The Heaviest Timber Was the First One Timburr Crossed Out

On the morning of the second rest day, Magby walked into the shop by itself.

It no longer asked Yan to carry it. After entering, it drank some water, then finished an entire soft cake. As usual, Indeedee checked its temperature, breathing, and the soles of its feet, drawing three circles on the record board.

Yan watched closely. "Can it move around a little today?"

Xia Che flipped over the course sign by the entrance. "It can walk from the front hall to the backyard."

"And then?"

"Walk back."

Magby had already completed the trip. It poked its head out from the backyard, seemingly finding the arrangement no challenge at all.

"Babei."

"I heard it. It said it can walk more," Yan said.

"I only heard one sound," Xie Yue said.

Hu Liena handed Magby an empty cup. It took the cup and slowly carried it to the water basin. When it returned, it did not flop down, and it was indeed much livelier than yesterday.

Indeedee still added half a day after the line that said no running on soft stakes.

Seeing that, Yan had no choice but to put away the training wristbands he had prepared.

Before noon, a small flatbed cart stopped outside the shop.

The man pushing it was a repairman from Spirit Hall's Martial Arena, surnamed Shi. He was already over fifty, but his shoulders and back remained broad, and his apron was covered in sawdust. The cart held three thick wooden beams of varying sizes, along with a weapon rack with a broken crossbeam.

"I'm not here to fix your door," Master Shi told Xia Che first.

Xia Che had just glanced at the door hinge. "What a pity."

"The Martial Arena has to move soft stakes, weapon racks, and protective gear every day. I'm getting old, so I want to find a partner willing to do carpentry with me."

Rotom handed him an application card. "How long would it carry things each day, Rotom?"

"One shichen in the morning and one shichen in the afternoon."

"What about breaks?"

"When I rest, it rests too."

"Would there be sharpened weapons on the racks?"

"The training ground only keeps wooden weapons. Someone else handles the real ones."

He answered quickly, clearly having thought through all of this beforehand. But when he reached the section asking what kind of partner he wanted, he wrote: the stronger, the better.

Xia Che tapped that line with his pen. "Be specific."

Master Shi thought for a moment, crossed out his original words, and changed them to: willing to lift timber, and willing to stop upon discovering cracks.

Only then did the application card light up with a green border.

The shadow in the selection device soon came to a stop. A dull thump of wood hitting the floor came from behind the Encounter Room door, followed by two more knocks.

Master Shi's eyes lit up. "Sounds strong."

Yan looked over as well.

Magby, sitting on its cushion, immediately pushed his face back toward the record board.

"I didn't go train," Yan said.

The little one continued staring at him.

Inside the Encounter Room, a small gray figure was bracing a wooden beam. Several raised ridges stood atop its head, its nose tip was reddish, and both hands tightly gripped a square beam longer than itself.

Rotom displayed the Pokédex. "Timburr, Fighting type. It always carries a wooden beam to train its body through hauling, and it is also very skilled at examining timber, Rotom."

Master Shi circled it halfway. "Is that piece of wood from the shop?"

Timburr hoisted the beam onto its shoulder and warily stepped back.

"It's its own," Xia Che said.

"I'm just taking a look."

Timburr took another step back.

Master Shi withdrew his hand. "All right, I won't touch it."

Only then did it stop.

No weightlifting was arranged for their first meeting. Master Shi carried the three beams from the cart inside and laid them on the ground in order.

The first was the thickest and heaviest. The second was thinner, with an old nail hole along one edge. The third was a moderate length of freshly sawn timber.

"These are the kinds we often use to repair racks at the Martial Arena," he said. "Pick one, and we'll fix that broken rack."

Timburr first walked toward the thickest beam.

Yue Guan had just entered the shop. Seeing this, he stopped. "Small body, big appetite."

Timburr crouched down and tapped its knuckles along the wood several times. When it reached the middle, the sound suddenly turned dull. It flipped the beam over, revealing a fine crack hidden along the underside. It had already extended half a foot along the grain.

The smile faded somewhat from Master Shi's face. He crouched as well and scraped at the edge of the crack with his fingernail. "It wasn't this long yesterday."

Timburr picked up a charcoal pencil, drew an X at each end of the crack, then pushed the heaviest beam aside.

"Not choosing that one?" Yan asked.

"No matter how heavy it is, it can't be used for a crossbeam," Master Shi said.

Timburr looked at him and nodded.

It also circled the old nail hole in the second beam. That spot would not immediately break, but it was unsuitable for repeated impacts. Finally, it chose the third piece of fresh timber, placing its own beam flat beside it to compare the length and right angles.

Master Shi took out an ink line. "You know how to check measurements?"

Timburr could not use his ink line, but it could press the two beams tightly together. It held down one end and gestured for Master Shi to mark the other.

For the first time, a man and a Pokémon worked together, neither trying to seize the other's tools.

While sawing, Timburr was responsible for holding the wood steady. Every dozen or so strokes, Master Shi paused to let the sawdust settle and give it a chance to switch hands. Whenever it noticed the cut drifting slightly off, it tapped the wood with a fingertip. Master Shi adjusted his direction according to its reminder, and the crossbeam was soon cut evenly.

Xie Yue stood beyond the safety line with Pawniard. Pawniard's blades could easily cut through wood, yet it did not step forward to save them the effort.

"Wouldn't it be faster with it?" Yue Guan asked.

"Even if it were faster, we wouldn't know where it was likely to crack," Master Shi said.

Pawniard nodded at him.

After the new crossbeam was fitted back onto the rack, they still had to carry it from the front hall to the backyard for testing. The passage was narrow, and Master Shi was used to carrying it alone on his shoulder. The moment he lifted it, it blocked half his vision.

Timburr tapped one rack foot with its own beam.

"You want to lift this side?"

It nodded.

Master Shi lowered the rack, and the two of them each lifted one end. When they reached the doorframe, Timburr stopped first, and he stopped with it. The weapon rack turned at a slight angle, its crossbeam sliding past the edge of the door without knocking down the course sign hanging there.

Xia Che looked at the intact doorframe. "This one is a very good fit."

"Do you mean the rack or me?" Master Shi asked.

"Timburr."

Master Shi was not offended. He set the repaired rack down securely, then labeled the two problematic beams separately: only for propping feet and awaiting replacement.

Timburr picked up the charcoal pencil and drew a circle after awaiting replacement as well.

"A three-day trial," Master Shi said. "Two shichen each day, and for now, we'll only repair wooden racks. Come if you're willing. If not, you can stay at the shop."

Timburr looked at him, then at the cart. It placed its own beam on the cart but did not climb aboard immediately.

Indeedee handed over a trial card. It showed the hours from sunrise to midway through its descent, with a water bowl and resting mat marked in between.

After looking it over, Timburr tucked the card beneath its beam.

It hopped onto the cart and sat between the three pieces of timber.

"Does that count as agreeing?" Master Shi asked.

"It agreed to go take a look today," Xia Che said.

"What about the three days?"

"Ask again after today."

Master Shi nodded and pushed the cart away.

Xie Yue followed them for the trip. He knew the way to the Martial Arena and also wanted to see whether the Repair Shed truly had the resting area written on the application card.

The Repair Shed stood beside the training ground. Its doorway was wide enough, and there were no scattered blades on the floor. Water, a bench, and an old wooden box stood against the wall, the box filled with removed blunt wooden parts.

Timburr jumped down from the cart and first hoisted its own beam back onto its shoulder. Several young Spirit Masters who were putting away protective gear immediately gathered around.

"Can it lift an entire weapon rack?"

"Let it try that stone lock."

Someone else reached out, trying to touch the ridges atop its head.

Timburr turned aside to avoid the hand, holding its beam horizontally between itself and the reaching fingers. It did not swing at them, merely snorted heavily through its red nose.

Xie Yue stepped between them. "It's repairing racks today. If you want to watch weightlifting, go watch Yan."

"Yan isn't training today," one person said.

"Then don't suddenly add a session either."

The group had no choice but to disperse.

Master Shi pushed the newly repaired rack into the shed. One corner of the floor sloped slightly, and the rack gently rocked when set down. Timburr crouched to inspect all four feet, then ran back to the cart and pointed at the beam with the old nail hole.

"That one can't be used as a crossbeam," Master Shi reminded it.

Timburr indicated a very short section.

Master Shi understood. He sawed off an intact piece beyond the nail hole, shaved it into a thin shim, and slipped it beneath the shorter rack foot. The rack immediately stood steady.

The beam that had been crossed out was not wasted, nor was it put somewhere unsuitable.

After working for half a shichen, Master Shi wanted to continue repairing a second rack. Timburr, however, set down its charcoal pencil, went to drink from the water bowl, then lightly tapped the bench with its beam.

"Is it break time?"

It pulled the trial card out from beneath its beam and pointed at the water bowl symbol in the middle.

Master Shi looked at it for a moment, then set down his saw. "All right. We'll continue after we've rested enough."

Xie Yue did not wait for the full two shichen to end. Before leaving, he saw the man and Pokémon sitting side by side on the bench, each brushing sawdust from their hands and wooden beams. Neither got up early just because a broken rack still stood beside them.

When the cart returned to the shop entrance that afternoon, the trial card was still tucked beneath Timburr's beam. It jumped down, flipped the card to the side showing the second day's sunrise, then looked at Master Shi.

"Coming again tomorrow?"

Timburr nodded.

"I'll come get you on time."

Only then did it carry its beam back into the Encounter Room.

Magby followed them to the door and watched the cart turn past the street corner. Yan thought it wanted to go out as well and was already preparing to explain that it could not help on a rest day.

But the little one merely carried back the unfinished cup of water by the door.

It returned to its cushion and slowly drank while hugging the water bowl.

The heaviest beam remained in the corner of the cart. What had truly been useful today was the one without any cracks.