I would like to thank everyone for 100+ views, which I consider a good start. This chapter wasn't easy to title, but in the end, I went with "Fowl Play." You'll see why later.
I would greatly appreciate if you guys would review to tell me what you thought. All feedback will be taken into consideration, but keep in mind that I may be ahead of what I have posted to this site. I'm midway through Chapter 4 as I write this. Enjoy!
The young Riolu did not know how long he slept for, though he did wake in the night. Once or twice, he opened his eyes and looked around, but nothing made sense to him. Besides, his exhausted body demanded more rest, so his eyelids fluttered shut again within seconds.
When he finally woke up for good, Zen found himself in a soft bed. It wasn't unlike the one he'd slept in back in the cave. The cave that had been his home for the first six years of his life.
Maybe this was all a dream, the Riolu boy thought desperately to himself. That's not that unlikely, is it?
In the dream, his parents had told him that he urgently needed to leave the cave. He'd run many miles through the forest, hearing gunshots a couple times. And then he'd found this home, where a woman had carried him inside. That had to have been a figment of his imagination, right?
"Ah, there you are," a soft female voice said. "Awake at last."
Zen noticed that his arms and legs ached greatly, as though he'd overexerted himself the previous day. His heart sank as he realized that it had all probably been real.
Confirming this fear, the woman he'd seen before drifting off came into the room, turning on the light. She wore a sad smile on her face.
"How long…how long was I out?" Zen asked her. His voice was weaker than usual.
"All night. You must really have been running hard…but what were you running from?"
Zen felt tears form in his eyes. It was going to be difficult to talk about this, not least because he didn't fully trust this lady yet. For all he knew, she might be in league with the hunters. He shivered at the thought.
Instead of answering, the golden Riolu simply looked at the woman fearfully. When she seemed to realize that she'd crossed a line, she ran a hand through her hair and frowned.
"My apologies. After what you've been through, it might be hard to trust me."
"You know…what happened?" Zen asked. The mental fortress he'd put up collapsed into rubble.
"It's not hard to guess. Given that you're a Shiny Riolu, you're going to be a target for poachers. And you ran so far away, it seems, given how tired you were. Of course, you don't have to talk about it if it makes you feel uncomfortable."
"Thank you…" Zen said softly. "But who are you?"
"In the interest of getting you to trust me, I'll tell you. My name is Valentina, and I've lived here…for quite some time."
"Don't you have any children? Or a mate?"
Valentina chuckled; it was a nice, hearty sound that could probably melt the largest glacier on Mount Coronet. But when she stopped laughing, she looked down at Zen and shook her head.
"Us humans don't tend to use the word mate. But no, I live alone. It's honestly quite lonely sometimes, but I've got Miltank, Mareep, and Combusken to keep me company. It's a simple life out here in Hisui, but that's what you sign up for when you settle here."
"My life back home was simple as well," Zen replied, sniffing. "In a good way, of course."
It was simple, until the hunters took it all away. And it'll never come back.
Valentina nodded. "Again, that's just the way it is up here. There aren't any cities close by, just the town ten miles away. I go there sometimes to bring my goods to the market, but on the whole, I don't leave the farm much."
Zen's stomach growled audibly a few seconds later.
"Oh, you must be hungry. Well, I'll whip something up for you; I'll bring it right to your bedside. Just give me a few minutes."
After Valentina left the room, the Riolu boy took the chance to get a better look at his surroundings. His twin bed was situated next to the window, and there was a bedside table to his left. The cadet blue wallpaper had clearly seen better days, but the bed felt comfortable enough, so Zen saw no reason to complain.
Really, this woman took me in without any hesitation. I should be happy about that. I should be happy in general, but…
Alas, Zen's eyes clouded over once more as he realized the exact reason why he wasn't happy. Yes, he'd met a kind stranger who seemed willing to take him in. And he had plenty of reason to trust her; she probably could have killed him already if she'd wanted him dead.
But his mind kept replaying those images. He saw them over and over, every time he blinked. And he'd never be able to forget.
Valentina came back, carrying a tray laden with food. "I made you eggs, toast, and bacon," she said, placing the tray on Zen's bedside table. "And after you eat, I'll show you the barn."
The Riolu boy gave the human lady a smile, then turned to the tray. Although he'd been provided a fork, he realized then just how hungry he was. He had no desire to use the fork, so he simply used his paws to shovel the food into his mouth.
Zen's manners might have been atrocious, but the food was pretty good, even if it reminded him of home more than he would have liked. With every bite, he sniffed a little, his nose getting blocked up eventually.
When he had finished eating, he placed the tray back on the bedside table. Then, he slowly moved his legs towards the edge of the bed, stretching out his body to get rid of the stiffness in his joints.
As he stood up, Zen was pleased to tell that his legs didn't ache too much. Considering that he'd run so far the previous day, followed by sleeping for well over twelve hours, his legs felt surprisingly sturdy. Of course, being a young, spry Riolu didn't hurt in this regard.
Zen made his way down the hallway into the kitchen. The floorboards creaked slightly with every step, and the door to the kitchen made more noise than he'd expected.
"Ah, I see you are finished" Valentina said once she noticed the Riolu boy enter the kitchen. "I hope you enjoyed the meal."
It was all Zen could do to hold back sobs. "I…sniff…loved it. But…sniff…it's what my…sniff…family would make for me!"
Valentina's face fell. "You speak of your family in the past tense. Is there a reason for that?"
Zen nodded. "My parents…they were…sniff…killed by hunters. And I had to run away…sniff…which is how I found you yesterday."
The lady got down on her knees and took the young Riolu's paw in her hand. She looked at Zen right between the eyes.
"To be honest with you, that's what I suspected. The moment I saw you, a Shiny Riolu alone, I thought there was no way you'd be without your parents unless there was a good reason. Of course, having your parents gunned down like that isn't a good reason. What's your name, by the way?"
"Z-Zen."
"And how old are you, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Six" Zen responded. He saw no reason to lie to Valentina, not when she'd shown him nothing but compassion. Besides, it wasn't the most personally-identifying question.
"Six years old and already an orphan…oh my Arceus, I'm so sorry. I wish I could bring them back. I wish I could do something, anything, to make things easier for you."
"The food reminded me of my mother," the Riolu replied. "She was always such a good cook. We lived in a cave, but it had a stove and everything."
Valentina nodded. "That's rather impressive. Of course, it's horrible to have lost your family like that."
And then, after Zen was silent for almost a full minute, the woman said something that the Riolu wouldn't forget.
"I am your family now, Zen. I promise that I'll treat you just like I would my own child. I can never replace your parents, but I'll do my best to be there for you whenever you need me."
With that, human and Pokémon embraced each other, wrapping themselves in one another's arms and refusing to let go. Zen feared that if he let go of Valentina right now, she would meet the same fate as his parents.
Why would she? She's not a Pokémon, and they don't know about her taking me in yet. At least, I don't think they do.
Zen's heart stopped as he realized something important.
The hunters might not know yet that Valentina had taken in the Riolu, but eventually they would. It was only a matter of time. This meant that as long as Zen stayed here, he was putting Valentina in danger.
They'd been willing to kill his birth parents just to get to him. They wouldn't hesitate to do the same to his adoptive parent, if you could call Valentina a "parent."
As soon as he came to this realization, the Riolu boy pulled away from Valentina's grasp. He crossed his arms and frowned.
"What's wrong, Zen?" the lady asked him. "Is it about your parents?"
Zen shook his head, but he felt like he was lying by doing so. How could he explain the real reason he was upset?
"Nothing's wrong," he replied. "Anyway, you said you were going to show me the farm?"
Valentina nodded. "Yes. Follow me."
With that, the young Riolu was led out of the kitchen and back into the yard he'd entered yesterday. Now that he was less bushed, he was able to pay more attention to his surroundings this time.
There was a small enclosure, probably about thirty yards in diameter, with moderately tall grass. This was most likely for livestock grazing.
Valentina showed Zen into the barn, which stood on the other side of the enclosure from the house. As such buildings went, the barn was of modest size, with a couple of Miltank in one corner.
"Their names are Sandra and Tutar," the woman told Zen. " I'll show you how I milk them, and then maybe you can get a chance to do it too."
The stench in the air was rather pungent, especially to his sensitive nose, but Zen was still able to focus as he sat down on a stool. Valentina sat about five feet away, right behind one of the Miltanks' tails.
The Riolu boy watched as Valentina began to demonstrate how one milked a Miltank. First, she placed a bucket beneath the udder in order to collect the milk. Then, she gently patted the Miltank's back, assuring her that this wouldn't hurt a bit.
When she was confident that the Miltank wouldn't put up a fight, the woman would squeeze on the udder in order to get all the milk out. The job didn't look very interesting, but it seemed to be a necessary part of working on a farm.
Valentina's probably so happy to have company for once. I bet milking a Miltank is pretty tedious.
For a couple of minutes, Zen sat there as he watched the woman perform this chore. There was something vaguely satisfying about hearing the milk rattle against the bottom of the bucket; maybe this job wouldn't be so dull after all.
Once it seemed that this Miltank had been drained of all her milk, Zen made what ended up being a big mistake. He thought that it would be his turn to milk the other Miltank, but in doing so, he caused himself unnecessary suffering.
He sprang up from his stool, which toppled to the ground. Something about this event, most likely the sound, startled the Miltank, who whipped around to face Valentina angrily.
Oh no. She thinks Valentina's the one who made the sound!
As the Miltank spun around, she kicked over the bucket half-filled with milk. It spilled onto the ground, all the precious liquid splashing out of the bucket and onto the dirt.
"Oh no!" Valentina exclaimed, echoing Zen's thoughts. "All my work is gone! Tutar, it's okay, it's okay!"
The Miltank who'd (literally) kicked the bucket, evidently Tutar, glared at her owner. Steam billowing out of Tutar's nostrils, the Miltank seemed to realize that Valentina wasn't at fault here.
And then Tutar turned to face Zen, and panic rose within the Riolu boy. He'd heard stories from his parents of other Pokémon who'd suffered internal bleeding after being kicked by Miltank - he didn't want to become one of them.
The Miltank began advancing towards Zen, both of them still breathing heavily. The Riolu boy took one step backward, then another; before long, there would be no more steps he could take before he was backed into a corner.
Zen's left leg stepped on something that felt like a nest, and a rather ominous crunch occurred.
The Riolu boy gasped. He didn't know what he'd just trampled over, but the crunching sound couldn't have been good news.
There was an audible screeching, and then the scene inside the barn was complete pandemonium. So much noise surrounded the Riolu boy that Zen had to cover his ears.
A Combusken, whom Zen hadn't noticed yet, readied a Fire type move, and the Riolu was forced to jump out of the way. Meanwhile, Tutar was kicking around as though she didn't care how many of her fellow farm Pokémon she had to hurt to get to the Riolu.
Finally, there was the sound of a cowbell ringing. Valentina shouted out, "Enough, Tutar!"
Zen breathed a sigh of relief. He would not get kicked by a Miltank today, and that was great news.
"Now, now" Valentina chastised Tutar. "Go back to your section, and I'll be back later. I have to attend to the Riolu first."
Zen might have been relieved before, but he wasn't anymore. He began trembling as he realized just how much trouble he might be in.
After all, he had created a disturbance, even if he hadn't meant to. And that disturbance would lead to a loss of income for Valentina, assuming she sold her milk somewhere.
Speaking of Valentina, the lady turned to face Zen with a scowl on her face. She pursed her lips as she looked him over.
"Now, now…Zen, you do realize that I make my money bringing my milk and eggs to market, right? Well, take a look around you, and you'll understand what you have done."
The Riolu boy spun around slowly, getting a 360° view of the barn. He still saw the milk that Valentina had painstakingly collected from Tutar, which now lay spread out all over the dirt. He saw the eggs he'd crushed - and yes, eggs, plural. The yolks of said eggs were seeping into the ground.
Zen could feel his cheeks turning pink. He braced himself for the worst; he expected to be yelled at, maybe even spanked. He'd be punished in some way, that was for sure.
As a defense mechanism, something he'd occasionally done to get himself out of trouble at home, Zen widened his eyes and smiled up at Valentina. Some would call that maneuver "Deerling eyes", but it was still very effective at getting what one wanted - in this case, getting out of trouble.
Those eyes seemed to work their magic this time. Valentina's scowl was soon replaced by a slight smile.
"Oh…you know I can't stay mad at you for long, Zen. I'm not going to punish you for a mistake; I know you didn't do it on purpose."
The Riolu boy let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Then, the lady continued speaking.
"Of course, I'd like it if you were more careful next time. Don't stand up too suddenly, because Tutar's ears are quite sensitive. But it's just milk, and I can always get more tomorrow. The people at the market will understand."
"The market? Where's that?" Zen asked softly. The lady might have mentioned it, but the Riolu boy felt too mortified to remember it.
"The market is in town. I'd be willing to take you there someday, when you're older. I don't know if it's safe right now."
Zen frowned. "You don't trust me to be safe?" He didn't want to get too confrontational with her, but it felt a little insulting to be spoken to like that.
Valentina sighed before responding. "It's not that I don't trust you, Zen. It's that I don't know if you're old enough yet."
"But my parents took me to the village market back home" the Riolu boy responded.
"This isn't a small village, though. It's a larger town. But remember, Zen, I'm not saying no. I'm saying not right now."
"True," Zen said. On some level, he wanted to stand down before this became a full-on argument. He would be living with Valentina for the foreseeable future, so he'd do well to get along with her rather than fighting with her.
After that, the two of them embraced once more. And that was when the Riolu boy knew one thing.
Valentina was right: No matter how hard she tried, she'd never be able to replace Zen's parents. But Zen knew that she'd provide him a home, something he greatly needed now, as well as stability, which was even more important.
This tranquility, however, would not last forever.
In case it wasn't perfectly clear, I don't know how to milk a cow. I didn't grow up on a farm, nor did I spend too much time around farms. Still, it's an iconic scene from the movie this story is based on, so I tried to recreate it as best I could.
