*** TRIGGER WARNING ***
BUTCHERING A POKEMON CARCASS DESCRIBED IN DETAIL!
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
** Jake's POV **
"Oh I almost forgot."
Jumping up from the couch I looked at my mom.
"When I was throwing rocks one of the Pidgeottos fell to the ground and broke it's neck so I put it in my Item Box. What should I do with it mommy?"
My mom just looked at me blankly for a moment.
"You have a Pidgeotto in your Item Box?"
"Yeah. We've eaten Pidgeys before so can we eat Pidgeotto? What does it taste like?"
My mom spoke slowly as if she was having trouble putting her thoughts together.
"Yes you can eat Pidgeotto. It's actually more flavorful than Pidgey but as an evolved form they are harder to keep penned in so you can't just buy one whenever you want."
I was excited when I heard what mom said.
"So it's delicious? YAY!"
I ran towards the kitchen.
"I'll put it in the kitchen."
Looking at the counter I realized that the Pidgeotto was to big.
"Never mind I'll put it on the table it's too big for the kitchen counter."
Just as I was about to take it out I heard mom yell.
"Wait! I will have to clean it first. We can do that outside, but before we do any of that put Pidgey back in it's ball. Unless you want to scare the poor thing."
After putting Pidgey away mom and I went outside.
"Put it there. I'll go get a knife."
Mom went back inside and I pulled the Pidgeotto out of my Item Box and laid it out on the picnic table. With a wingspan of slightly over eight feet it's wings dangled over the sides of the table. Looking at it like this I felt sad, I hadn't meant to kill it. Walking up beside me mom must have known exactly what I was thinking.
"Don't feel too bad Jake. It looks like it was a quick death, no pain. Out in the wild it's kill or be killed and it was this Pokemon's time."
I looked up at her.
"I didn't mean to kill it though. It was an accident."
She just crouched down and hugged me.
"I'm sorry that you are learning this already but we live in a world where only the strong survive. If you weren't strong enough it would have been you laying dead out there."
She used one hand to make me look at her.
"To strong Pokemon we are food, nothing more and nothing less. We partner with Pokemon to protect ourselves so that we can keep living."
She turned my head towards the pidgeotto.
"You were the stronger one this time so be proud of that but don't ever forget that that could have been you, or Gary, or Ash, or even Daisy."
When she said Daisy's name I flinched. No matter how annoying she was sometimes I wouldn't want her to disappear forever.
Mom let go and stood up.
"Now then. How about I teach you how to butcher a Pidgeotto."
"Okay mom."
As she looked at it closely she looked at me again.
"Another couple of months and this Pokemon might have evolved. That means it's going to taste even better than I thought."
"Really?"
"Yup. It take a lot of energy for a Pokemon to evolve so they have to store up enough before hand to carry them through it. All that stored energy constantly flows through them and makes their meat taste even better."
With quick, practiced movements mom cut off the head, wings, tail, and the scaled portions of the legs. Then with a flick of the knife she cut through the skin before setting the knife down. Grabbing both side of the cut skin she ripped it apart and peeled its skin off leaving behind a skinless, featherless body. Picking up the knife again she slit open it's chest cavity before setting the knife aside again.
"Pick up that bowl for me Jake."
Doing as she said I held the bowl as she scooped the guts out of the Pidgeotto and placed them in the bowl. Looking at the blood and guts I was surprised that I didn't feel any urge to puke at the sight. Looking up I saw that mom had stopped moving to watch me for a few seconds before pulling out the neck and the rest of the innards. Opening the chest cavity wide she looked inside before nodding her head. Then she walked over to the hose and turned on the water, she quickly rinsed her hands as well as the faucet to clean the blood off before dragging out the hose and rinsing the Pidgeotto and table.
"Now that the Pidgeotto is a more manageable size we will continue this in the kitchen. Can you turn off the hose and grab the knife?"
I followed her instructions and then just watched as she went inside and came back out with a towel. Unfolding it she spread it on a dry part of the table and put the now clean Pidgeotto on top. Picking up the corners of the towel she easily carried it inside while I followed behind with a bowl in one hand and the knife in the other.
Once we were back inside mom put the Pidgeotto on the counter pulling out a cutting board she unwrapped the towel and slid the board under the bird.
"You can put the bowl and knife in the sink Jake."
Now with my hands empty I watched as my mom skillfully cut the legs off at the joints, then the thighs followed and then the breasts leaving behind a surprisingly clean ribcage.
"Pretty easy right Jake?"
I honestly didn't know what to say. The speed and skill she just used to butcher the bird had a shiver of fear running up my spine.
"Mommy. Remind me never to make you mad."
She just looked at me with a confused look on her face as I stared at what used to be a child sized Pidgeotto.
"Well you can go play now all that's left is to start cooking."
I left the kitchen as quickly as I could without breaking into a run.
** Emily's POV **
I watched as Jake nearly ran from the kitchen and chuckled a little. Putting a bit of fear of you into your kids was tip 19 in parenting 101. Turning to look at the carcass on the counter I thought about what I should make. The breasts would be perfect for soup and the innards and carcass would make great stock. As for the legs and thighs? A casserole would be good.
Pulling out the stock pot and kitchen shears I cut the carcass in half at the base of the coracoid bone. Placing both halves into the pot I started filling the pot with water as I sorted out the innards. With practiced ease I quickly moved the liver, gizzard, heart, and neck into a separate bowl throwing the remaining innards into the trash. Using a forearm I moved the faucet away from the pot and rinsed my hands as well as the giblets before tossing them all into the pot.
Moving the pot to the stove I centered it over a back burner and fired it up. While that was heating up I went out to the garden and grabbed a few veggies and fresh herbs before returning to the kitchen. I quickly washed the cutting board and counter before I rinsed off the vegetables. After cutting them up I added then to the pot; two large onions cut into rings, five medium sized carrots cut into quarters, and the leafy heart of a bunch of celery, as well as a sachet of parsley and thyme. Sprinkling a bit of salt and pepper over the top I covered it with a lid to let it cook.
Turning to the meat I decided to start with the breasts. Laying them flat on the cutting board I cutting them in half horizontally, then vertically into strips, and once more into cubes which were then put in a bowl, covered, and moved into the fridge. The legs and thighs would take a bit more work, using a sharp knife I cut down the length of the bone and the carefully cut the meat away from the bone all the way around until I was left with four deboned chunks of meat. Lifting the lid off the stockpot I added the bones to the stock and gave it a quick stir before replacing the lid.
Cutting the remaining meat into roughly equal sized pieces I moved them to a bowl and then washed up the dishes and counter top. Placing a frying pan on the stove I added butter and turned the fire to medium, once the butter was melted I began dredging the meat chunks in seasoned flour before placing them carefully into the pan. They didn't need to be cooked all the way, they just needed to be a nice golden brown on each side. After a piece was done I would move it to the casserole dish laying the pieces in nice layers.
When that was done I minced an onion and added it to the butter and drippings and turned the fire to low. When the onions were transparent I added the seasoned flour a little at a time while stirring to make a roux. Pulling some Pidgey stock from the fridge from the last time I made a whole roasted Pidgey I added a cup of stock to the roux as well as a cup of sour cream stirring over low heat until the sauce was smooth adding more stock as needed, and with a sprinkle of salt and pepper and a half teaspoon of poultry seasoning the sauce was done.
Lifting the pan I poured the sauce over the meat in the casserole dish and with that it was ready to go into the oven. Turning the oven on to 350°F I place the cover on the casserole dish and slid it into the oven, setting the timer for an hour and a half.
The stock was just coming to a boil so I lifted the lid gave it a quick stir and turned the flame down to simmer. Placing the lid partially covering the pot I washed up the last of the dishes before going to check on Jake.
Looking into the living room I didn't see Jake so I walked to his room, his door was open so I was able to look in without him realizing I was there. Growlithe looked up from where he was resting but I signaled for him to lay back down. Jake was sitting at his desk with a Pokemon Bestiary opened up in front of him and he was tracing his finger back and forth over the picture.
Pushing the door open the rest of the way I walked up to him and rested a hand on his shoulder. Looking down at the book it was open to the entry for Pidgeotto and he was just staring at it.
"There is a reason not everyone goes on a Pokemon Adventure deciding instead to start their careers early. Not everyone can handle taking a life after their first and realizing everything it means. I should have realized that this could happen with you going into the woods nearly every day."
I sighed heavily.
"This isn't something anyone can help you with it's a decision you have to make all on your own. Just know that I'm here if you want to talk."
I didn't say anything else as I just stood there but Jake leaned over a bit and rested against my hip. We stayed like that for a while until I saw Jake's head bob forward and then snap back up.
"If you're tired you should take a nap. I'll wake you for dinner."
He shook his head and carefully closed the book resting a small hand on the cover.
"I'm not tired mom."
"Ok sweetie. I'm going to go back to work in the kitchen."
Leaving Jake's room I looked at the clock it was just after 3 so Green should already be done with whatever light duty work he is able to get away with by now. That man. I love him but he doesn't know the meaning of bed rest. Pulling out my phone I sent a quick message to Green.
[While Jake was out exploring today he accidentally killed his first Pokemon.]
I barely had my phone back in my pocket before there was a reply.
[I'll be home in 5. What kind was it?]
[A Pidgeotto.]
Placing my phone in my pocket I ignored the next few messages that came in. If he was home resting instead of working he would know all about it already.