hand, she gave a small smile. “Carly. Nice to meet the two of you.”

“Emiya Shirou.” The redhead replied politely, his own eyes equally sharp,

“Emiya Illyasviel.” Illya added moments later, smiling blankly, “A pleasure.”

Carly looked over the two, letting her hand drop. “...hmm. Not casual enough, I suppose. But I can tell. You two–” She knelt down, getting on their level. “Are going to cause trouble. Good trouble.” Her own smile was fierce.

“... You aren’t some random person, are you.” Shirou ventured after a moment, the blue glow in his eyes fading, “Your aura is far too unique for that. It’s got threads of gold intertwining with it, for one…”

“Sharp, too.” Carly leaned forward. “And you can tell I told a little lie, can’t you?” At Shirou's nod, her smile broadened a little. “Carly’s a name I go by much of the time. But my birth name is Akari.” She stood up. “You’re going to be visited by a descendant of an old friend soon. I just wanted to see if you matched what my friends were expecting… or what they were told.” She stood back up, dropping a bag in front of them. “Try these for your dessert. They’re pretty good, and the orchards don’t sell any around here.” With a wave, she walked off into the crowd.

Shirou picked up the cloth sack, opening the flaps to reveal a half-dozen bright pink peaches. Noticing that his sister had frozen at the stranger’s name, he poked her gently, “What’s wrong nee-san?”

“... That was Akari. The Hero of Hisui. She’s… I guess the rumors were true. She really is timeless or immortal.” Illya whispered softly, “And… she gave us peaches…”

Shirou looked at the fruit. “Perfectly ordinary peaches.” He murmured after his eyes shone. “We’ll need fresh cream and strawberries for parfaits.” He lifted the bag with one arm, heading deeper into the market.

“... Of course the immortal ancient hero is a troll,” Illya muttered grumpily to herself as she trotted dutifully after her younger sibling, “That makes perfect sense.”

Shirou nodded. “Better than being too dour.” He hummed as he scooped up a few bottles of rich Moomoo milk-cream. “Any objections to parfaits?”

“None here,” Illya teased, pushing aside her bewilderment. “I did say it was your turn, Shirou.”

Sakura looked at her sister with a level of trepidation she had not been prepared for. This was… beyond her wildest expectations.

“So, if I just use the index to catalog all the data, it makes cross-referencing my research so much easier! And this is something normal researchers have access to all the time?” Rin nearly bounced in her seat as she rapidly tapped away at the laptop Professor Juniper had provided, a disturbingly wide grin on her face. “And this setup! The code! I think I may have figured out the basics of that lodestone of a Jewel Sword Zelretch left us!”

…apparently, when she got over her aversion to technology, Rin could really appreciate the  benefits. Really, really appreciate the benefits. To be honest, Sakura could see how she should have seen this coming; Rin was a researcher. Her aversion to technology was based on tradition. Rin was smart; she wouldn’t hold herself back for tradition. But it was still throwing the younger girl for a loop to see her technologically inept sister devour secondary school level technological texts.

“...we have created a wonderful, terrible monster.” Fennel murmured with abject glee. “Have you noticed she’s started teaching her Eevee how to use a speak-and-spell?”

The Eevee in question looked up, and then began to rapidly tap at the Pokedex between her paws. <I can talk now. And I demand pets.>

Rin absently reached down with one hand, scritching the top of her partner’s head. “Okay, so I think I understand how to use the laptop, Xtransceiver, and Pokedex well enough for casual use. Still working on understanding programming, but that’s not nearly as… user friendly.” She paused, then made a note. “I do object to the linguistic drift this is pushing on me, though. I almost memed yesterday.”

“Nee-san, you’ve already memed.” Sakura deadpanned teasingly, smirking all the while, “Yesterday, at dinner. You said something that was absolutely an internet meme.”

Rin paused. “I didn’t.” She said softly.

“You asked what the dog was doing, dear sister.” Sakura singsonged, “I am aware it actually made sense at the time, but it is a meme.”

“...Agate? Is she correct?”

The newly named Eevee gleefully tapped at her new speaker system. <It is too late, master. You are already a memer. Ha-ha-ha.>

Rin hissed, leaning back in her chair. “One, don’t call me master. And two, oh hell no!”

“You did it again.”

“Argh!”

Aurea reached over and patted a desolate Rin on the head. “There, there. You’re fine, Rin. No one cares if you meme a bit.”

“None of the other Magi will ever…” She trailed off. “Get the references, actually. This may not actually be a problem…”

“See neesan, you have one more way to thumb your noses at them in a way they’ll never understand~” Sakura chirped in an evil voice, her smile slightly unhinged, “Isn’t that a good thing~”

“I suppose…” Rin muttered.

Agate looked up, face tilted. <Why bother when we can just use our power and flexibility to style all over them?>

“Politics.” Rin deadpanned, “Though that’s if I decide to bother with the Clocktower in the first place. If we return, that is.”

Fennel sighed. “You may not have a choice.” As everyone looked up at her, she gave a sweep of one arm. “Whatever brought you to us… it might take you back. There’s been a few fallers that came and left without warning. A lot more stayed, of course, but there’s always a chance.” She shook her head. “Not anytime soon, though. At least, not so long as you don’t seek out a way back.”

Sakura shook her head. “No, I want to stay here, at least for now.” Her own Eevee, Ren, leapt up to perch on her shoulder, wrapping his tail around her neck.

Rin nodded. “Well, even if we leave, we’ll come back.” She said flippantly. “We’ve got family here now. We won’t remain separate for long.” Any further commentary was cut off as she was lifted into the air by simultaneous Aurea and Fennel hug. Arms reached helplessly as she was suspended between two squeeing lady scientists. “Wait, I was working!”

Sakura smiled as she watched them, feeling the knot inside that held the Beast unravel a little more, a content hum running through her. Three weeks ago, these moments would have been a delirium dream. Now, they were all too real.

And we will do what we must to keep them real, won’t we? For once, Sakura had no objections to her inner monster’s commentary, even as she leaned back in her own chair and watched her loved ones in peace.