Sakura and Thomas walked up to Archie's office, and Sakura seemed nervous. "Oh, calm down, he won't bite." Thomas said.
"I know; it's just a little hard for me to adjust to meeting new people." Sakura said.
"That's understandable." Thomas said nodding.
They arrived at the door to Archie's office, and Thomas knocked.
"Come in." Archie called.
Thomas opened the door and led Sakura inside, and Archie's eyes immediately fell on Sakura. "What happened to her!" Archie exclaimed.
"A Mightyena was running wild through our base, and it crashed into her, thus knocking her to the ground and causing her to land on her arm." Thomas replied.
"Sakura, come here, sweetheart." Archie said.
Sakura walked over to Archie, and Archie stood up and gently pulled her into his arms and held her for a minute before he let her go. Archie felt her poke ball in her pocket while he was hugging her so he said, "Oy! I forgot! I need to give you something to hold your poke balls. Let me get that for you, sweetheart……." Archie stood up and walked over to a cabinet and took out a girl's belt for poke balls. Then he walked back over to Sakura and handed it to her.
Sakura tried to put it on one-handed, but didn't have any luck in doing so, so Archie took it from her and placed it around her tiny waist. "There, that's better…… Put your poke ball on there now, sweetheart." Archie said.
Sakura reached into her pocket and took out her poke ball and attached it to her belt.
"That's much better." Archie said.
Archie now turned to Thomas, "Thomas what did the doctor have to say about her arm?"
"The doctor said that her arm was sprained and that it would have to stay in a sling for several days." Thomas replied.
"Poor girl…… I would've said 'my poor daughter', but it's not official yet……. Sakura, you still want me to adopt you, right? I just want to make sure before I sign this last form." Archie asked thoughtfully.
"It's okay with me, if you want to adopt me." Sakura replied.
"Good." Archie now signed the last form. "I just need for you to sign on the line here." Archie said pointing to the line.
Sakura walked over to his desk and signed the form.
"Great, now I can file these through the legal office, and we should hear back from them soon. I'll see you later, sweetheart. Thomas, be sure to help her train her first pokemon." Archie said.
"I will, boss." Thomas replied.
Archie now picked up the papers and left his office with them, and Sakura and Thomas followed shortly after him heading in the opposite direction towards the training room. Sakura and Thomas arrived in the training room and Thomas quickly began helping Sakura train her Mudkip.
~*~
Meanwhile, Archie had just filed the papers through the legal office.
"Thank you, sir, you'll be hearing back from us in three days." A staff member said.
"Okay, thank you." Archie said.
"No problem." The staff member replied.
Archie now left the office and walked back to his base.
~*~
Back in the training room, Thomas and Sakura were still at it.
"Uh, Mudkip, use Water Gun." Sakura said uncertainly.
Mudkip fired off a blast of water that got Thomas all wet.
"Oops, sorry Thomas……. I didn't mean to get you all wet." Sakura said ashamed.
Thomas shook the water off himself before he said, "Don't worry about it, I needed a bath anyway……. Try again, and tell Mudkip to aim it at the wall this time."
"Sakura tried again, "Mudkip, use Water Gun on the wall."
Mudkip fired off another blast of water and this time it hit the wall and not Thomas.
"Looking good." Thomas said while still dripping water.
Thomas continued to coach Sakura until lunchtime, and after lunch they went back to the training room and Thomas continued to help her train her pokemon. Thomas had dried out somewhat, but his clothes were still damp. Sakura's Mudkip had grown to level twelve after all the training she had done before lunch. When dinnertime rolled around, Sakura recalled her pokemon and called it quits for the day. Thomas and Sakura now went to go eat dinner. Thomas and Sakura entered just as Archie was about to make an announcement.
"Good, I was wondering where you two were." Archie said.
"Sorry boss, we got side-tracked while we were training." Thomas said.
"I see, well you're here now and haven't missed anything, and that's the important thing; so please take your seats at the table." Archie said.
Sakura and Thomas went opposite ways, Sakura went to sit with the grunts and Thomas went to sit with the other Admins.
"Now that everyone's here, I have an announcement to make concerning Sakura."
"What is it?" An Admin named Jonas asked.
"I've filed all the paperwork at the legal office for Sakura to be my daughter." Archie replied.
"Really!? That's great news!" Everyone exclaimed.
One of the grunts clapped Sakura on the back kinda roughly, which caused her to cry out sharply, so Archie said, "Tom, be gentle with Sakura, she's small and fragile compared to you."
"Yes, boss." Tom turned to Sakura, "Sorry about that, Sakura, I got carried away."
"All is forgiven." Sakura said.
Tom patted her lightly on the back before he turned back to his meal. Everyone was eating by this point, and Sakura was having a bit of trouble eating with only one hand, but she was getting it done, though it was taking her a lot longer. When the meal ended, Sakura started to leave with the others, but Archie, her soon-to-be father, took her by her hand and led her away from the throng.
"Sakura, since you're hurt, I'm going to place you with Edith, so that she can help you while your arm's hurt. I think you can see why because there'll be some things that'll be hard for you to perform in the morning without help. I've had a trundle moved into Edith's room for you. Let's go get your nightgown then I'll take you to Edith's room.
Sakura and Archie walked to the room Sakura shared with Rebecca, and got her nightgown. Then Archie took Sakura to Edith's room, and he knocked on the door.
Edith answered it, "Oh boss, glad to see you again, and this must be little Sakura." Edith petted Sakura on the head before she said, "Come on in, Sakura, I really want to get to know you."
"I'll see you tomorrow, Sakura." Archie said as he walked off.
Sakura entered Edith's room, and Edith closed the door behind her.
"Now let's get you ready for bed, Sakura. Let me help you change, okay?" Edith said.
"Ok, Edith……" Sakura said.
Edith smiled, "Okay, I'll help you."
Edith helped Sakura change out of her uniform, removing her belt and her sling in the process, and into her nightgown. Then Edith pulled back the covers on the trundle and helped Sakura, "Careful, sweetie, you don't want to hurt your arm more."
"Okay." Sakura replied laying her head back into her pillow.
"So Sakura, can I ask you what your parents were like?" Edith asked.
"They were really mean, they bossed me around without a please or thank you, but it would be a hard call if I were to compare their care to Maxie's care." Sakura replied.
"Just out of curiosity, how did Maxie treat you?" Edith questioned.
"Slightly better than my parents did, but I was forced to be a slave against my will. As long as I did as he asked, he treated me well. He said that he'd hurt me if I didn't." Sakura replied.
"You don't deserve to have had a rough childhood, you deserved to have a happy one……." Edith said.
"Yeah, I wish that had been the case." Sakura replied.
"Well, look at it this way, you'll soon have a new father who you know loves you. I've never seen Archie so happy, you've brought out the best in him, Sakura." Edith said.
Sakura nodded, then yawned.
Edith smiled, "Now get some sleep, I'll see you again in the morning. I've got something I need to do, but I'll still be here if you need me, Sakura."
"Okay." Sakura said closing her eyes.
"Sleep well, Sakura." Edith said.
Sakura didn't answer for she had already fallen asleep. Edith finished what she needed to do and fell asleep shortly after Sakura.