Type: Flying
Shipping: BabyWingsShipping

One-Shot 9: Nursery for the Birds

Ash and his friends returned to the nursery. Quickly, the young Pokémon galloped to meet them. "Hey, everyone!" greeted Ash. Petilil, Whimsicott and Karrablast hugged and nuzzled the visitors. Rufflet and Vullaby joined a little while later.

"Everyone behaving?" asked Iris. The Pokémon chimed in gleefully.

"Everyone's been on their best behavior since last time," Layla spoke up. Everyone looked to the head of the nursery.

"Hey, Layla!" greeted Cilan.

"Hey, everyone!" Layla smiled. "Thanks for returning. The Pokémon have been anxious to see you guys again."

"Really!?" awed Ash. "Next thing we know, anyone of them would want us to raise it for our journey. I mean, I can see Cilan with Whimsicott." The traveling Connoisseur laughed to Ash's thoughts.

"Is this because of how I raised Pansage?" he joked.

"Actually, I see it as well!" spoke up Iris. "Besides, I'd say Ash would be good with Rufflet." Cilan seemed surprised with Iris' offer.

"That's an interesting mental aroma you preferred," he voiced.

"Think about it," Iris offered. "A shy kid Rufflet with a little kid like Ash… they'd make a great pair." Ash sighed, realizing it was a false belief.

"Never mind…" mulled Cilan. Layla giggled before speaking up.

"Anyway, I hope they won't be too much trouble," Layla promised before she walked forward… and tripped on some loose debris. She flailed to stay up but she fell on top of Ash who caught her.

"Gotcha!" he grunted. The Pokémon became worried that Layla was hurt. She stood straight back up.

"Thank you, Ash…" she praised. "Sorry about that. Anyway, ready to help out?" Pikachu and Axew became anxious to play around. Everyone agreed. The kids watched the little Pokémon and saw them with different toys and Petilil kicking a ball to Iris who rolled it back. Ash watched Pikachu and Karrablast build with toy blocks. Vullaby and Rufflet watched while Cilan made food for everyone with Whimsicott helping.

("Say, why not we get Mama Layla to Cilan?") the Diapered Pokémon thought.

("Of course!") the Eaglet Pokémon agreed. ("What can we do?") Vullaby and Rufflet began to plot together. They went outside where they saw Layla hanging sheets to dry on the lines. Rufflet flew up and prepared himself to snag a sheet. Layla reached into the basket to hang another sheet.

"Luckily, these are the only ones I had to clean," she smiled. "Makes me wonder how Ash takes care of Scraggy and Iris, her Axew?" Rufflet flew in to snag the sheet. He swooped and snagged the sheet, but Ash was right there to catch the Eaglet Pokémon.

"Whoa, Rufflet!" he gasped. The impact knocked Ash to the ground with Karrablast and Pikachu looking on. They rushed over to his side as did Layla.

"Oh my goodness!" she feared. "Are you okay?" Her clumsiness struck again as a grass knot caught her foot. She fell and Ash recovered enough to catch her again.

"Gotcha!" he grunted. He didn't. Instead, the fall was more of a tackle and Rufflet escaped harm. He lost the sheet which covered the humans. The Pokémon became a little weary. Pikachu reached for the sheet, but Layla leaped up with the sheet, red in the face and running.

"I'M SORRY!" she cried. Ash remained on the ground, bewildered by what happened. She entered the Nursery, passing the others before slamming the door shut. To Iris, Ash did something.

"No doubt Ash had a hand on whatever happened outside," she mulled. "What a kid!" Outside, Vullaby came out to see the rest and Ash laid on the grass in a daze.

("Ash, can you hear me!?") squeaked Pikachu. Rufflet, Vullaby and Karrablast became increasingly concerned.

"That was a first for me… especially like that," Ash muttered. Cilan and Whimsicott emerged to see the ordeal.

"Ash?" he called as he came to find the strewn trainer from Pallet Town. "What happened? Why did Layla close the door in the infirmary?" He helped Ash get to his feet.

"Why ask the little kid?" nagged Iris. "Besides, it's probably something he deserved." To Ash, it was a moment to counter Iris.

"Oh, so I did deserve that kiss from Layla?" he retorted. Iris' eyes lit up and she gasped to the news.

"She WHAT!?" she shrieked. The Pokémon shielded their ears.

"She tripped on something, she fell onto me and we kissed," Ash clarified. Iris balked, realizing her misspoken moment.

"So, let me get this straight," Cilan believed. "You caught Layla before she hurt herself and got kissed for it? Not that I don't believe it, but that seems a bit much."

"I know, right?" shrugged Ash. "In all honesty, that should've been you… and Iris wouldn't argue about it." Iris nodded to Ash's point.

"True enough," she agreed. "But from what you're saying, it was an accident that she kissed you."

"That's what happened," Ash confirmed.

"Okay, so we can just tell her what happened was an accident and everything with be honky-dory, right?" assumed Iris.

"It's that easy to do so," Cilan nodded. With the Pokémon in tow, the trainers reentered the nursery and knocked on the infirmary door. "Layla?" No answer. Cilan knocked again as the Pokémon gathered. "Layla, are you inside?" Rufflet and Vullaby cawed out to Layla. "This is leaving a depressing taste, especially to the Pokémon." Whimsicott and Petilil didn't want to see their caretaker in her state. Finally, the door opened and Layla emerged, wiping her mouth.

"Sorry about that," she apologized. "That wasn't what I had in mind for my first kiss."

"And you cleaned your mouth out?" irked Iris. "Seriously, what a kid." Layla responded by pulling on the ribbons of Iris' hair.

"Sounds like you're in desperate need to wash yours!" she scolded. Iris was in pain, yelping as she felt her hair coming out of her scalp. Ash, Cilan and the Pokémon didn't want to get involved. A little while later, the Pokémon ate Cilan's food. Ash stayed with the Pokémon and even brought out Scraggy. Whimsicott and Petilil became friendly with Scraggy as Rufflet and Vullaby wondered what to do. With Ash taking Layla's lips, it became a problem for the plan.

("Now, what do we do?") mulled Rufflet. Pikachu and Scraggy were curious to the plan from the two Flying-Type Pokémon.

("Do with what?") the Mouse Pokémon questioned.

("Layla loves Ash,") Vullaby believed.

("Does she?") wondered Petilil.

("I saw them kiss!") argued Rufflet. ("No question!") The other Pokémon thought to how Layla had fallen for Ash. The trainers began to clean up.

"Say, I was wondering what happened to that other Pokémon?" asked Layla. Everyone blinked before Cilan remembered.

"You mean Meloetta?" he guessed.

"Yeah!" confirmed Layla. "What happened to her?"

"She went home with Ridley," Iris explained. "She apparently got away from the Protectors. Ridley came to Cynthia's villa after the incident with an ancient temple." Layla mulled to the news.

"She was a helpful Pokémon to have around," she muttered. "After what she did to keep the Pokémon at ease." The others agreed. "Especially with you, Ash." The reminder made Ash nod. Meloetta was with Ash after he helped nurse her back to health and stayed at Cynthia's villa until after Giovanni tried to take over everything. Ash and his friends stopped it from happening while Team Rocket saved their boss. By now, everyone has matured enough to be kind to each other.

"She's safe right now," Iris assured. "Who knows if we'll see them again." Night fell. Ash was outside and Layla came by.

"Are you still thinking about that kiss we had?" she asked. Ash turned to her with a blank stare.

"Are you?" he countered. Layla giggled as she, Rufflet and Vullaby roosted by them. Pikachu and Axew helped Iris and Cilan get the Pokémon to bed.

"I know it was an accident that we kissed. After all, you wanted to keep Rufflet behaved."

"Well, raising Pokémon isn't easy."

"Speak for yourself! You were able to reach the Top 8 in the Vertrees Conference."

"Yeah, after I finished in the Top 4 in the Lily of the Valley Conference." A somber smile dressed Layla's face.

"I know that Iris is the reason." This made Ash blink. "She's hardly offered you any advice and stuck with you for unknown reasons. If you ask me, she's access baggage." The notion made Ash sneer.

"Try telling her that. She may not enjoy it."

"Maybe not. I'd rather have you and Cilan any day. At least… I'm down to two guys should I ever need a partner." She stood up, but clumsiness struck again. Her foot slipped off a step and she fell forward down the higher step, but Ash was quick enough to catch her once more, this time standing up. Ash sighed, her clumsiness getting on his nerves.

"I think you need new shoes, or at least something to clear the pathway." Relieved that she wasn't hurt and was held up, Layla wrapped her arms around Ash.

"Last time, it was an accident. "This time, I can express my feelings." She knocked off Ash's cap and laid her lips firm to his, the kiss now official. Rufflet and Vullaby awed the kiss. 'I'm your damsel, Ash. You're my protector. Be my and the Pokémon's protector.' They broke lips and smiled.

"Second time around isn't so bad."

"No, it's not." They entered back inside for the night. No one, not even Pikachu, knew of the new item that was just outside. They would leave the next day. Who knows, if this keeps up… they'll need a nursery of their own, and it won't be one around Pokémon.

END of FLYING
Next up: PSYCHIC

(It's almost done. Perhaps in the future, I can do an all-star AshMas Volume, and I can see entries already. Anyway, keep the votes coming for this so that I can end the year high.)