Rika was walking towards her house after another visit with Tomo. As she walked around the corner, the purple-haired girl sighed. 'Tomo's still not feeling well enough to go to school...' Rika thought, 'Well, at least she's beginning to smile again... And I wonder what Dash has been doing all this time... I haven't had much time to send him a message or have a talk with him actually... I did tell him that I'm going to be busy with Tomo for a while, but...' As she was about to step onto the path that led to her house, someone ran in front of her and blocked her way. That person wore a hood, but Rika could tell that she was a woman. The woman wore a purple dress and a black skirt. Other than that, she wore a pair of black slippers. The woman carried a brown basket, which she then handed to Rika by force. "H-Huh? H-Hey! W, What is this? Why are you giving this to me?"
"P, Please!" the woman exclaimed as she took a step back, "Please take care of her for me!" And with no other words said, the woman ran off, leaving Rika with a rather heavy basket.
"B-But...!" Rika decided to give up calling for the woman and put her attention on the basket she was holding. There was a light blue blanket in the basket, and there seemed to be something moving underneath it - Rika fidgeted when she saw this. Rika then slowly removed the blanket, and to her surprise, it was a baby! "A, A b-baby?" Rika flustered, "W-Why is there a baby in the basket!" The baby was sleeping and Rika was looking around for anyone who could help, but no one else was around. "Why did she give me a baby? Wait... Don't tell me that I..." The baby then started waking up and Rika got nervous when the baby started crying. "P, Please don't cry! What should I do... Looks like I'll have to take it home with me and see what grandpa can do..." Rika then started bringing the baby, who was still in the basket, towards her house, where she then quickly rang the doorbell. Rika then looked at the baby in the basket again. "P, Please stop crying... What should I do..."
The front door was then pulled open from the inside and Professor Oak appeared behind it. He scratched his head as he saw Rika standing outside the door. "Oh, it's you, Rika!" Professor Oak said with a smile, followed by a groan as he heard the baby's cries, "Do you hear that? Someone's baby is crying... I can't concentrate on my work with all this noise. I wonder whose baby is it?"
"It's mine," Rika replied, eyeing her grandfather and showing him the basket with the baby in it, "I have the baby." Rika's grandfather then suddenly went silent as he heard Rika said this. He slowly lowered his head and saw the baby crying in the basket, causing him to white out and his jaw to drop. "I got the baby just now, but I don't know what to do with it... I was hoping you could help, grandpa..." Suddenly, to Rika's surprise, Professor Oak fell on his back like a log and fainted right on the spot. Rika flustered when she saw her grandfather hitting the floor on his head. "G-Grandpa? W-What's wrong? Wake up!" Just then, a maid with blonde hair came walking to the doorstep and gasped when she saw the professor lying on the floor unconsciously. "H, Help me wake grandpa up!"
"Professor!" the maid exclaimed, "What happened?"
"I'm not sure..." Rika muttered, before showing the baby to the maid as well, "All I said was that I got this baby just now." The maid's eyes widened as she heard Rika said this, and when she saw the baby crying in the basket, the maid collapsed and fainted as well. "Ehhh? She fainted too!" Rika then gotten more and more nervous as the baby continued crying. "Please stop crying... What should I do NOW?" Professor Oak then started to regain his consciousness by then, much to the joy of a certain purple-haired girl. "Grandpa! Thank goodness you're awake..."
"I'm sorry..." Professor Oak groaned, "I thought you told me that you had a baby..."
"I did," Rika replied, showing the baby to him again, "Here it is."
"W-WHAT?" Professor Oak flustered, "B-But how! When! Where!"
"I'm really sorry!" Rika said as her face started turning red and her eyes beginning to be filled with tears, "I didn't mean it to happen! I guess I wasn't careful enough..."
"B-But this is..." Professor Oak fidgeted, "M, May I ask who the father is?"
"W-Well..." Rika muttered as she started blushing furiously while bringing the basket close to herself, "I think Dash is the father." Upon hearing those words come out from his own granddaughter, the professor fainted again, much to Rika's shock and dismay. "G-Grandpa! Please pull yourself together!"
--- (Later) ---
Rika and Professor Oak were now sitting in the living room with the baby finally settling down after she was given a bottle of milk to drink from. As Rika smiled at the baby, who was lying peacefully on the couch, Professor Oak couldn't shake that nervous feeling he had in his body. "R-Rika..." Professor Oak called, "How... How did this all happen? How did ahem Dash become this... baby's father?"
Rika blushed when he asked this. "W, Well..." Rika muttered, "I guess it all kind of started during the Snow White play... You know, the play I was in a before? We kind of... did 'it'."
"Yes..." Professor Oak said, surprised by his granddaughter's words, "What's done is done and we can't undo it. Was it when you and Dash went outside after the play? You DID come back home a little late..."
"Huh?" Rika asked, eyeing her grandfather, "N-No... It all happened during the play."
"W-WHAT?" Professor Oak flustered, quickly getting off his seat, "D-During the play? I-In front of all those people?"
"I-I really had no choice..."
"N-No choice...?" Professor Oak gasped, almost feeling like his life was being sucked away, "B-But that's just---"
"The kiss was the important part of the last scene..."
"... What?"
"The kiss," Rika repeated as she started blushing again, "M-Me and Dash... k, kissed on stage, remember?" Rika then noticed the strange look her grandfather was giving her. "Hm?" she asked, tilting her head, "What's wrong? Weren't you the one who told me that babies are made when a man and woman kisses? That woman from earlier was probably the 'stork' you kept telling me about... Now it all makes sense... B, But... how am I going to tell D-Dash about this? I can't just go and tell him that he's suddenly a father of a baby..."
"Please don't," Professor Oak said, placing his hand on Rika's shoulder as he let out a relieved sigh, "That baby is not YOUR baby." Rika blinked twice, indicating that she did not understand what her grandfather meant. "Your kiss from the play had nothing to do with it."
"W-What?" Rika flustered, "R, Really?" Rika then eyed the baby. "Then... whose baby is this?"
"You mentioned about a woman just now," Professor Oak said, rubbing his chin, "Who was she and why did she hand this baby to you?"
"I don't know..." Rika replied, eyeing the baby, "She just gave it to me and told me to take care of her... She ran off after that without saying another word... I couldn't even get a good look at her face."
"Hm..." Professor Oak groaned, "I'm not sure if I'm correct, but... I think that woman was this baby's actual mother."
"Really?" Rika asked, "Then why? Why did she leave the baby with me and ran off like that?"
Professor kept quiet for a while, worried about how he should break the news to his granddaughter. In the end, he decided to keep the truth to himself. "She... was probably VERY busy with something." Professor Oak then faked a cough. "I think you should bring the baby upstairs and try getting it to sleep," Professor Oak suggested, "If you need any help, just ask one of the maids." The baby then started crying again, causing Rika to fidget. Rika then lifted the baby off the couch and started making her way out of the living room. Professor Oak then sighed as he lowered his head, eyeing the red carpet beneath him. 'There's no mistaking it... That baby... was abandoned by her mother. I never knew something like this could happen in this town... Rika would probably be upset if I tell her this. Looks like I need help for this sort of thing...'
---
Rika and the baby were now in Rika's room with Eve sitting on the floor, eyeing its trainer as she placed the baby on the bed. Eve jumped onto the bed and took a closer look at the baby, who eyed Eve back. "Say 'hello' to your new friend, Eve!" Rika said with a smile, "The baby's mother was really busy so she enthrusted me with it!" As Rika sat on the bed, she eyed baby with a raised eyebrow as the baby tried to grab hold of Eve's paw. "Come to think of it... I don't know its name... Then again, I'm not sure if it's a baby boy, or a baby girl..." Rika then took a closer look at the baby's face. "Judging from how it looks, I think this one's a girl! Maybe we should give her a temporary name until we learn of her real one." Rika and Eve were then in muse at the same time, trying to come up with a suitable name for the baby. "What about Ginger?" Eve shook its head. "Hm... What name did you come up with, Eve?"
"Eve!" Eve cried with a smile.
"But that's YOUR name," Rika pointed out, "Um, how about Blaire?"
"Eve?"
"We really can't use your name for the baby, Eve..." Rika pointed out again. Eve was a little annoyed as Eve was actually suggesting other names beside 'Eve' - it just sort of came out as her name as that was all it could actually say apart from its full name 'Eevee'. "Let's see... I know!" Rika then turned to look at the baby with a smile. "What about... Chitose?" The baby smiled as Rika said this, making both Rika and Eve smile in return. "Yes! I think she likes it." Suddenly, the baby's eyes were filled with tears and the baby started wailing, much to Rika's surprise. Rika fidgeted, moving her arms around in a state of panic. Rika then took a look at the baby's diaper. "I think I know what the problem is... Maybe it just needs a new diaper... but where can we find one?" Just then, the same maid from earlier (the one with blonde hair) knocked on the door. Rika quickly made her way to open the door and saw the maid in front of her. "Mrs. Vanilla!"
"I was told by the professor that you need help taking care of the baby..." the maid said, before blushing for some reason, "I'm really sorry for fainting earlier..."
"Don't worry about it," Rika said as she eyed the baby, who was still crying, "Do you know where I could find a new diaper? I think Chitose needs her diaper change..."
"Who?"
"It's her name."
"I see," the maid nodded with a smile, "About the diaper... You don't have to worry about it. Professor Oak just left to get some."
"Really?" Rika asked, a smile of relief plastered on her face, "But..." She then turned to look at the baby again. "... Chitose won't stop crying... What should I do?"
"Maybe we should go and remove the old diaper from her," Mrs. Vanilla suggested, "Let me do it." And with that, Mrs. Vanilla and Rika made their way towards the baby, where Mrs. vanilla then started to take off Chitose's diaper. However, when the diaper was removed, Rika, Eve and Mrs. Vanilla's eyes widened in surprise. "Mrs. Rika... It's about Chitose... I think that she... is actually a 'he'."
"E-Eeek!" Rika cried as she quickly turned around and closing both her eyes with her hands, her face steaming red, "I-I'm sorry! I, I didn't know that she... he was actually a boy!"
"I really can't blame you," Mrs. vanilla said, "All babies of both genders look the same to me. It's just a baby anyway, Mrs. Rika... There's nothing to be embarassed about."
"B, But...!" Just then, someone rang the door bell, startling the purple-haired girl and her Pokemon. "T, That must be grandpa! I'll go and answer it!" Rika then quickly ran out of the room, leaving her Pokemon behind. As she arrived at teh front door, Rika began to wonder... Why would her grandfather need to ring the doorbell? She slowly pulled open the door, and to her surprise, Aisha was standing in front of her. "Aisha? It's quite rare for you to come over... Is there a problem?" Aisha just grinned, causing Rika to feel more confused than she was earlier. "Would you... like to come in?" Aisha nodded and did as Rika suggested, her grin not leaving her face. Rika sweat-dropped as Aisha turned around to look at her. "Um, Aisha? Is there a reason for you to come over?"
"You bet I do!" Aisha finally replied, "Take a look at this!" Aisha then took out a piece of paper out of nowhere and handed it to Rika. On the paper was a picture of a maid's uniform along with a pair of fake cat ears. Rika raised an eyebrow as she looked at it. "So what do you think? I was thinking of making you wear it to attract customers! My 'business' hasn't been going well lately and I---"
"I, I can't wear this!" Rika fidgeted, her cheeks flushing furiously, "Th, The skirt is too short!" Just then, both Rika and Aisha heard Chitose's cries. Aisha's eyes widened as she heard the baby's voice. "Oh no... Chitose's crying again..."
Aisha sweat-dropped. "Who?"
--- (Rika's Room) ---
"So that's how it was!" Aisha laughed as she sat on the floor next to Rika's bed, "You thought that she was a 'girl' at first, Rika?" Rika, who sat on the floor in front of her, flushed and nodded bashfully. Mrs. Vanilla then placed three cups of tea between Rika and Aisha. "Thanks for the tea!" Aisha said as she picked up her cup of tea, "Thank goodness your grandpa arrived with those new diapers, huh?" Aisha then started taking a few sips of her tea. "Delicious!"
"Thank you," Mrs. Vanilla said, as she picked up her own cup of tea, "I'm glad you like it, Mrs. Aisha."
Rika eyed the baby, who was sleeping on her bed, before suddenly asking out of the blue, "How are babies made?" This sudden question startled both Aisha and Mrs. Vanilla. Aisha quickly spat out her drink while Mrs. Vanilla accidentally dropped hers on the floor when they heard those words come out of Rika's mouth. Mrs. vanilla flustered and quickly apologized for the mess she made. Rika watched as the blonde maid started wiping the floor with a towel she took out of nowhere while Aisha was beating on her own chest. Rika then turned to look at Aisha, completely oblivious to what was actually happening. "So about my question... If a kiss doesn't make a baby, then what does?" Aisha fidgeted as she saw Rika eyeing her with full concentration. Aisha rolled her eyes as her cheeks start to slightly flush. "Aisha? Are you okay?"
"D-Don't ask questions like that out of the blue!" Aisha exclaimed, "It's rude!"
"Does that mean you don't know either?" Rika asked, looking disappointed, "Okay then... I'm sorry."
"Anyway..." Aisha sighed, eyeing the baby, "Don't you think the name 'Chitose' is a bit strange for a boy? You might want to think of another name for him. What about... 'Edward'?"
"That sounds nice!" Rika said with a smile, "His name will now be 'Edward'!"
Aisha's eyes then started showing concern as she eyed Mrs. Vanilla, whose eyes were also doing the same. Aisha then turned to look at Rika, who had just sat on the bed to play with the baby. "Hey, Rika?" Aisha asked, "That baby... That woman who gave him to you was his mother, right?" Rika nodded. "You're sure she was just busy?"
"Hm?" Rika asked, eyeing Aisha, "What do you mean?"
Aisha shook her head. "Never mind..." Aisha said, faking a smile, "She was probably very busy to just ask you to take care of him, huh?"
"Yes..." Rika muttered, "I wonder what she's actually doing..."
--- (Somewhere in Town) ---
Professor Oak was walking around town wearing a white suit and a pair of spectacles, probably to avoid people noticing who he really was. He then ended up in an alley, dark and quiet - a place someone like him shouldn't be going into, but the old man did so. As he walked into the alley, he saw a dark grey door nearby, which opened as he got closer. A woman with long black hair came walking out of the door, and judging from her looks, she looked rather troubled. The woman saw him and quickly put a smile on her face. "Hello there," the woman greeted, "What's an old man like you doing here? This is not the main entrance just so you know."
"Might you be Mrs. Margaret?" Professor Oak asked, eyeing the woman, "I'd like to talk to you about something, and I'd like to do it in private."
"What?"
---
Professor Oak and the woman, Margaret, were now in a small restaurant where they were the only customers around. The woman looked worried as the waitress placed two cups of coffee on the table. She watched as Professor Oak took a sip of his drink. "Okay," Professor Oak said as he placed back his drink on the table, "About why I called you here... I heard from sources that you have a son that's been living with you." Margaret paused when she heard this. "May I ask? What happened to him? Is he safe at home? Or is he no longer with you?"
"How..." Margaret gulped, a sweat flowing down her cheek, "How did you know?"
"Apparently you gave your son away to a stranger," Professor Oak continued, "My sources told me that your husband passed away a few months ago... and you were left to take care of your son all by yourself. This 'stranger' you handed your son to was actually my granddaughter." Professor Oak then removed his glasses and eyed a gasping Margaret. "I'm Professor Oak. It's probably none of my business... but I'd like to know why you gave away your son so easily..." Professor Oak then watched as Margaret lowered her head as her eyes were suddenly filled with tears. "I'm actually worried about the boy's future..."
"I can't afford to take care of him..." she muttered, her voice so fragile, "I can't get any jobs that pays well... and there's no one that would watch over my son if I'm gone!" The woman then bowed her head. "P-Please! Please take care of my son for me! I don't want him to grow up with a mother who can't even afford food for herself! Please!"
"No," Professor Oak replied, much to the woman's surprise, "If I do take care of him, I will not be taking care of him as his real parent... A baby can't survive without the love and care of his parents, and even if he does stay with me, there would be a time where he would be facing the truth that his real mother abandoned him." Margaret was shaken when she heard this, and she couldn't even mouth any words out. "I heard that you're not from Pallet Town, nor are you from Kanto... You're hometown is in Johto, am I correct?"
"Y, Yes..." Margaret muttered, "But I moved here with my husband because we didn't agree to take over my father's farm and we would find better jobs in Kanto... But now that I'm in this situation... I... I... I want to go back, but I can't afford a ship to Johto with my current salary..."
"Listen," Professor Oak said, "Children can be very difficult these days... They may sometimes rebel against their parents, but deep down, all they want is parental love and attention. My granddaughter faced a rather similar problem before with her parents. She was shielded away from other children her age as her parents were a bit too overprotective of her, but never once did she really receive parental love. They showered her with gifts, but because her parents were always away on meetings, she hardly spent any time with them. When she was young, she used to cry everyday in her room talking to her dolls as if they were alive... I saw her do this more than once, and she usually tells her dolls about what she wants to do with her friends and family, but behind every of those smiles she made were tears - tears yearning for friendship and love from her parents." Margaret paused when she heard this. "I tried to get along with her, but I am in fact a very busy person. She's usually left alone with the maids all alone in her house, and she was not at all familiar with any of them."
"But she grew up fine, right?"
"That is not the point," Professor Oak said, frowning at Margaret, "She was lucky that she met a friend that could understand her completely before it was too late, and she was even able to experience love and friendship she never she could have. But I can't say for sure if your son would end up doing the same... He might even grow up staying alone al day. As a grandparent, I'm worried of his safety and the future ahead of him. You play an important role in his life and I don't want you to forget that." The woman trembled as he said this and not long after that, she covered her face with her hands and started crying. Professor Oak sighed as she did this. "If you truly love him, then you'd best go and take him back to Johto. Don't worry about the pay; I can arrange a flight for you."
"Th, Thank you..." Margaret muttered with a trembling voice, "Thank you so much..."
--- (A Week Later) ---
Rika and her grandfather had just received a mail from Margaret in Johto and in her letter she had stated that her life was going well with her son. Rika smiled as she looked at the photo that came with the letter, which showed a smiling Margaret and a laughing Edward standing in front of a beautiful house with an old man, which would appear to be Margaret's father, standing next to them. "I'm glad that Edward's doing fine!" Rika chuckled, "I wonder if I'll get to see him some time in the future? I really can't wait how he turns out to be!"
"Indeed," Professor Oak said as he eyed the picture of Margaret, "I too would like to see what a man he'll become..." Professor Oak then recalled something and turned to look at Rika. "Oh, that's right. Dash called earlier and he said he couldn't pick up any lines with your Pokegear. You were taking a shower so I told him that you were busy. He was trying to ask you something, but he told me to tell you to call him back. He called an hour ago by the way."
"E-Eh!" Rika squealed, "W-Why didn't you tell me that earlier?" Rika then quickly took out her Pokegear and fidgeted as she looked at the screen. "H, He did call an hour ago! He must be waiting for me to call him back!"
Professor Oak smiled as he saw his granddaughter running up the stairs to her room. 'Yes,' Professor Oak thought, 'She turned out just fine...'
-----
FazzEagle - This fanfic just shows how pure Rika's mind is (I'd like to see Aisha's face when Rika popped that embarassing question out of nowhere ). Some of my friends find Rika really cute this way (especially the part about what she thinks a kiss could actually lead to) and they want to see more chapters based on her (which season two is actually concentrating on). While some find Rika very cute, others seem to find Dash's stupidity rather interesting (for one example is that he's actually completely oblivious that most of the girls around him are attracted to him). My two other favourite characters would be none other than Tomo, Edgar and Aisha: Tomo for her quiet yet amusing personality, Edgar for his shyness around girls, and Aisha for... her not-so-shyness around anyone. Well, anyway! I hope you like this fanfic! Please keep supporting me all the way! Oh yeah, my computer needs to go for some repairs for quite some time so I probably won't be able to update for a while. I'm very sorry about this.
