SWEET MERCIFUL ARCEUS. 5000 Views!? H-How!? Thanks for reading the story, despite my freakout. Hope you enjoy this new chapter.

Chapter 29:

It had been a few days since that night. The MUPIC home was raided, and Jude got his old clothes back. The other kids they had kidnapped were saved and put up for adoption, with much stricter requirements regarding babying. The paperwork was a total nightmare, especially since they had to account for the beatdown Jude had given the MUPIC, but Lucy didn't mind. She was just glad that he was home, and more importantly, that he felt safe.

It was still a bit weird that he'd started to call her Mom, but Lucy accepted it with open arms. She knew he was still scared from the event, and he needed someone that he could open up to, and it just so happened that he viewed her as that someone. He trusted her, so she was going to make sure she would be there for him.

Currently Lucy was in the kitchen, preparing sandwiches for lunch. Jude was taking a nap in his room, the sound of loud snoring coming from inside it. He'd been sleeping a lot lately, probably still exhausted from all the stress. Lucy laid out some plates for lunch, before going to check on him.

"Jude?" she asked, opening the door. He was out cold in bed, his face to the side and drooling. She slowly walked over and licked his head, causing him to stir. He groggily opened his eyes, taking a moment to focus his attention on Lucy. "Morning sweetie, sleep well?" Lucy had been a bit gentler talking to Jude the last few days, and he seemed to appreciate it.

Jude slowly sat up and took a moment to stretch. "A little bit" he said, before climbing out of bed. He was wearing a plain white shirt, and a pair of grey pajama pants. Taking a moment to stand up, he turned his head to Lucy.

"I just laid out lunch for us. You can eat in your pajamas if you want, though I would suggest putting some clothes on for later" Lucy said. She turned around and made her way out of his room, leaving him to his own devices.

Thanks Mom Jude thought as he went over to his dresser and changed. Jude knew she was shocked when he first called her that, but he didn't care. She was the only one who cared about him to the point that she tracked him down and saved him, so to him, she was practically his mother. After slipping into his normal outfit, a thought popped into Jude's head. Hmmm…

Lucy was sitting down at the table, patiently waiting for Jude. After a few minutes she heard his footsteps, and turned to see that he was wearing his Shinx outfit. "Aw, what's the occasion for that outfit?" She asked him. He blushed a little before responding with "I thought you might like it."

"That's very thoughtful Jude, but you really didn't have to do that" She said. She didn't want him going out of his way for her, even if he did see her as his mother. "I know, but I wanted to do it." He responded, a look of sympathy in his red eyes. Lucy sighed, seeing that he was serious. "Alright, just don't make a habit out of it. I appreciate you doing this for me, but I don't want that to be your only motivation."

"Oh, don't worry about that. I just thought doing something like this once in a while would be a nice change of pace." He responded, a half-grin on his face. He sat down opposite of her and the two dug in to lunch.

Jude quickly burned through his sandwich, only slowing down to drink some water to wash it down. Lucy was a bit slower than him, taking her time to enjoy the meal. Just as soon as she finished, a thought crossed her mind, and a wicked smile came onto her face.

"You know, I just had an idea." Lucy said, causing Jude to look up at her. "Why don't we take a picture? I know for a fact my mother would love to see you in that outfit" Jude blushed when he heard that, but he did understand what she meant. Maria did buy the outfit specifically for him, she'd probably really appreciate seeing him in it.

"Sure. But just one picture." He said, not wanting too much attention on himself. Lucy grabbed her phone and moved over to where Jude was sitting. She pulled up a seat and sat down beside him, wrapping one of her paws around his back.

"Alright, smile." She said, aiming her phone at the two of them and snapped a photo. She showed the photo to Jude, who nodded his head in approval, before she sent it to her mother.

"There we go. Though with that out of the way, I recommend changing. We need to pick up some groceries today." Lucy said. Jude got out of his seat and walked back to his room, already working on taking off his jacket. He soon stepped out in his usual outfit, taking a second to adjust the red jacket.

"Ready to go?" Lucy asked him. He nodded his head and the two made their way out. "If anything bothers you just let me know." She said as they started down the street towards the grocery store.

"I should be fine, just so long as no one tries to do anything to me" Jude said. I don't want her to worry about me he thought. He sighed as they continued down the streets, putting his hands in his jacket pockets. But at the same time…It is kind of nice to have someone worry about me for once.

Soon they both arrived at the store. Lucy and Jude walked inside and started to go down the aisles, picking up items on Lucy's list. Occasionally they would bump into other Pokémon who would coo at Jude, but Lucy quickly put a stop to that. Jude for the most part stayed silent and ignored them, especially if any of them had human children, since they were all being babied. Though seeing that made a thought pop into her head.

Does Jude have any friends? Lucy pondered this question as they continued shopping. Aside from Alex's daughter Sarah, Lucy couldn't think of a single person he'd met that wasn't a Pokémon. And since he'd already made his stance rather clear on how he feels about other Pokémon, other humans seemed like the only ones he'd make friends with. Though if there was one thing she could guess about him, it was that he'd never have friends who were ok with being babied.

She contemplated pressing him for that info, but decided that doing it out in public wasn't the best idea. So, for now she decided to focus on getting the groceries. The two of them were efficient in hunting down what they needed, splitting off to cover more ground and easily grab everything.

Soon they had amassed everything they needed, and the two of them made their way to checkout. As they got in line at one of the registers, Lucy noticed Jude staring at a Kangaskhan employee, his eyes red with bitterness. "What is it?" She asked him as he turned his attention to her. "That Kangaskhan was the one that stopped me from getting the groceries last time." He said, his eyes still red.

"Pay her no mind then. She isn't worth your attention" She said. She remembered that day pretty well, given how much it soured Jude's mood for the day when it happened. They soon reached checkout, payed for their groceries, and walked out of the store.

Lucy considered asking Jude the question she'd thought about earlier, when she noticed a familiar face on the street. "Alex?" She said, causing the Cincinno to turn around. "Lucy! I wasn't expecting to see you here!" Alex responded, walking over to her. "I see you and Jude were out getting groceries. I was just taking Sarah on a walk" She was pushing a stroller, where Lucy could easily see Sarah sitting inside, wearing a pair of overalls and a pink shirt.

Lucy turned her head to see Jude, who was holding his arm over his stomach. He looked like he was going to be sick, sweat coming down from his forehead. "Jude, are you ok?" She asked with concern. He turned his head to her, his eyes red with the feeling of panic.

"N-No. I think I need to lie down." He responded. Just the sight of seeing another human in a stroller reminded him of when he was held captive, and made him want to vomit. I know she doesn't mind it herself, and it isn't being forced on her, but I just cant take it he thought, groaning as he squatted down to the ground.

"Let's get you home, fast." Lucy said, panic starting to rise in her voice. She hastily said goodbye to Alex, promising they'd meet up again sometime, before helping Jude stand and walking him home. After walking for a bit Jude could stand on his own, but Lucy still stayed close to him in case he needed her support. Soon they reached the house and stepped inside, Jude going over to the couch and laying down on it.

Uggghh, that was painful he thought, as he started taking some deep breaths to relax his stomach. He could see Lucy put the groceries down in the kitchen before sitting down next to him.

"Are you sure you are ok?"

"Yes…I think. I just need a few minutes." Jude responded, as the knot in his stomach started to calm down. Lucy didn't move from the couch, and just waited for him to recover.

"Jude, there is something I've been meaning to ask you" She said, causing him to turn his head to her. "I've heard that from you before. Go ahead, ask the important question." He said, half-snarkily.

"Sorry if I sound rude, but…Do you have any friends? Your old team not withstanding?" She asked. Jude sat in silence after that question, mulling it over in his head.

"…Nope."

"Wait, that's it?"

"Yeah. I've never been much of a social person. Talking to people just wasn't my forte. I'm more the kind of person that stays shut in to most, but does allow a select few to see how I feel." Lucy took a second to realize she was one of the select few he was talking about. She put her paw in Jude's lap as he continued.

"A lot of the people I've encountered in my life did not treat me with respect, so I had to force them to. As a result my personality developed into the aggressive one that you've seen. It doesn't exactly help with making friends."

"Are there any other people you've met that you would consider friends?"

"Honestly…No. I can say they are nice people, like Sarah. But I can't consider them my friends, either because I don't know them all that well, or…"

"…You can't get over the fact that" Lucy said before he raised his hand to stop her.

"Exactly. You don't even need to finish that statement. I just can't find it in myself to be friends with people who…actually Like that stuff. I just…HOW?!" He said, shaking his hands into space to show his confusion. "It also doesn't help that…THAT…Just made me hate that shit even more than before." He curled his open hands into fist, no doubt still pissed. Lucy rubbed his leg with her paw, causing him to put his hands down and uncurl them.

"I understand. Though maybe we can find you someone else to talk to, someone who has a similar mindset to yours." Lucy said, causing him to sigh. "I wish. But nowadays I feel like I'm the only sane human in a sea of insanity" Jude said.

After that, Lucy got to work putting the groceries away while Jude went to lie down in his room. Once she finished putting away the last of them, she noticed that she got a text from her mother.

"Oh wow, I didn't expect her to send a message composed of nothing but the letter E" Lucy said sarcastically. Giggling to herself over her mothers glee, she suddenly found her phone vibrating. Oh shoot, it's the boss She thought as she quickly answered.

"Hello sir?"

"Hello Officer Sparks. How goes The Lone Ranger?"

"He's starting to feel a bit better. Though I've started to notice something…"

"And that would be?"

"Well, he definitely puts the word Lone in Lone Ranger. From what I've seen he doesn't have any friends, and it's highly unlikely that he will make any on his own…"

"I assume you are referring to the babying?"

"Yes sir. Given the ordeal he went through, he likely won't ever make friends with any human that has accepted babying."

"…Officer Sparks, I may know someone he can talk to."

"What?" Lucy said. She didn't expect that kind of a response from Captain Stark, who usually thought that it would just be a matter of time.

"There is a traveling agent coming to the city in the next few days. He has a son, and the two of them are also against babying. The two of them are going to be here mostly for sightseeing, so if you want we can talk to them about meeting with the Lone Ranger."

Lucy was stunned. There was another person like Jude, and he was coming here soon. Taking this opportunity, she responded with "Yes, I would really appreciate that."

"Alright then. They will be here in a few days. Once their plane lands you and me will greet them and inform them of the situation."

"Yes sir. Thank you, sir."

With that Lucy hung up. Thank goodness, maybe this will help Jude she thought as she walked over to the living room.

Jude had been listening in on the conversation, keeping his ear up to the door of his room. Hm, she wants to help me, but I don't know if this is such a good idea He thought. Not that he was against the idea of meeting someone that also hated babying, but he still doubted it would work out.

Well, might as well let Mom set it up anyway he thought as he sat down on his bed. He looked over at his nightstand to see the picture from his pack sitting on it. He took a second to adjust the picture so he could clearly see it, and sighed. My team members were the only friends I've ever known. I don't think I'll ever have friends like them…

Thanks for reading this far. Make sure to check out my other story over on Fictionpress, The Brotherhood.