"Get out."

He doesn't get angry or sad, or any emotion at all. He just returns Cubone to its pokeball and goes to the door. He takes one look back at me, still on the floor holding Persian. He calls Persian, but Persian doesn't move. Before he turns, I see the first trace of emotion from him all night. When he realizes his tears welling up, he quickly opens the door and leaves my room. I hear him walk down the stairs. Before he opens the front door to leave, my door opens up again. I see my frantic Mr. Mime rushing to me. I notice red marks around his wrists from where Giovanni must have tied him up. With all or Mr. Mime's yelling, I never hear him leave.

With both Persian and Mr. Mime by my side, it is easier for me to calm down and stop crying, even though it takes a long time for me to. I never realized how exhausted I was physically and emotionally, that I didn't know I had fallen asleep until the next day when Ash woke me up.

"Mom! Wake up!"

I slowly stir awake. It takes a few seconds for reality to kick in. I look around for Persian, but he's not in my room. I realize I am in my bed, instead of on the floor.

"Mom? Are you ok?"

I look at my alarm clock. It shows 4:36 P.M. I can't believe I slept so late. I never do that.

"Mom? Hello?"

There are no signs that he was here last night. Maybe it was just a dream. It has to be. There is no was that it could be real. Not with Cubone…

"Mom!"

"Oh! Hi Ash. And hello to you too Pikachu," I say, finally acknowledging them for the first time. "Where are your friends at?"

"Brock and Misty had to go home. I tried to call and tell you that before I left Viridian City today, but you never answered the phone," he told me.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Do you want me to fix you something to eat? I'm sure that you're hungry."

"Yes please!"

"Pika!"

"OK then." I get up and we walk out of my room to the kitchen. As we walk by the front door, Mr. Mime walks in and grabs me and drags me to his room. Not knowing what was wrong, I start thinking that maybe last night was real, and not just a dream.

I tell Ash to stay outside and then I go in. As soon as I close the door, Mr. Mime gives me a note that was written in none other than Giovanni's handwriting. It read:

Dearest Delia,

It was wrong of me to just barge in unannounced as I did last night, especially after what I did. I sincerely apologize. I want to see you. I want to talk to you. Please, if you can, please meet me at my gym in Viridian City. You can come at any time. I will wait for you.

-Giovanni

I didn't do anything after I read it. I couldn't believe it. But that wasn't all he left. Mr. Mime handed me a pokeball. I knew instantly who was inside. Just to make sure, I pushed the button and opened the ball. Just as I thought, Cubone appeared out of the red light of the ball. It blinked a few times, and then scanned the room, looking for something. I guess I was that something, because Cubone made its way towards me. When it got to me, it hit my shin softly with the bone it carried to tell me it wanted to be held. I picked up Cubone and held it close to me.

Even though I knew Cubone would have it, I was still shocked that it had Marowak's skull on its head. Seeing it brought back memories of that day…

As I held Cubone, it slowly fell asleep in my arms. I slowly open the door and go back to the kitchen where Ash is eating a sandwich. "Ash, can you run to Professor Oak's Laboratory real fast? I need you to get some things for a baby Cubone."

"Ok I can do it. What for though?" he turns around in his chair and sees it. "Oh. OK. I'll be right back." He runs out the front door with his half eaten sandwich.

I walk into the living room with the still sleeping Cubone. I sit on the sofa and cradle it in my arms like I used to when Marowak was still a Cubone. All I do is hold it, watching its every movement. Even when Ash came home with everything for Cubone, I was never apart from it. The only time I let go was to get some food for Cubone when it woke up. As I fed it I couldn't help but be reminded of Marowak. Everything Cubone did was almost exactly what Marowak used to do.

After Cubone finished eating, it falls asleep again. "Is it a boy or a girl?" Ash asks quietly.

"Cubone is a boy," I answer.

It was getting late, and even though I had slept the whole day, I was tired. I told Ash good night and went upstairs.

I notice two things when I open my door. One is a crib that Mr. Mime must have put in here. The other is Persian. I put Cubone in the crib, and then get into bed with Persian by my side. As sleep draws near, I take one last look at where Cubone lay. Then I put one arm around Persian and close my eyes.

I dream.