After dinner, Dillon helps Aurora wash the dishes. Duke gets the younger kids ready for bed. "Where are your parents?" Dillon asks. Aurora flinches from the question.
"Dead." she sadly responds. Dillon looks back at the dishes and a silence falls over them.
"Sorry." he apologizes. Aurora looks at him and nudges him with her elbow.
"Thanks. It happened a long time ago, so now me and Duke raise our siblings. I just turned 15, so I left for my journey. Next year, Duke will be 15, so he'll go." She tells him. "But since you asked me a personal question, I get to ask you one in return, Dilly Boy." Aurora smiles at Dillon.
He looks at her and inwardly groans. "You didn't have to answer though. And stop calling me that."
"You didn't have to ask about my parents who you haven't seen and have not seen in any of these pictures on the walls." Aurora says knowingly. "Dilly Boy." she adds with a laugh.
Dillon rolls his eyes. "Fine."
"Why don't you want to go to Cerulean City? That's the next gym badge, and Pika and Pachirisu would've finished off Leader Misty easily." She asks him.
Dillon takes a deep breath. "Leader Misty is not that easy to beat. I want to battle her after I get stronger."
"Okay. But it's your hometown. We could've trained there like we did with Pewter City. Then you could've seen your family." Dillon flinches at the word family. They finish washing the dishes in silence.
After Aurora gets her pokemon from the backyard and walks back inside through the kitchen, Dillon says, "I'm not ready to go home yet." A surprised Aurora looks at him and then smiles.
"Okay. I respect that." She pats him on the shoulder. "Goodnight, Dilly Boy."
"Night." He mumbles and walks to the backyard once she leaves. Pika had chosen to sleep with the triplets, and Coal was already sound asleep outside. Pidgeotto was wide awake. Ever since Dillon had caught the bird, he's had trouble controlling it, which is why he hasn't used it in any battles yet. He also knows he won't need a flying type once Coal evolves into a Charizard.
"Hey." Dillon turns with a start and sees Duke behind him.
"Hey." Dillon responds. They both watch the bird pokemon flying above.
"I put a pillow and blanket on the futon." Duke says.
"It's okay. I'll go back to the Pokemon Center."
"It's late. And this isn't exactly the best part of town too." responds Duke.
"I can take care of myself." the older boy states.
"I heard." Duke smirks. The boys are silent for a few minutes before Duke breaks it, "Thanks for looking out for my sister."
Dillon sighs and looks at the ground before glancing at Duke. "It's whatever."
Duke smiles playfully. "I give you my blessing to date her."
Dillon pales and glares at the boy, "We're not dating. I owe her a bike." Duke shakes his head, but his playful smile stays on his face. Dillon returns his attention to Pidgeotto. "The only pokemon you have here are Aurora's?" He asks.
Duke nods. "Yeah. I mean she is the trainer." He laughs.
Dillon hands Duke a pokeball. The younger boy looks at him confused. "It's Pidgeotto's. I won't be using him much once Coal evolves. Plus, he doesn't listen to me. Aurora says it has something to do with me being mean." Dillon rubs the back of his neck awkwardly. "I know Pidgeotto will get lots of good attention here." Duke looks up at the bird. "Pidgeotto!" Dillon calls. The bird swoops down and looks at his trainer. "From now on, you're protecting this kid, Duke, and his family, okay?"
"I'm not a kid." Duke glares at Dillon who smirks in response. Pidgeotto looks at Duke. Duke reaches out a shaky hand. "Hey Pidgeotto. If you want, you can join my family." He smiles at the bird. Pidgeotto nuzzles his face in Duke's hand as Dillon puts the pokeball in Duke's other hand.
"You'll have more fun here." Dillon tells Pidgeotto. He turns around to walk inside.
"Thanks." Duke says. "For everything."
"Thank your sister." Dillon responds as he enters the door.
Pika's POV
Pachirisu and I are sleeping with the triplets tonight because we love their cuddles. Dillon never sleeps with me, but that's fine because me and Pachirisu and sometimes Aurora cuddle. I love being warm. The boys fall asleep pretty fast. Maybe they're tired from today's adventure. I smile at Pachirisu.
"We're gonna battle the gym tomorrow!" I tell her.
She smiles back at me. "I'm excited! Aurora has always wanted our city's badge!"
Speaking of Aurora, I noticed there are no parents here. "Where are the parents?" I ask Pachirisu. I watch as her ears droop.
"Team Rocket killed Aurora's mother and older sister years ago, and their father ran away. A few years later, Duke and Aurora found LayLay, and that is our family." Pachirisu smiles sadly at me. Oh wow. I had no idea.
"Sorry." I apologize.
"It's okay. You didn't know." We both lay in an awkward silence.
"I'm scared of Scythers." I tell her. I see she is confused so I elaborate, "When I was younger, before the professor caught me, my brother and I were attacked by a swarm of Scythers. My brother died and I took a lot of damage, which is why my tail has these scars." I show her my tail. "So I get why Aurora gets scared everytime we run into Team Rocket."
"Thanks." Pachirisu grins happily at me. "But I'm sure you, Venus, Dillon, and Coal will continue protecting her. Oh, and now we have Granite, Sandshrew, Dugtrio, and Torkoal!"
"Yeah! We'll all protect each other! We're a team!" I exclaim excitedly.