The next morning,

Neil and Bayleef were playing in the back yard in a light rain shower. Well, Neil mostly watched while Bayleef ran around in the rain. Sometimes, she would run up to Neil and rub against him in affection. Neil thought she was trying to get him to run around in the rain with her, so he did. She was so happy that he joined her, that she started giggling. "Come on, Daddy!" They ran together for a few minutes, and then she felt a little twinge. "Daddy, I have to go to the bathroom." "Okay, let's get dried off." So Neil and Bayleef went inside, dried off (the towels were just inside the door so they wouldn't track all over the house), and then she went to the bathroom. When she was done, there was a knock at the door. Neil answered it, and it was Uncle Stone, the one whose bid for governor was derailed by Mario three weeks earlier.

Neil incredulously asked, "Uncle Stone! What are you doing here?" Uncle Stone answered, "What, an uncle can't visit his favorite nephew?" Neil glared, "Everyone knows Bruce is your favorite nephew." "Not anymore." But Uncle Stone wasn't convincing at all. "You hate me, Uncle Stone. You were working with Team Elder against me as long as I knew you!" Then the gloves came off. "Neil, I'm broke, and you're the only one I can turn to. Everyone in Marion Town has rejected me, and I can't trust anyone else." Bayleef saw him, and recognized him from the Marion Town Orphanage. "Excuse me," she said. Then she whispered, "Daddy, what's he doing here?" "He is broke and he needs a place to stay, and someone to support him, and he trusts me to do so." "Well, I trust you; it's him I don't trust." "I'm the head of this household; he's only a guest. If he misbehaves, I'll kick him out, okay?" Bayleef smiled. "Okay, Daddy." Just then, a Growlithe ran in and bit Bayleef on the leg, growling as he did. She cried out in pain. Neil said, "Down, boy! Down!" Uncle Stone said, "Aw, come on. He's just friendly greeting her. Yes you are, Growlithe." Bayleef was still crying, and Neil glared. "I'm not buying it. That is not the way we greet others." Growlithe whimpered. "Now say sorry to Bayleef," scolded Neil. Growlithe fake-apologized, and Neil and Bayleef didn't buy it. Uncle Stone took up for Growlithe: "He said he was sorry; at least you could forgive him." Bayleef snapped, "Daddy and I could tell it was fake!" Stone snapped back, "Hey! Respect your elders!" Neil took up for Bayleef: "This is our house, not yours!" Stone snapped, "You too, young man!" Neil said, "Do you want a strike? Because you'll get one if you disrespect your host! And three strikes and you're out of this house!" Stone retorted, "You cannot treat elders this way!" Neil shouted, "STRIKE ONE!!! I mean it! Two more strikes and you'll be out of this house so quickly your head will spin! And then who will you turn to?" Stone gulped. He decided to cut his losses and quiet down. Growlithe also threw himself at Neil's mercy, apologizing for real. Neil then said, "However, you may be able to get that strike erased, if you conduct yourself properly, be kind and gracious to your host and his daughter, and don't try to assert your authority." Uncle Stone agreed. "Good," said Neil. "Now go watch some TV or something. I have a pool in the backyard, a putting green indoors, wireless internet, a number of books..." Stone interrupted, "Thank you, nephew. I get the picture." And he and Growlithe sat on the couch and watched TV.

Just then, Croconaw came over and said, "Bayleef! My parents gave me the okay to go swimming with you!" "Yay!" Then they asked Neil, and he gave them the okay. Uncle Stone and Growlithe didn't like swimming, Uncle Stone because he couldn't swim, and Growlithe because he was a fire type (although Charizard, also a fire type, loved swimming). So Bayleef and Croconaw, under the watchful eye of Neil, jumped into the pool. Just as they hit the water, rain began to fall in torrents. Fortunately, as was the norm, no lightning flashed and no thunder rumbled, so the girls could swim safely. Just then, Grovyle showed up. "Hey, ladies!" They said, "Hey, Grovyle!" Neil said, "Hey! Did your mom say you could go swimming with us?" "Sure!" Unfortunately, Grovyle had not been allowed to do so; he hadn't finished his chores that morning. He swam for five minutes, and then he heard, "GROVYLE!!!!!" He gulped. That was Ella! "How many times have I told you not to go swimming before finishing your chores!?" Grovyle had a smart-alecky remark ready: "Zero." "Don't get smart with me, young man!" "I'm not a man!" "Whatever. I said to finish your chores before doing anything else, swimming included." Neil interrupted, "Wait a minute! Grovyle, you lied?" Ella gasped, and Grovyle fumbled for words. "Ella, he told me you'd given him permission to swim with us." Ella then took Grovyle's hand and took him home, yelling at him all the way. Grovyle yelled, "Sorry, Croconaw!" Then Neil got in the pool. Swimming over to Bayleef and Croconaw, he said, "You see, girls, that's the problem with lies. They catch up to you, and you get in huge trouble." Then Charizard came over, and asked if he could go swimming with the girls. Neil ran inside, dried off, for his cell phone, and asked Mario if Charizard could go swimming with Bayleef and Croconaw. Mario said, "I told him he could." Neil said, "Sorry. I just had an incident in which Grovyle lied to me. I had to make sure Charizard was okay to swim." Mario replied, "It's all right." Then Neil said goodbye, ran back outside in the drenching rain, and gave Charizard the okay to swim. The rain fell for an hour, and the Pokémon swam for another hour after it stopped. Then they all dried off and went back to their homes (well, Neil and Bayleef were already home; they went inside).

When Neil and Bayleef went inside, Uncle Stone asked, "What's for dinner?" Neil replied, "How does macaroni and cheese sound?" Stone replied, "I don't know. I've never listened to it!" Neil laughed. "Well, you can listen to it if you put your ear to it tonight. Ha ha ha!!" Uncle Stone was tempted to tell Neil to "respect his elders," but he had agreed to be nice to Neil and Bayleef, so he held his tongue. Neil gave each one (himself, Bayleef, Uncle Stone, and Growlithe) an equal amount of macaroni and cheese. Uncle Stone and Growlithe were upset that they didn't get more, but they were polite about it. "More, please," they said when they were done. Neil gave each of them one more serving. After dinner, Neil was so impressed by Uncle Stone's manners that he erased his strike and showed him the guest room. However, they were not satisfied. They saw Bayleef's jungle-decorated room and wanted to stay in it instead. Neil prohibited this. "No. That is my daughter's room, and you cannot sleep in there." Uncle Stone retorted, "Come on, she'll be more than happy to let us stay in there!" But Bayleef said, "You heard my daddy." And so they reluctantly settled in the guest room.

That night, however, Bayleef was awakened by a crash. Uncle Stone dropped his suitcase right onto her Land Before Time playset! It was destroyed, and Bayleef gasped in shock. Then Growlithe went over and peed on it! "Hey!" Bayleef protested. Then they dragged her out of bed!! "Move over," said Uncle Stone. "I'm taking this bed. You will sleep on the floor." In tears, Bayleef said, "Daddy said-" But Uncle Stone interrupted, "DON'T ARGUE WITH YOUR ELDERS!!!! WE'RE TAKING THIS ROOM, AND YOU WILL DO AS WE SAY!!!!" Bayleef ran out of her room crying. "COME BACK HERE, YOUNG LADY!!!!" roared Uncle Stone. But Bayleef kept running...into Neil's bedroom. "DADDY!!!!" Bayleef wailed. Neil had been sound asleep. He mumbled, "Huh? What's that?" Then he saw his Pokédaughter crying. That jolted him wide awake. "Bayleef! What's wrong!?" She sobbed, "Uncle Stone and Growlithe broke my Land Before Time playset and stole my bed!" Neil tightened up with rage, and Bayleef cowered in fear. "No, Bayleef, I'm not mad at you. Uncle Stone and Growlithe just earned two strikes for that stunt. I'll tell them in the morning." "But what about my bed, Daddy?" "You can sleep in mine. You're my daughter, after all." Bayleef's tears stopped, and her face turned into a huge smile. "Thank you, Daddy!" she shouted. Giggling, she jumped up and kissed him. He said, "I love you, Bayleef. Good night." She then fell asleep in Neil's bed, and Neil also went to sleep. He had conflicting emotions: he was happy to be close to his Pokédaughter, sad because she was sad, and angry because Uncle Stone and Growlithe were abusing her.

The next morning, Uncle Stone awoke and saw that Bayleef was not on the floor. He walked around to look for her and chew her out, but Neil beat him to the punch. "There you are, Uncle Stone!" he snapped. "I want a word with you!" Uncle Stone said, "No, it doesn't work like that!" Neil bellowed, "IT DOESN'T WORK LIKE THAT, MY FOOT!!!! BAYLEEF RAN INTO MY ROOM IN TEARS, BECAUSE YOU TOOK OVER HER ROOM AND DESTROYED HER LAND BEFORE TIME PLAYSET!!!!!" Uncle Stone stammered, "But, but, but..." Neil bellowed, "DON'T GIVE ME THAT ELDER EXCUSE!!!! YOU ARE NOT ABOVE THE RULES!!!! I AM THE HEAD OF THIS HOUSE, NOT YOU!!!!" Then he calmed down and said, "You earned two strikes for your terrible behavior last night. One more strike, and you will have no place to live, no one to turn to, and...you get the idea." Uncle Stone tried to protest, but Neil remained firm. Uncle Stone sighed in defeat and moved back into the guest room, and Bayleef saw to it that he wouldn't try taking over her room again. "I will tell Daddy if you do anything like that again," she said with am intense glare. He timidly replied, "Yes, ma'am." She smiled and said, "Good. I'm glad we got that settled."

Oh, no! Just when it seemed like Neil and Bayleef were in utopia, abuse has invaded its way back into Bayleef's life. Fortunately, she has Neil to defend her and her friends to hang out with, and Uncle Stone has already earned two strikes against him. He needs to be kind to Bayleef or Neil will throw him out.

Please review. Have you ever been in a situation like this? Will Uncle Stone behave himself, or will Neil end up throwing him out?