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It was bright and early in the morning, and Nico was checking everything on his list a third time. He had written it all out over the past week or so, starting with everything he could think of when he had first began the list, and adding to it as things occurred to him. It wasn't the most efficient way of doing things, but he found that it helped him not miss out on something that just didn't occur to him in the moment.

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That kind of thing had happened a lot over the years, so he had begun this habit. It depended a lot on him having the kind of lead time needed for this kind of thing, but when he could manage it, it was pretty helpful.

... It was funny to think about now, the fact that he had been human once upon a time. He didn't really give the matter much thought these days. At first it had been pretty strange to be a Cubone.

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And it had been even stranger talking to and working with other Pokemon, but now it felt so natural that he didn't even register anything strange about it.

He had thought maybe that he would feel weirder about it. After all, as a human his body had been pretty different from a Cubone's. But for whatever strange reason, it had never felt awkward to move around in the body he had now, and when he looked in the mirror he felt just fine.

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He had known some people who felt uncomfortable with the body that they had as humans, and if he thought too hard on it he half expected to feel something similar himself now, but he didn't. And if he didn't, then there was no point in going out of his way to try and make himself uncomfortable, was there?

At any rate, he gave the list a last look over. "Reviver Seeds... Oran Berries... Sleep Seeds, Gummies if they have any... Oh, I should check our budget."

[crow]

Not that there was much of a formal budget for their rescue team. It was basically just the one they had, all of which was carried around by Nico unless he needed to dispense some of it to the others for their own purchases for the team, or to run an errand system. He had thought maybe that they would mind, and that they would need some sort of proper financial system as the team grew in size, but everyone seemed pretty content with the way that things were now.

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Which wasn't to say that they didn't get paid for their work, of course. Nico wouldn't think of running a rescue team like that. But the payout for jobs was handled right when they received the fee for successful jobs, and Nico never saw any of that money, except looking at it when it exchanged hands from the client to one of his team members. And that was fine; he had never coveted that kind of wealth anyway.

[crow]

It was one less thing for him to manage, which was just as well, considering he really didn't know about his abilities as a treasurer in the capacity that he served as one for the team right now. He didn't know what he would do if he also had to figure out the Pokemon rescue team equivalent of payroll. That seemed like just the sort of thing that would open up some sort of unpleasant can of worms.

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He wasn't about to subject himself to that if he absolutely didn't have to. And fortunately for him, he didn't. He hoped that wouldn't change anytime soon.

Still, when it came to the equipment for the team, that was pretty much just him, with Joli helping out. Nico had really appreciated the help, especially in the beginning, when he didn't really know his way around the variety of things that were available to a rescue team to use.

[crow]

Things like Oran Berries were simple enough, and he remembered having come across them when he had been human, but he had certainly never seen a Reviver Seed before this. And that wasn't even getting into all the scarves and glasses and things that Pokemon could wear here, which he had certainly never encountered before. He vaguely remembered that there were other things for Pokemon to hold onto in fights, and some of them were sort of scarf-like, but they weren't really the same...

[crow]

But now he also couldn't remember terribly clearly what all that stuff was in the first place.

He supposed it didn't matter. It wasn't as if he was going back. At first he had thought maybe he ought to try and find a way back to where he had been before he had gotten turned into a Cubone, but things just kept happening one after another... And there was never any time for it, since there were always more pressing matters at hand that had to be dealt with.

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By the time things had finally calmed down enough for him to have anything like breathing room, he had found that he had already grown attached to this place, and to the team that had stuck with him through everything. And Joli, he had been just about the best partner anyone could ask for. By then, Nico couldn't fathom the idea of leaving this place behind to go back to somewhere that he didn't even remember all that clearly anymore.

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There was something sad about all that, losing one's memories of where they were from... But he didn't really feel that sense of loss too keenly. You couldn't miss what you no longer knew, and he didn't have a lot of cause to long for it either. Nico complained about the management aspects of running a rescue team, and there were certainly members of his team that often gave him headaches, but on the whole he felt pretty fulfilled by the life that he led now.

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The feeling felt novel, so he guessed that he hadn't felt the same way back when he had been human either. One more reason not to bother trying to find a way back. Besides which, not that he had been looking very hard, but the possibility of it had never come up through rumors or research or what have you. Maybe whatever had happened to him was a one way process, and there really was no way for him to go back.

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If that was the case, then it was just as well that he was so satisfied here.

Checking the budget was really just a matter of opening his money pouch. He didn't know why he bothered with such an officious name for it when that was all there was to it... Okay, maybe he liked to feel a little bit important once in a while. He was their glorious leader, or whatever, as Lupin would have put it if he were here.

[crow]

The title sounded grand, but what that amounted to in practical terms was that he ran most of the annoying errands that they needed to keep themselves afloat, like shopping for supplies. Still, if he was their glorious leader, then he could sound as stuffy as he wanted to. It was just about the only perk there was, when it came down to it. Besides, it wasn't as if anyone could hear him.

In terms of funds, they were actually doing quite well.