Chapter 10: Intergenerational Babysitters

Pallet Town Kanto, 5 pm…

While Gold and Crystal went to dig up information about Red's possible whereabouts, the other Dex Holders sat in awkward silence. Blue remained lost in thought about Red, Ruby and Sapphire silently thought about Yellow and her death and Green returned to his room so he could continue his work, leaving Black, White, and Platinum to their own thoughts.

White occasionally cast a glance over at Black, but he kept his eyes away from her direction. The girl sighed and looked away as well. But when she did, Black glanced over at her, still trying to decide if he should apologize and accept her once more.

Eventually, Blue decided to break up the awkward silence by starting a conversation with Platinum.

"Those are some large rings," she said as she looked at the large diamond and pearl rings on the heiress's fingers. "Are you engaged too?"

Platinum looked down at her rings and smiled. "No, senior. Not yet. I have always worn these two rings. Nowadays, I keep them on so I can always be reminded of my two friends, Diamond and Pearl."

Blue looked quite impressed. "So you always had those two rings? Wow. Each one looks around 10 times the worth of my wedding ring."

"She's from an incredibly wealthy family," Black said. "And she's extremely wealthy too."

The heiress smiled at him. "I believe that true wealth is simply being satisfied with what you have. In which case, I do say that I am very wealthy."

Black simply stared at her for a few seconds. "… Yeah. You are."

Platinum lightly shook her head. "… Perhaps I am a bad example."

"Tell me about your friends," Blue said, quite impressed by her junior.

The heiress began to describe everything about Diamond and Pearl. Of course, she naturally ended up talking more about Diamond than Pearl. And she even looked happy when describing him.

"So, do you think that Dia will propose to you one day?" Blue asked with a warm smile.

Platinum blushed in embarrassment. "I… do hope so. But many years from now."

Blue nodded. "I know it's way too early right now. But the way I see it… you might have a hard time getting him to pop the question."

The heiress appeared quite surprised. "What do you mean, senior?"

"I understand that you love him and he really loves you. But there will always be the fact that you are from a really high class family while he's just an average guy. Based on what you told me about him, I think it's likely that he'll be afraid to ask you to marry him. Not necessarily from the fear of a possible rejection, but more from him thinking that he may not be good enough for you. Tell me, does he call you by name?"

Platinum thought for a split second. "… No, he does not…"

"There's the proof that he puts you way above himself. He wouldn't dare put himself on equal level as you." Blue glanced at her junior's rings again. "And there's also the problem of surprise. Normally, when someone proposes, the engagement ring is very… exquisite and fancy. It's supposed to surprise and awe. Like when Green proposed. Well, to me, the proposal itself was enough of a surprise since I never thought he regarded me so highly. But the ring is supposed to be very fancy to symbolize his love. Now, you're always wearing rings that are as exquisite as rings can be. No engagement ring can possibly be fancy enough to surprise or awe you. If anything, they might even disappoint you. Dia will likely know this, again based on what you told me. Unless you exaggerated. But that's another reason why he might not propose to you. The fear of disappointment. And besides, you're not going to be wearing a third ring, are you? That'll just make the wedding ring stand out less and less."

Platinum's expression darkened severely. "… You are correct… Recently, he has been trying his best to surprise me with exquisite events, but…" She looked at her senior with a request for help. "Senior, may I ask for your advice?"

Blue thought for a while, taking note of the slightly desperate expression on the heiress. "… I think the most important thing for you to do is… just become friendly with him. Stop wearing expensive jewelry and do whatever you can to make him think that you're on the same status as him. Don't remind him of your high class background. Give a few years and he'll be able to summon enough courage to propose."

The heiress memorized the advice and bowed to her senior. "Thank you so much for your advice, senior. I shall always keep them in mind."

Blue turned her attention to Ruby and Sapphire. Sapphire was looking on with envy while Ruby was fiddling around.

"What about you two?" Blue asked with a smile. "Are you two getting there yet?"

"Get where?" Ruby asked, pretending to have missed the entire proposal conversation.

Sapphire elbowed him in the ribs. "This sissy keeps avoiding it. Can you help out?"

"Oh, this isn't something I should get involved with," Blue said. "But I suppose if Gold and Crys got married, you two will be next…"

"Yeah, well… I doubt that'll happen anytime soon," Ruby said dismissively.

"Oh, yes it will! I'll make sure of it!" Sapphire yelled with her fists clenched.

"There's just no end to your demands, is there?" Ruby muttered with a sigh. "First you force me to remember everything from Mirage Island, then you force me to go out with you, and now you're forcing me to marry you! What's next?!"

"What, are you saying that you don't want anything to do with me?!" Sapphire yelled.

"No! I'm saying that I'm not ready yet!"

"When will you be ready?!"

"Whoa, Sapphire," Blue started. "Keep your voice…" she trailed off just as she started to hear a baby crying. "... Down."

Sapphire pressed her hands over her mouth. "Oh, I'm so sorry!"

Blue let out a sigh. "This was bound to happen sooner or later." She walked over to the baby's room and within a minute, came back out with the baby in her arms. The baby seemed to have stopped crying already and was currently looking over at the strangers in the house.

Platinum and White quickly approached the baby the moment Blue sat down again. They both leaned close to the baby while appearing as friendly as they could manage.

"Aww, she's so cute!" White squealed. The baby had growing dark brown hair and adorable bright blue eyes, just like her mother.

"She has your eyes, senior," Platinum said with a smile.

"Thanks," Blue said. "But that's not all she has." She looked at White while holding the baby in her direction. "Want to hold her?"

"Oh, I'd be delighted!" White said happily. She carefully received the baby and gently held her. The baby looked at her eyes and simply blinked. "Hello, I'm White!" the Unova Dex Holder said in the nicest voice she could muster. She playfully raised the baby up closer towards her face.

"Ah, be careful," Blue warned.

"I will, I will," White assured her. "I'm not going to drop her." Just as she was about to gently hug the baby, the baby reached forwards with her small hands. And as White pulled her closer, the baby 'accidentally' poked her in both of her eyes. "Ow! My eyes!"

"I told you to be careful," Blue said with an amused laugh.

While the other Dex Holders laughed, White kept her eyes clenched shut and groaned. "Oh… that's what you meant…" She writhed as she fought the urge to rub her eyes. She couldn't since she was holding her senior's daughter. "Ow… This is the fifth time I got poked in the eyes today!" She managed to barely open one of her eyes and looked over at Platinum. "Lady Platinum, please take over!"

The heiress gently took the baby and White immediately began rubbing her eyes. The baby reached up towards Platinum's face with her small hands once more, as if she wanted a hug. The heiress didn't immediately comply, as she was worried that the baby might poke her in the eyes too. But she just couldn't say no to the baby and gently pulled her close… and kept a close eye on those hands.

This time, the baby simply reached up towards Platinum's face with her tiny hands and… squeezed the girl's cheeks, hard.

"Ah… I see she has found interest in my face…"

The baby squeezed harder and pulled. She started to laugh, and those adorable laughs made everyone smile. Including Platinum, whose cheeks were currently being painfully stretched. The baby soon released the heiress and began to clap in enjoyment. Platinum let out a short sigh of relief and smiled warmly at her senior's child.

"Hey, let me hold her too," Sapphire said as she approached her enemy of a junior. And before the heiress could even say anything, Sapphire took the baby from her.

The baby started to cry. Sapphire panicked and tried to tickle her, but it solved nothing. She quickly extended her arms towards Platinum so that the heiress may take the baby once more. But just then, the baby stopped crying. Sapphire blinked a couple of times and pulled her closer. The baby started to cry once more. In fact, she cried whenever she got close to the Hoenn Dex Holder.

Eventually, Sapphire gave up and surrendered the baby to Platinum. The moment she was in the heiress's arms, the baby started to laugh. Oh, she was just toying with Sapphire now.

"Alright, I'll take her now," Blue said from the side, having decided that her juniors have suffered enough.

Platinum carefully handed the baby back to the Kanto Dex Holder. The baby didn't let herself be passed back to her mother that easily. She grabbed onto Platinum's long hair before she got out of reach and held tight. The heiress gently tried to pull her hair out of the baby's grip, but she couldn't from the fear of accidentally harming her. The baby eventually let go and muttered something unintelligible while pointing at White. White approached the baby and dropped down to her level. The baby reached up and… poked her in the eyes again.

"Ow! Why only me?!" the girl complained as she put her hands over her eyes.

"I think she likes you," Blue said with a smile.

"… That's a weird way of putting it then…"

Blue kissed her child on the cheek and gently rubbed her on the back. "I told you she has more than just my eyes."

"So, what's her name?" Sapphire asked.

"Oh, I bet it's Teal!" Black said from behind.

Blue laughed. "Oh, I heard so many people say that. Black, if you and White have a kid, are you going to name that kid Gray?"

"… Good point," Black muttered.

"Anyways, the name I picked for her…" Blue trailed off and slightly frowned as she felt a peculiar vibration coming from her pocket. A very specific vibration pattern, only used for a special occasion. While carrying her child with one arm, she reached into her pocket and withdrew her Pokégear. "… Silver…" she muttered. She carefully handed her daughter to White once more. "Play with her for a little bit. I have to take this."

White reluctantly took the baby once more but kept her distance so the baby couldn't reach for her eyes. Blue quickly walked towards her room so that she may have a private call with Silver.

The baby reached up again, wanting to play with White's eyes some more. Perhaps this was because the Unova Dex Holder had the same eye color as Blue.

White pulled her head back out of reach. "Oh, you're going to traumatize a lot of babysitters…"

Blue returned a few minutes later and immediately entered Green's room. Platinum and the others stayed quiet to hear what she said.

"Green, we have to go to Viridian City right now. Silver needs us to meet him there."

"… Very well."

Blue quickly prepared to leave and afterwards, approached the other Dex Holders. "White, Platinum, I want you two to babysit for a while, okay? I won't be gone long."

Green and Blue left without hearing a response from their juniors. White sighed and held the baby to her sight level.

"Oh, you're going to traumatize us now…"

The baby looked around the room for a bit before looking over at the door and pointing at it. Platinum saw the motion and upon a certain realization, her expression immediately darkened. She even looked a bit pale.

"Aww, she misses her mother," White said with a warm smile. She looked over at Platinum. "Isn't that right?" she asked. She then noticed her senior's sudden expression change. "… Lady Platinum, what's wrong?"

Platinum let out a long sigh. "Even a baby knows enough to have filial piety…"

"Huh?"

"Hey, stop pretending to worry about your parents," came Sapphire's voice from behind. "We all know that you won't do anything about them. You already left them all alone with no one to depend on."

"What's this about her parents?" White asked.

"Missy's parents aren't doing so well," Black answered. "She said they're in critical conditions. I only managed to convince her to come with us by getting the help of a famous doctor."

"Oh… I'm really sorry to hear that," White said to Platinum. "Thank you so much for helping me given your situation. I really hope they get better soon."

The heiress forced a smile. "… Thank you." She stared at her senior's daughter for a few seconds before she sighed and walked away, heading towards the balcony. "Excuse me."

Sapphire watched her enemy disappear and smirked. Directly beside her, Ruby was pretending to be focusing deeply on his blank Pokégear screen. Ever so interesting. All those… pixels completely inactive! It was like looking down on a major city from really high above during a blackout.

Black and White both stared at Sapphire for a while, silently asking what exactly she was doing. The Hoenn Dex Holder ignored both of them and proceeded to think about more ways to offend her enemy.

The two Unova Dex Holders looked at Ruby, wondering if he was going to do anything. But since he appeared to be super fascinated by a blank screen, they chose to let it slide.

White put the baby down on the floor and sat in front so she could play with her. White grabbed a moderate sized ball from the toy box nearby and bounced it on the floor in front of the baby. The baby reached for it, so White gave it to her.

The baby held the ball and dropped it, watching it bounce on the floor before picking it up again. After repeating the process for a bit, she looked up at White. Without warning, the baby threw the ball at the floor… which bounced up and hit White right on the nose.

"Ow!" White yelped in surprise. The baby giggled in joy, so the Unova Dex Holder couldn't stay mad. For a 2-year-old (well, a little over 1, but this was the baby's 2nd year at life), the baby had a strong throw. "Oh, when you're 5, you're going to make a lot of babysitters miserable…"

…

Several hours later, 9 pm…

…

White looked up from her Pokégear just in time to see Blue's daughter slowly walking/crawling away from her toys on the floor. The Unova Dex Holder put her Pokégear away and quietly followed so that she could make sure that the baby wouldn't be harmed in any way, and so that she could see where exactly this little… eye-grabber (literally) was going. Towards the balcony, it seemed.

White opened the balcony door. The baby crawled on ahead, but slowly. White kept a very close eye on her, though that didn't seem necessary as the balcony's railings didn't have wide enough gaps for the baby to fit through. But still.

The baby turned to the left and White glanced over. To her surprise, she spotted Platinum in the corner of the balcony, where she wouldn't be spotted from inside the house. The heiress was currently kneeling on the balcony floor, facing north with her eyes closed and her hands clasped together. The baby crawled towards her and stopped right beside her. She then mumbled something unintelligible. White guessed that she wanted to play with Platinum (or her cheeks).

The heiress didn't seem to have noticed. The baby mumbled louder, but still nothing. The baby then inched closer and began to lightly and playfully pound on Platinum's leg, trying to get her attention.

Platinum slowly opened her eyes and looked down at her senior's child. She gently picked her up and held her close, allowing the baby to play with whatever part of her face she desired. This time, the baby seemed to be fascinated with Platinum's hair. She pulled some and tied some together.

The heiress allowed the baby to have her fun (as long as she didn't start eating the hair). But soon, the baby stopped messing up her long hair and looked around once more.

"You miss your parents," the heiress muttered. "I miss mine as well. I am a horrible daughter for leaving them at a time like this… I hope you will grow up to be better than me and that you will never experience what I am going through…"

"… Lady Platinum?" White called carefully. "… How long were you out here?"

"What time is it now?" Platinum asked back as she slowly got up to her feet with the baby in her arms.

"A bit past 9."

"It has been that long already?"

"Come on," White said. "Let's go back inside. Blue said she's coming home with dinner. Though it's a bit late for us to be eating…"

"Yes…"

"… I'm sure they'll be alright, Lady Platinum," White said in a comforting tone. "Your parents, I mean. There's no way that your efforts will go to waste."

Platinum smiled. "Thank you. And I am sure that your efforts will not go to waste as well."

"Huh?"

"Your status with Black. He is currently stressed and may have broken up with you, but he will return. I am sure of it."

White sighed. "I hope you're right…"

The heiress offered her right hand. "Until our wishes come to fruition, we must keep trying our absolute best."

White soon smiled and nodded. She shook her senior's hand. "Deal."

Blue returned to her home within the next few minutes, carrying several large bags filled with food.

"I'm back! Sorry I took so long!"

Blue set the bags on the dinner table and entered the living room. Platinum and White rose to greet her, with the heiress carrying the baby. Blue took her daughter back and thanked her two juniors for babysitting.

"Oh, it was nothing, senior," Platinum said with a smile.

"Yeah, it was fun," White said. A blatant lie. In the 4 hours of babysitting, she got poked in the eyes, got a ball thrown into her face, and the baby had sneezed a mouthful of water into her face.

Blue grinned. "Really? In that case, I guess I can ask you to babysit her more."

White's expression hardened a little. "… Let's discuss that when the time comes."

"Of course. Now let's eat! I'll just put the baby to sleep first."

While Blue went to tuck her daughter into her crib, White and Platinum prepared the dinner table. Once Blue returned, everyone started to eat. As per etiquette, Platinum didn't sit down until Green, Blue and Ruby sat down. Technically, she was supposed to wait for Sapphire to sit down too, but she ignored that part. And also per etiquette, the heiress didn't start to eat until Green, Blue, and Ruby started. Again, she was supposed to wait for Sapphire, but… meh.

"So, where are you guys staying for the night?" Blue asked.

"We will look for a nearby hotel to stay the night," Platinum answered.

"Why not just stay here?" Blue suggested. "We have enough room for all of you. Or at least enough blankets and pillows. Besides, you'd want to stay here since Gold and Crys would most likely come early in the morning to report their findings."

"Well, if you insist… I guess it's okay," White said after a moment of thought.

"Great! We can use this opportunity to learn more about each other!"

…

Next morning, 6 am…

…

The baby slowly woke up from sleep. A nice 9 hour sleep. Not that long of a sleep, but it was enough. She sat up and used the railings of the crib to stand up. There were no sounds coming from outside her room, which meant Blue didn't know she was awake yet. The baby reached up and grabbed the top of the crib railing. She managed to climb over the railing and slid down towards the floor below.

The door to the room was still slightly open from Blue's 3 am checkup, so the baby was able to open the door without any problems. Now that she was outside, the baby proceeded to walk/crawl towards the living room.

The room appeared to be in a mess, with 5 people sleeping all over the place. Ruby was sleeping on the couch, leaving Sapphire, Platinum, Black, and White to sleep on the floor. With Sapphire sleeping with her arms and legs outstretched in the center of the room, the other 3 Dex Holders were effectively crammed in the corner.

The baby crawled around the sleep-battlefield of a living room and soon found Platinum and White. The heiress was sleeping neatly next to the wall while White was sleeping not-so-neatly right beside the couch.

Unfortunately for her, White was chosen to be the "victim" once again. The baby climbed up onto the arm of the couch and crawled towards the edge.

"Mmm…" White mumbled in her sleep. "… A raise? … … You're fired… … … No… not the fire drill… …"

The baby stood up and took a second to regain balance. She then took aim and jumped off… and landed on White's chest.

"Ack!" White cried out in surprise and pain. The baby giggled and clapped her hands. White coughed a few times and slowly sat up while groaning. "What… what the…" She spotted the baby reaching up to her and realized what happened. "… Oh… How did you get all the way out here? … Go bother Lady Platinum…"

The baby crawled towards the heiress, who still appeared to be asleep. She was tossing around a little, which meant that she was close to waking up. The baby crawled towards her head and began to poke her cheek. Platinum slightly frowned. The baby poked her again and again and pulled at her hair.

Platinum soon woke up from the constant annoyance and opened her eyes. She saw her senior's child sitting in front of her so she sat up too. She lifted the baby onto her arms.

"Good morning, Lady Platinum," White said with a wave. She stopped mid wave and fixed her morning greetings to a bow.

The heiress lightly bowed back in response. "Good morning to you, White."

White put a hand over her chest and groaned. "Ugh… Let's just… wake the others now."

One by one, the other Dex Holders woke up. White neatly folded the blankets while Platinum kept the baby entertained. The other three simply sat around, waiting for their sleepiness to fade. Within a few minutes, Blue and Green came out of their bedroom and joined their juniors. Once all the morning greetings were out of the way, the Dex Holders prepared for the new day one at a time.

By 8, all the Dex Holders have had their breakfast and finished preparing for the day (shower, etc). Now all they had to do was wait for Gold and Crystal to return with their findings.

The two Johto Dex Holders arrived around 9 am. Mostly because of Gold. If Crystal was alone, she'd probably have returned by 7 at the latest.

"We found him," Crystal said with an excited look on her face. "We know where Red is."

Heh. As an "aftermath" of S-EARLY, I now have a tendency of checking every word after I use the word "special". Such as "special occasion" this chapter. … No, I'm not making another story named "Special Occasion". Because… what the hell is S-EARLYO?

This chapter was a filler, with another filler coming up a bit later. The objective for SY (apart from ending it before the 1st anniversary) is to keep the total chapter count to 15 or less. Since the anniversary is less than 3 months away, I will be focusing basically purely on SY.