Chapter 25 – Father and Daughter

Black City – Safe Building

The safe building we were put in until things had quietened down outside was located at the outskirts of the city, an old building set for reconstruction away from anyone. This building had been used by Devon's team for a few months as a small base of operations with ten of Devon's team including him, it was full of high tech gear used for monitoring the soldiers and communicating with other bases around the region.

We were placed in a small room, Espeon, Lisa, Brent, Maia and I waited going over the events that had just transpired. I stood there leaning against the wall beside the open door waiting for Devon to come back. We had to be certain that the Latias we had found wasn't bugged or had a tracking device on her. Checking first after Devon's team arrived when we were in the underground base they had found no problems that she had something on her. A DNA test was done shortly after we had got to the hideout, and Midnight was indeed mine and Latias' daughter.

I wasn't sure how I felt in the moment, angry? Scared? Happy? That feeling I thought I would feel the most, but my mind was mixed with so much. My daughter was alive after all these years and I didn't know what to feel.

Devon entered the room we were in, still wearing that suit I last saw him in when I first reunited with Espeon in that baseball stadium in Nimbasa but slightly more torn at the leg area. "Hey guys, how are you holding up? Can we get you something to eat?"

"We're doing fine... I guess shocked for what we found in that underground base." Espeon said to him, not moving from her spot next to Maia.

Devon noticed me beside the door and sat on a chair near me. "Tell me what happened." He asked, and so we told him what went down in that underground base; Vladimir Petrov announcing to the soldiers all over the region of the final phase about to begin starting from Reversal Mountain, an army that will spread throughout the region to capture me and take me back to their leader to have me be controlled by her and become her puppet, the clipboard the with document of what they did to Midnight, how long they had kept her, how they would use her for the final stage of the plan as a controlled puppet.

"I see…" Devon sat there crossing his arms, his face becoming pale as we mentioned the other Pokemon inside the underground base, what Annihilation were about to do to them. "…it is a good thing you guys stepped in and took care of them."

"Heh, nah, what are you talkin' about? You guys did all the work while we were trapped down in that cellblock." Brent grinned.

"You did find the base. None of my men could find their main base of operations within this city, doubting there even was one after months of searching each section of the city. The train station of all places? How did we miss that?"

"We have Maia to thank for that." Espeon patted Maia on her head with her paw.

Devon chuckled and nodded. "Well then, thank you Maia." Maia smiled and nodded back.

"Hey Devon," I said, wanting to know how Midnight was doing. "How is she? Is she all right?"

Devon looked at me and nodded. "She is doing fine. The doctors we have in our makeshift medical room have taken care of her open wounds she received during her time in that place. Nothing too serious or any infections."

"That's good…" was all I said, still confused about the whole thing.

"What we found out about Midnight is that she is six years old, the documents we confiscated during the rescue did confirm that Midnight was hatched during January, but no date was ever given. If you'd like, I could take you down to medical so you can meet her if you'd like? She is awake right now."

"Uh… s-sure. I said nervously, not sounding too sure of myself.

"Great. I'll head down to medical to get things ready." Devon stood up. "I'll let you know when we're ready for you."

Devon left the room leaving me to my thoughts. Soon I would meet my daughter for the first time ever. "What should I say to her? 'Hi I'm your dad.' I could probably come up with something much better than that if I try. Make small talk? Ask her favorite hobbies? Her favorite food? Given how long she has been prisoner for I don't want to upset her or scare her… maybe I should forget it and leave… I thought she was dead all this time… what do I do?" I thought glumly going over how I should talk to her if I could. I didn't want to simply run out of there without speaking to Midnight; I wanted to be a good dad for her.

"Why didn't you let Zackary kill that scientist back there Bent?" Espeon asked as she sat very close to Maia as they ate. "What she did to Zackary's daughter, or would've done if we hadn't been there I would've killed her."

"These guys are controlled; they have no free will while Shiny Latias' ability controls them." Brent said as he leaned against the crumbling wall. "I still saw them as controlled, people without free will. I wanted to make sure, killing a controlled person doesn't really sit well with me knowing they have no control over their actions. Devon's team confirmed that the scientist was indeed controlled, waking up confused and disoriented. Tests were done to see if she was telling the truth or not, turns out she was. And besides, too much blood has been spilled because of Annihilation."

"I suppose it is hard to remember that. Anyone else would've probably ended them already not knowing they had no control over themselves." She sighed. "If it were me, I would probably end them not caring if they were controlled or not…. Hmm, I guess I don't know what I would do, depending on the situation. Planning things out may be thrown out of the window if anger engulfs you."

I was angry when I found out what the scientist did to Midnight, but I also noticed the voices didn't make a sound, well not too much. If I didn't take care of the voices when we were in Undella Town I'm pretty sure I would be on the verge of losing control.

I thought about Latias, thinking how she raised Midnight in that base for two years before they were split up. It must've been rough for them; especially Shiny Latias probably close by and… I just hoped she didn't hurt them. I began to grow worried for her. Knowing the underground base had been infiltrated and Midnight and the rest of the prisoners rescued by us might not sit too well for Shiny Latias, her puppet Midnight she would use to control upon reaching the final phase of the plan was now out of the window, unavailable to her. She would most likely be mad, take her rage out on Latias or punish her… I just had to stay patient until we were ready to leave for Reversal Mountain soon.

"So you're a grandma now, how do you feel about that Maia?" Espeon asked the Latias smiling smile back after changing the subject to something cheerful.

"It feels nice… but grandma makes me sound old, and I am just over two hundred years old, a hundred years and I'll be middle aged."

"And you still look like a young Latias still. Boy, I wonder what I'll be like when I reach my eighties." She laughed, closing her eyes and shuddering at the thought of what she might look like, how different she would be as an older Pokemon. "Never seen an old Espeon before… the thoughts I have of my interpretation of one isn't one for anyone to see… yeesh!"

Maia laughed. "I remember when I was that age. I had just managed to learn how to use my second ever move."

"What? You're kidding me? You're telling me that you only used one move?"

"It's true," Maia smiled. "Helping Hand was my move. My brothers and sisters did the fighting while I sort of assisted them. I wasn't too used to fighting, not really wanting to get involved, it was like that for a while, but after I met my mate and knew we would be parents, I learnt other moves to defend my daughters, that was when we were caught by Team Annihilation. What was your first move as an Espeon?"

"Hmm… Psychic was my first move. When I evolved the move just… randomly came to me, as if I knew how to use it. I have always kept it because to me it was my first ever move as a Psychic, it was the move which helped me get here today."

"Same here, Helping Hand along with my other movers have been with me since I was young. It has always been there to help out. I just hope it helps during the battle with Team Annihilation Reborn, and everyone can come back home."

Espeon reached her paw out and placed it on Maia's and smiled. "It will help. It will take time for things to… feel normal again, the fighting has died down, the struggle, but it will take time."

"I hope you are right, Espeon. I really do." Maia said, smiling after a while. "Once Latias has returned to us I really hope things will be alright. Being locked up for that long, I hope it hasn't damaged her.

"We'll be with her to help her get through any damage she might have while locked up." Lisa spoke up. "Don't worry; we'll be there for her no matter what." Maia smiled and nodded.

I didn't know how long it would take for Devon to get things ready for Midnight, so I decided to get out of there to get some fresh air, hoping to clear my mind and maybe help prepare for my introductions to Midnight, not knowing yet what'll say to her or even if I could.

I was sitting outside alone for a while looking up at the stars just thinking about all that has happened so far and where it might end. There were only a few of Devon's men outside on watch duty, talking amongst themselves about the army and final phase about to start soon. I looked at the city, the tall buildings in the distance helicopters and drones above the city most likely searching for us after we infiltrated the underground base. After we had rescued the prisoners including Midnight, I expected something to happen like a message or another report on the news about the 'leader' of Annihilation Reborn demanding to know how I found the underground base. But nothing like that happened, no news story about any updates on Annihilation, no sudden huge attack on the city to find me, just a patrol searching the area very close to the train station and that was it.

The device we used disguising Espeon and I did come in handy while infiltrating the underground base, so we kept it hoping it would once again prove useful. With the final battle almost near, I just hoped we were ready.

I turned to see Espeon walk out from the building towards me, sighing as she did so.

"Hey Zackary, I was looking for you." She said sitting next to me. "Devon came back to the room looking for you; he told me to find you to let you know you can go and see Midnight now. You okay?"

"I'm feeling lost right now…" I shrugged. "Seeing my daughter after all these years for the first time, not knowing I had a child with Latias still alive and well believing her to have died… it had shuck me up quite a lot."

"It got to us all. I thought we would have at least found a Latias in that underground base, not one we knew. Latias?" She said shaking her head a little bit after. "Nah. Reversal Mountain is where Shiny Latias' main base is at, so I'm guessing that is where we'll find Latias, a place she'll want to keep watch over her sister. The underground base was heavily guarded, and we slipped in there without any problems or being identified. Thanks to Devon and his team, we were able to get out of there with all of us plus the prisoners including Midnight alive and well. Are you not happy?"

"I am that she's okay…" I sighed. "I thought Shiny Latias had killed her after not hearing anything for so long. No mentioning of a baby Latias, not even about Latias being a mother anywhere, there was nothing. No documents… I mourned for her thinking she had died, before she hatched out of the egg, afterwards only for Shiny Latias to end her, my mind always thought either one of those had happened to her, and that she never survived. I thought I would never see my child after all of those years of silence. I'm just trying to figure out how I can talk to her… figure out the right words and all."

"How did you interact with Latias the first time you met her when you two were young?"

"Well I…" I remembered that day; I offered Latias some berries trying to get her to eat one of them. I remembered I tried to fake eating a berry to show her that the food I was trying to give her was safe to eat and not poisoned or anything, only to accidentally taste a really sour one… and that didn't end well, a slow start to our friendship. "…well I did offer her some berries, accidentally tasting one. Being a Pokemon now I am able to eat berries, so I suppose we could share a box."

"Good start. What else did you and Latias do?"

I thought back to sometime after that not remembering much of what I did, only bits and pieces of me trying to befriend a wild injured Pokemon I could remember. "I gave her some of my toys for her to play with… that didn't end well. She threw some at me and destroyed the rest… I don't suppose we have any toys in that safe house, do we?"

"None that I have noticed." She shook her head. "There are some books in there, might be best to tell her some happy/funny stories to help lighten the mood. So anything else apart from food offerings and stories? How about talking to her? I'm sure your daughter would want to know about her dad? Maybe she'll want to know all about her mother?"

"Sure, they sound like great ideas to get things started. I just hope it goes well when she and I are face to face and that she doesn't freak out or anything, new location and faces after being locked up since she hatched from her egg."

"Just speak calmly and make her feel that she is safe here, safe with you. Try not to rush things between you two too much. Just relax and be yourself."

The two of us stood up and made our way inside the building. "Easier said than done..."

"You'll do fine." was what she said, slightly doubting it would go well and that I'd do something to scare her or make her feel even more scared than she was right now.

We walked further inside, passing the small makeshift cafeteria and grabbing a small box of berries for Midnight to eat. I didn't know where to start at or how to approach her. I just hope I didn't freeze up or walk out of there without uttering a word or looking stupid in front of her. Arriving just right outside the room Midnight was inside; Espeon left me so she could return to the others to help them for when we would leave soon for Reversal Mountain. With Devon's help, he opened the door and entered the large room first to take me to the large bed Midnight was lying on top of wide awake at the corner of the room.

It was like going back in time when Midnight looked at me the same way Latias once did when we first met; confusion was what she was feeling when she first met me. Midnight looked so much like her mother when she did when she was younger. I felt myself froze in place for a little while, not noticing that Devon had already left me alone with my daughter.

I gulped and climbed up on the bed, sitting at the opposite side after placing the box of berries between us. She watched my movements closely, her claws slightly raised above the mattress as if she were waiting for the chance to strike if I tried anything.

This silence wasn't helping, so I decided I should try and speak to her, introduce myself to her to get the ball rolling and the tension out of the room. I slowed my breathing first, looked her in the eye and spoke.

"Um… hello uh, m-my name is Zack…" I said nervously, inching closer to her slowly. I knelt down in front of her, setting the small box of berries in front of her. "I uh… I have these berries. There are a lot of them, too much for me to uh, to eat by myself." Midnight looked at the berries in front of her, but didn't move to take any. I took one of the berries from the box and held one out to her, but she didn't reach out with her paws to grab it off of me and eat it, not knowing if the berry was poisonous or not. The doctors did say she had a problem trusting them, especially when it came to eating or drinking. I took a bite out of the Oran berry and ate it all before grabbing another berry from the box, again offering it to her. "They're really good."

She was still silent, but again refused to move her paws to take the berry from mine. I thought about starting things off with small talk, her accepting the berry and moving from there by revealing to her that I was her father. But from the way she stayed lying there unmoving, refusing to speak, I thought that now was the time to tell her who I was. I set the berry down with the others and sat down in front of her, breathed in and out before I spoke.

"I knew your mother, Midnight, I knew her well." I said, turning her eyes up to look at me. "One time she and I fell in love and we travelled the region together in search of her sister, Shiny Latias. We fought her, but she overpowered us, me injured and separate from your mother, and Latias captured and imprisoned by Shiny Latias… I'm your- your dad, Midnight… uh, my full name is Zack Raines, your mother is a Latias, and she grew up in Nuvema Town, my home town."

Midnight looked at the berries and then at me, turning her head up, and she spoke to me for the first time. "M-mommy told me all about you," She said nervously and quietly. "How she met you, growing up with her, how you got together. She was with me the most during our time together telling me stories of your adventures… y-you're my dad?"

"Yeah, that's right."

Midnight shuffled a little closer, looking at me again. "You're smaller than mommy." She said sounding less nervous than she was when she opened her mouth for the first time to speak. I couldn't help but give a light chuckle at that.

"Yeah, I am smaller than mommy." She smiled, getting closer to the berries. I didn't reach out to try and touch her; I didn't want to scare her. I remembered back when I first met Latias and tried to recreate our first time together when we were young. "These berries are really nice. Have you ever had these kinds of berries before?" She shook her head and asked.

"What are berries?" And so I held up one of them, a Pecha berry and showed her the one of many types from the box.

"Well this one is a Pecha berry. It's hollow inside, but what you can eat is sweet and delicious. Your mother liked these berries a lot when… when she was still with me."

Midnight with her paw slowly reached for the berry and grabbed it with her claws lifting it out of my paw. She picked it up and slowly moved it towards her mouth to take a bite out of it, but the berry slipped out of her claws and it fell on the floor. Shockingly, when that happened, Midnight cowered back and held up her paws to cover her head and pleaded. "Please, don't hurt me! I'm sorry!"

"Hey, it's alright. You didn't do anything wrong." I tried to calm her down, grabbing another Pecha berry from the box and offering it to her again. Midnight slowly looked up, a tear in her eyes as she did. The documents we had found in that underground base revealed Midnight didn't have a good life growing up, only getting to know her mother for the first four years of her life before separating on her fourth birthday to be moved around from base to base to be 'trained' to become a puppet. If Midnight disobeyed or failed even the smallest of tasks she would be punished. Dropping the berry and backing off like she did, she must've thought she would've been punished for it. I held the berry closer to her. "It's okay, you didn't do anything wrong."

"I-I didn't?"

I shook my head and held the berry closer to her with a smile. She took it with her claws and held it close to her snout, sniffing it a few times before she took a small bite out of it, chewing on the berry a little before her face lit up and she ate it all up. She looked at me, and I pushed the box closer to her and let her have as many berries as she would like. I found myself feeling nostalgic when I saw Midnight eat the berries like that, mirroring the way her mother once did when she ate Pecha berries when she was younger.

When the berries had all but vanished, Midnight looked up at me and began to shake. "Daddy?" She sniffed. "I don't want you to hate me. Please don't. I'm sorry I ate them… I was hungry and I-" She must've had it rough growing up with Shiny Latias towering over her, raising her with Latias. The sisters arguing and fighting between the two on how to raise Midnight. Darkness and light. Good and evil. Right and wrong.

She flinched when she saw me move my arm towards her, I placed my paw softly on her forehead and I stroked her and slowly pulled her in to hug her. "I don't hate you, I'm just happy to have you as my daughter." I felt myself tear up when I held her close to me, feeling her heart beating through her chest up against my head. I heard her cry as she hugged me back.

We spent the remainder of the night talking about Latias, how we first, her hobbies she liked to do even loving that TV show called Super Latias she liked watching everyday. It was a Latias wearing a cape and a little red mask protecting the citizens of a city i can't remember the name, fighting bad guys and fighting legendary Pokemon, that kind of thing, i think that's what sparked an interest in Super Latias from Midnight, wanting to get involved with the things her mother liked. I also told her how strong of a Pokemon she was when we travelled together, and how she was so kind and caring to everyone around her, wanting to find the good in others. Midnight told me that Latias spoke about me and what i was like, promising i would take good care of her if i ever did find her... I had promised her that life would get better and soon everything would be back to the way it once was.

To be continued…

Trivia:

Bulldozer was cut from this chapter in favor of just a chapter about zack and his daughter.

AN: A shorter chapter since I did cut out 2k words from it and added them to the next, basically just scenes involving Bulldozer. Just about to come into the final part of the story now, almost about to reach the final battle and then there is the epilogue. Thanks for ready the story, hope you enjoy it. Until next time.