Chapter 3:
Special Needs
Eevee
Eevee laid in her new bedding, fully taking advantage of its gentle and warm embrace. Her old bedding of leaves and sticks were quite pitiful in comparison to what she had been given. Robert had returned with the small bed the same afternoon he had taken the doctor back to the hospital, much to her appreciation.
Quite a few days had passed since the attack that left her bedridden. As each day passed, she spent them observing the humans and their daily routines. Until now, Robert had been her main caretaker, quickly coming up with an amusing method of communication with her: a handful of small cubes with assorted colors. Each color with a dedicated meaning were placed next to her bed for Robert's routine check ups. It was rudimentary but effective nonetheless; red if she was in pain, blue if she was thirsty, green if she was hungry and so on.
Occasionally,in the afternoons, Delilah would lend a hand whenever she had the free time. Eevee noticed that quite frequently Delilah would be out of the house for the better part of the day, leaving around the same time as Sasha. Unlike her mother, Sasha would almost always return far sooner in the afternoon.
As Sasha left each day, Eevee noticed an orange furred pokemon follow her out the door. Frequently, the Growlithe would peek in her direction before they left. Eevee guessed that the pokemon wasn't native to the Ilex forest as she had never seen any pokemon like him. The Growlithe seemed to want to speak to her, but was always unable to as Sasha would be in a hurry to who knows where.
However, today the routine was broken. Robert had explained to Eevee that, for the day, Sasha would be the one to keep an eye on her. Anxious, she felt a shiver run down her spine, giving her goosebumps that caused her fur to stand on end briefly.
"Well this is going to be awkward… but it was going to happen eventually I guess," Eevee thought to herself. Their next interaction had been something she had been dreading.
She remembered how she had bitten Sasha the other day, but her victim had been harshly scolded instead of her. Regret and shame nagged at the back of her mind. If Sasha ignored her all day, or even retaliated, Eevee couldn't hold it against her. All she could hope to do for now was to sit in her bed and wait for the day to end, that or pray for either Robert or Delilah to come home.
The sound of footsteps caught her attention. Perking her to their direction, Eevee saw the usual sight of Sasha preparing to leave with her canine companion. Donning a simple dress, Eevee realized that she intended to leave her alone, for how long, she didn't know. Eevee felt slightly disappointed and yet somehow relieved. Noticing that they had an audience, the canine scampered towards her with excitement.
"Hey! You're awake! Nice to finally meet you! I'm Bones!" he introduced himself, his tail wagging in a blur of white fur. It was obvious he had been waiting for the moment to finally approach her. His words came quickly and with much zeal.
"Haha, nice to meet you too. I'm an eevee," she responded, giving him a small smile while straining herself into a sitting position. It was nice to finally have someone to actually communicate properly with, even if he was a bit more energetic than she would have liked.
"I know what you are, what's your name?" the pup asked, his tail swishing back and forth.
"I don't have one. I've never needed one," she replied.
If anything, having a name was a foreign concept to her. Wild pokemon, friend or foe, rarely had a name. The few that did have a name were released pokemon holding lingering attachments to their former humans.
"Well that's weird, everyone ne-"
"Bones, can you hurry up? We need to get going," Sasha interrupted, impatience creeping into her tone.
For a few moments, Bones turned to look at Sasha. Ears flat and tail drooping, he whimpered until Sasha's demeanor softened.
"Fine... Just please hurry." She sighed, caving to the pup.
Instantly, the dog turned back to face Eevee, his smug grin undermining his performance. It dawned on her that the pup was a lot smarter than he seemed. Glancing in Sasha's direction, she saw her leaning on the wall next to the door. Eevee quickly brought her attention back to her new friend.
"You sure it's okay to just ignore her like that?"
"What? OH, her! Yeah she'll be fine," the dog assured her, "She's not my master, she's not even a trainer either." The dog's tail began its wagging again in earnest, clearly enjoying the attention.
"I mean, if you say so," She paused. "Where are you two heading anyway? Will you be gone long?"
If she thought the dog was excited before, she had no words for the outburst of energy she was confronted with now.
"Oh! I'm going with her as a stand in pokemon! Sasha is going to become a trainer soon and needs all the practice she can get before she can be issued a trainer card!" the dog explained proudly, his words picking up speed as he went on.
"If she does well, she will be issued a starter pokemon and begin her gym circuit!"
Eevee kneaded her paws for a second, almost afraid to ask her next question, but was unwilling to end their conversation prematurely. Combined with her desire to know more, she dared to feed his ego and keep pushing.
"So... What's the gym circuit? And if you're just helping her, does that mean you're the only other pokemon in the house?"
Bones didn't immediately answer. Instead, the pooch stared at her with the same smug expression he had for Sasha. More than anything, Eevee was genuinely surprised that Bones didn't gush as energetically as he had been.
"If you come with us after you're better, I'll explain everything to you," Bones teased, "I've seen you observing the family every chance you get. I know you're from the forest and you're used to living in the wild and all, but it's safe here you know. At least much safer than where you used to be at any rate."
Bones paused to scratch his ear. With a wink, he added, "Unless you're doing what I think you're doing and just trying to pick up on a few things the humans do."
Eevee shuddered a bit. She thought she had been discreet, but he clearly had noticed her and even managed to get an accurate assessment of her without her noticing. Deciding that silence was the best answer, she kept quiet as Bones continued.
"Oh, at the very least I'll answer your second question. Yes, I was the only other pokemon in the house until you came along."
Greatly interested, Eevee listened intently as the pooch continued while he got comfortable; sitting on his haunches.
"I'm sure you've figured it out by now, but Delilah is my master. What I bet you didn't know is that she has raised me since I hatched, but that's the most you're going to get out of me today," he chuckled.
"Oh come on!" Eevee begged. "If you figured me out already, then why do you want to keep me in the dark?"
The pup broke into a fit of laughter before responding. "I don't! I swear I don't! You're too fun to mess with; you're an open book. Besides, if I told you everything in one day, you'll be bored tomorrow right?"
Biting her lip out of frustration, Eevee stole another glance in Sasha's direction. The girl couldn't possibly understand their conversation in the slightest, but still wore a kind smile for some strange reason. Her smile faded quickly as the two accidentally made eye contact. It had become apparent the smile was for Bones.
Guilt weighed on Eevee as she thought back on her actions leading up this point. In her eyes, she had wronged the young girl and had acted like some sort of spy instead of learning and interacting with the family as a whole..
As irritating as it was, the dog was right. Eevee had an almost innate desire to learn more about her human saviors. Between Robert's first aid and Delilah's retrieval of the doctor, her preconceived notions and knowledge of human beings were shattered in the face of their selflessness. The void created only served to give birth to her thirst for knowledge.
"I..." Eevee tried to speak, but her words failed her. She couldn't, in good conscious, pursue her desire to educate herself anymore. Regardless, Sasha seemed to be doing her best to avoid her and was well within her right to do so. As Eevee came to this conclusion, she snapped back into the moment when Sasha spoke up.
"Bones, I'll be in my room. Come get me when you're ready," said the girl as she grabbed her bag.
Eevee felt guilty as Sasha left the room; the girl was now postponing her plans for the sake of Bones. She understood why she would have a grudge against her, but it hurt regardless.
"I want to go but I think she hates me," Eevee whispered, her ears drooping.
"Nah, she just doesn't know how to deal with you, I mean you did bite her after all." Eevee flinched at his words. "Plus, she feels bad about something else," Bones replied snickering.
"Wait, what do you mean?" Eevee asked, confused at the vague response. She couldn't help but keep looking towards the hallway, secretly hoping Sasha would return.
"Well, the family sometimes forget that I'm not some feral beast and spill their secrets to me. I'm not going to betray their trust so I just can't say, but just know it was something innocent. She wanted to do it to help you but ended up not pushing it any further than just words...she takes after her grandfather you know, they're both real softies."
Eevee dwelled on Bones' words for a while, unsure how to respond. Bones didn't pressure her for an answer; simply waiting patiently for her reply. Thankfully, before things could become awkward, she found her words.
"Well, I've gotten along quite well with Robert, but I don't know what to do or say with her. I feel so horrible for what I've done, but I can't go to her and she won't even come near me," Eevee replied, her voice ladened with remorse.
The dog shuffled his paws in place, empathizing with his new friend.
"And if you're right, she just tried to help me too and instead I just bit her…" Eevee continued, sadness began to creep in alongside guilt as she spoke.
"Hey, hey, hey... Don't dwell on it too much. If you really feel that way, then do something about it after you're better. Okay?" he advised, nudging her paw with his.
Eevee didn't respond; she could only sit in place and stare at her paws. The effort she put into merely sitting up made her dizzy, a clear indicator that being able to walk normally again wouldn't happen for quite some time. With all the steps the family had taken to ensure her survival and comfort, it felt insulting to leave things as they were. There had to be a way to connect with Sasha and apologize.
"Well, they say you only live once, but here I am. Best make the most of it, right?" she thought to herself.
Gathering her resolve, Eevee gritted her teeth as she forced herself to stand. Her chest and back groaned in protest as the movement kindled small amounts of pain spread through her ruined frame. Bones froze in place at her sudden actions, dumbfounded as to why she would dare move in her condition. Reality snapped into place again as Eevee took a step forward, the effort transforming the pain into a full blown inferno. Bones rushed forward, stepping into her path and blocking her from going any further.
"Wait! What are you doing?" Bones exclaimed, worried for her safety. "You're not ready to move yet!"
"Don't stop me, Bones. I don't have the patience to wait, if Sasha won't come to me then I have to go to her!" she replied, her voice strained from the effort.
Almost at random, spikes of pain spiderwebbed across her chest. Most were sharp, threatening to force her to collapse, but others were intense and dull, trying to steal her breath from her. In an attempt to power through, she focused on her goal and ignored the pain.
"Move, Bones," Eevee asked.
The canine didn't even bother to reply. Straightening himself, he towered over her with his height.
"Bones… Please," Eevee begged. "I know what I'm doing. I need to go see Sasha."
"No," he replied swiftly. "You do realize that Sasha is responsible for your health for the day right? If you hurt yourself, you'll make her and the rest of the family look bad. I won't allow that."
Eevee took an excruciating step forward, pushing his chest with her forehead. She knew the odds of her being able to overpower a pokemon twice her size in her condition were impossible, but she felt driven into a corner. Panic welled up from within her as she came to terms with her condition.
"Then what do I do…?" she asked, her face muffled in her new friends fur.
"Rest and recover," Bones answered matter-of-factly. His blunt reply caused her to take a small step backwards in order to look at him. "Everything else can wait."
Sighing, the dog rubbed his nose with his paw for a moment before adding.
"Look, while you were sleeping, she kept checking on you nearly every twenty minutes last night... Just be patient. She isn't going anywhere and neither are you."
Agony tore through her maimed frame as she felt her willpower wane its wake. As impatient as she was, she had little choice but to take Bones at his word. Nodding, she obeyed the protective canine; settling back into a comfortable position in her bed. Instantly, the pain from her self-inflicted torment evaporated. The echoing remnants of the ordeal left her limbs shaking and weak; she made a mental note to avoid such strenuous actions for now.
The two didn't speak for a short while; Eevee simply followed his gaze as he focused on where Sasha had gone. Bones seemed to be in deep thought. The painstakingly awkward silence was broken when he spoke up.
"You said you never needed a name, what did you mean by that?" Bones asked, sitting back down next to her bed. He seemed to be more relaxed now as his more friendly aura returned.
"If you take me with you after I'm better, I'll explain it to you," she teased in response. At the very least, she didn't want the pup to be at odds with her. After all, Bones was correct. If she was patient, she could make peace with Sasha in the future.
"Ha!" Bones laughed. "Okay, I guess I wasn't being fair. I'll tell you what, answer my question and I'll answer one of yours. Deal?"
"Deal," Eevee answered quickly. Rolling onto her good side, she laid down completely as she contemplated how best to answer him. Staring into the ceiling, her eyes wandered for a moment before she replied.
"Well...There's not a lot to the story. I never knew my parents, I've never lived with a human before, and I've never exactly had any friends before. This is sort of new to me, you know?"
"I see…" Bones nodded.
"Well, do you have a name you want to be called?" the pup asked.
"Ah ah ah, one question remember?" Eevee playfully chided. "It's my turn now."
"Fair enough, what do you want to know?" he asked as his smug grin returned.
A multitude of questions came to mind but she was only able to pick one. Many could easily be answered in time so she decided to go for the obvious.
"Well, since it's my turn and all… What's Sasha like?"
"I guess it would be better to tell you. From what I've seen, you'll probably try another stupid stunt if I don't," he half joked.
Eevee felt her ears go flat at his words. Things felt slightly shaky between them and she wanted to be on good terms with the only other pokemon in the house.
"Sorry about that, I didn't think things through," she murmured.
"Don't worry about it, I was only joking...kinda," Bones laughed. "Brighten up would ya?"
Eevee fell quiet as she simply had nothing to say.
"Anyway, about Sasha…" Bones started. "She's a softy like her granddad, but she is quite the anxious type. She doesn't do well in crowds of people and doesn't have many friends in school. She is honestly smarter than she gives herself credit, but I can't tell her that myself; most of our conversations tend to be one sided."
Bones paused to chew on his fur for a moment, trying to rid himself of an itch. The act seemed oddly amusing to her. Finished with the unwanted interruption, Bones eyed Eevee for a moment.
"You know you brought back fleas from the forest right? Annoying little bastards. Now I'll have to get a damn bath soon and I don't really like water all that much."
"Oh wow, I'm so sorry about that. I'll totally make sure to ask the bugs to stay away from you," Eevee replied snickering.
"Smartass," Bones said, rolling his eyes. "Where was I….? Oh yes! Sasha can be quite awkward at times with people and new pokemon alike, in fact, she is becoming a trainer in order to build up her own confidence. If she can at least make some headway into the gym circuit, I think she will get her dream job."
Eevee laid in her bed as Bones finished his spiel, gaining a new understanding and appreciation for the young woman. She noticed the warm glow Bones exuded as he spoke of Sasha. A hint of jealousy tugged at the back of her mind.
"It must be nice to have a family huh?" Eevee thought to herself before quickly burying the emotion. "You seem to really love these humans don't you?" she asked.
"Well of course, they're my family. Delilah and Robert raised me alongside Sasha," Bones replied.
"Does she have a father?" Eevee asked, curious of the odd number of family members.
"I guess "one question" rule is just out the window huh?" Bones teased back. "All jokes aside, that's something else I can't say. It's not a secret, but it's also just not my place to say."
Adopting a sullen demeanor, Eevee just nodded. As patient as he had been with her today, she decided not to pry.
"Good. If you'll excuse me, I think we've both kept Sasha waiting long enough. The Trainers School closes in a few hours. She and I need to get some practice today."
"Wait! At least tell me what you mean by her dream job!" Eevee yelled as the pup made his way to the hallway. At her plea, he paused before disappearing out of sight.
"Nope!" Bones yelled back from the hallway. "Maybe tomorrow!"
Grumbling to herself, Eevee conceded and stared at the ceiling. Being bedridden and ending up alone for any amount of time was painfully boring. The few minutes that passed felt like an eternity to her.
As Bones and Sasha emerged from the hallway, Eevee watched Sasha check her bag once more. The two of them departing was likely to be the last entertaining thing she would see until someone came home.
Bones
Ignoring worried looks from Sasha, Bones stepped onto the field for his next battle. Today had been particularly difficult as upperclassmen were practicing today. With how hard he had been pushing himself, Bone's fatigue was hard to hide at this point. By the end of his last match, his breathing was becoming labored and his reactions were sluggish, but nothing he couldn't handle. The brief period of time between matches was his only reprieve as the school's field referees set up their final match for the afternoon.
Standing at his full height, he measured himself against his next opponent. On the other side of the field stood a Seedot, its round body a little over a foot shorter than him. Without arms to swing or a mouth to even bite with, Bones was concerned for the small acorn pokémon. Behind him, he could hear Sasha call out to him.
"You sure you're okay Bones?" Sasha asked.
With a quick bark, Bones got into his battle stance. The Seedot stared at him with what he could only assume were his eyes, empty and emotionless. As the referee got into his position to start the match, Bones couldn't help but feel something off about his opponent.
"Begin!" the referee shouted, tossing his flag into the air.
Taking off like a bullet, Bones made a beeline for his stoic adversary with a Take Down. Crashing into the smaller pokémon, he sent it bouncing backwards. Giving it no time to recover, Bones circled around before giving it another heavy blow. Wincing, Bones could feel the backlash of his reckless moves catching up to him along with his fatigue.
"Okay Bones! Now use Fire spin!" Sasha yelled as Seedot bounced towards the center of the arena. The acorn pokémon felt almost comically helpless to his wicked onslaught.
Flames flickered in his maw as he broke into a full sprint, aiming to run circles around his adversary. Whether or not it realized the danger it was in, the Seedot made no effort to escape the growing fire prison. Rocking itself onto its feet, it resumed its empty stare amid the growing fire storm.
The roar of the flames filled his ears as he kept pushing, coaxing the flames to become increasingly intense. As Bones made his sixth rotation, his determination began to waver. His opponent still had yet to defend itself. Furrowing his brow, he slowed and finally stopped his attack out of concern. Having such a sheer advantage on his opponent made him worry about severely injuring his sparring partner.
As the inferno began to subside, Bones felt the extent of his exhaustion hit him all at once. It took all his effort to even remain on his feet as he took great gulps of air. As powerful as his flames were, they robbed him of a large amount of what air he needed to breathe.
"Bones no! Keep going!" Sasha panicked, drawing his attention.
"But…why? I don't want to kill him," Bones thought to himself, perplexed at Sasha's commands.
Returning his attention to his enemy, Bones immediately understood her alarm. Seedot's round surface, charred by his flames, was returning to normal at an incredible pace. With a roar, Bones tried to charge towards his opponent but his limbs were slow to respond.
"No no no!" he roared
In a last ditch effort to win, Bones launched a salvo of embers at his opponent as he ran. Each fireball missed their mark, only managing to set fire to what little grass remained. The Seedot began to glow a shining white as he drew nearer.
"Now!" commanded its trainer.
With astonishing speed that belied its form, the Seedot launched itself towards him. Clenching his teeth, Bones knew he wouldn't be able to evade its attack. Twisting sideways, he angled the incoming blow to his broadside. All at once, any breath he had was ripped from his lungs as he felt its hard surface smash into him. The force of the attack spun his body off the field, his limbs flailing wildly as he somersaulted, until he collided into the wall and finally crumpled into a small heap on the floor.
A persistent ringing buzzed in his ears as he tried to open his eyes. Almost in slow motion, the referee was throwing a flag towards the Seedot, as Sasha wrestled with her purse. In a sprint towards him, Sasha could be seen pulling his pokéball free, its white and blue surface glossy from underuse; fear and worry were self-evident on her face.
"Someone notify the medical wing immediately!" the referee yelled as he quickly followed. Dropping to her knees, Sasha dropped everything. Bones felt her hands gently caressing his fur as he heard her stifle a sob.
"Oh Bones… Are you okay?" she asked.
Releasing a low groan, Bones felt his vision fade. Sasha kept barraging him with more questions, but they became garbled as the ringing grew louder. Agony crept into him as the initial shock began to wane. Consciousness slipping from his grasp, Bones watched as Sasha pointed his ball towards him.
Bones
The hum of the medical wings' healing machine reverberated within his pokéball, rousing him from his slumber. As the thrum of the machine continued, Bones thoughts drifted to the battle that had put him in here. He had been so sure of his victory over the grass pokémon, but he couldn't understand what had gone wrong.
Almost immediately after the machine finished, Bones forced himself out of the pokéball. The room's fluorescent lighting blinded him for a moment as he tried to get his bearings. Sitting at the student's side, Sasha had waited patiently for him to finally return to her. Stretching his limbs, Bones tested his restored body; a habit he had developed in his first year of battle practice.
"Welcome back Bones!" she greeted him with a wave. "You feel better?"
"Much better!" he happily barked to his oblivious friend.
Scampering to her side, Bones couldn't stop his tail from swinging around in excitement. From what he wagered, Sasha and him had defeated two out of three upperclassmen in their extra matches today and should be receiving high praise. Leaping onto her lap, Bones snickered as she groaned at his sudden weight.
"Oh boy, you're getting too heavy to just jump on me like that," she scolded.
As she rubbed his ears, he and Sasha sat in the conference room with relative silence around them. It was only a matter of time until her reviewer would join them. Glancing at Sasha, Bones noticed she was in unusually good spirits as well.
In order to keep everything fair, the school normally assigned battle reviewers at random per day, but Sasha was treated as a special case. More specifically, one of the faculty members took it upon himself to personally review her battles as much as he could. As if on cue, the teacher opened the door and entered the room.
"And the prodigal dick returns," Bones dryly remarked. It was in these moments that he took advantage of the language barrier between humans and himself. To say the least, the things he tended to say about this man were rarely positive anyway.
While the school itself had no official dress code for its students and employees, this teacher wore virtually the same outfit every time he had seen them after battle. The only difference between his clothes seemed to be colors. This time, the man wore a white tuxedo paired with a burgundy tie. His spiked black hair was kept short and neat at all times as well; a clear indication the man had a flair for his own style.
"Hello again Miss Reed," he greeted as he took his seat.
"Afternoon Mr. Cotter," Sasha replied.
A low growl rumbled from his chest; Bones never liked this man. Mr. Cotter tended to be blunt with his words and often had left him pulling Sasha out of depression on more than one occasion over the years. Eyeing him warily, he let out a low growl.
Seemingly unfazed by his warning, Cotter flipped through his papers. Bones could feel Sasha tense up with each glance in their direction. Hopping down onto the floor, he took to his spot next to her leg. With one hand Sasha took to kneading his fur while the other relaxed, a destressing method the two had adopted over the years.
"Well, let's get started shall we?" Mr. Cotter asked as he closed the folder.
Folding his hands on the table, Cotter's eyes darted between the two for a moment. Bones felt his fur stand on end in apprehension.
"Miss Reed, according to your file, you participated in three extra credit rounds today. Of the three, you managed to lose to an opponent whilst holding a type advantage," he began. " While your leading battles were satisfactory, I would prefer to focus on your final battle. If you wish to retain credit for that battle, you must first tell me why you lost. What will you do in the future?"
Bones bristled at the man. His methods were never agreeable to him. Instead of looking at the results in its entirety, Cotter seemed to take joy in pointing out flaws. He was about to bark his protest when Sasha surprised him.
"We both are at fault Mr. Cotter."
Bewildered, Bones felt the words he had chosen die in his throat. Trepidation took root as he realized what she had meant.
"Oh please, do elaborate," Cotter gestured.
"In the battle, I didn't notice the Seedot had Ingrained itself in place during Bones' Fire Spin. It was only after he ended his attack did I see what was going to happen. After I told him to keep going, he hesitated. My lack of foresight and Bones' hesitation is what did us in."
In awe, Bones just stared at Sasha. The girl was speaking with an air of confidence he'd rarely seen from her. A mixture of pride and shame swirled within him as she pointed out their mistakes in the heat of battle. Cotter calmly listened to her, a slight smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
"It was a mistake for me to ask for him to use an attack like Fire Spin on a small opponent like Seedot as the flames obscured my vision. It would have been far better to use the type advantage to my favor and just used a more direct approach," Sasha continued.
By now the faint smile on Cotter's face had grown into a full on grin. Slightly disturbed, Bones shuddered at the man's creepiness.
"A very good assessment, Miss Reed. That answers my initial question, but not the second, so I'll reiterate; what will you do in the future?" Cotter asked.
Bones swallowed, trepidation towards Sasha's answer built up. He knew what she was going to say about her mistake, but he couldn't fathom what she had planned for him.
"For starters, I will have to focus on moves that keep the enemy visible for small targets," Sasha started, but hesitated, throwing a glance in Bones' direction. Taking a deep breath, she continued.
"As for Bones, I'm not his official trainer. He's been by my side since i was little but I'm sure he sees me as family and not as an authoritative figure… and I don't know how to resolve that problem," she admitted.
Crestfallen, Bones felt himself sink closer to the floor. He wanted to vehemently deny her words, but couldn't bring himself to say or do anything. Sasha's assessment was accurate, she was like a little sister to him. It was even more soul-crushing that he knew himself well enough to know he wouldn't be able to change his mindset over her either, even if he were to become her pokemon officially.
However, he didn't have time to ponder over his mistakes. Bones and Sasha both flinched as Cotter clapped. Confused, Bones lifted himself up to bring Cotter into his line of sight. The man was far more excited than he had ever seen him.
"Bravo, Miss Reed! Bravo!" Cotter exclaimed, leaving Sasha stunned beyond words at his sudden enthusiasm before regaining his composure.
"You know, Miss Reed, I've taken quite an interest in your education. As you know, the school ordinarily assigns review cases at random to the faculty," he began. Sasha said nothing but nodded towards him. Bones perked his ears up at the new development.
"...however, you are considered a special case to this school."
"Wha-" Sasha started but was cut off by the wave of Cotter's hand.
"I'm not done, Miss Reed," Cotter said calmly.
"You have incredible potential to excel in any field you want when you retire from your trainer career," he explained. "You're near the top of the class in studies, you've just proven to have impeccable analysis skills, and your battle record seems to be improving."
Flipping through the folder, Cotter slid a single sheet towards Sasha. Groaning to himself, Bones couldn't read the paper even if he could see the top of the table. He had no choice but to wait and see what would be discussed next.
"What's this?" Sasha asked before picking it up. Bones hopped onto his hind legs, trying to see the paper, but was pushed back onto the floor. Annoyed, Sasha held the paper beyond his line of sight as she read.
"Get down boy. I'll tell you later," Sasha scolded.
"My own personal program within the school," Cotter replied.
Bones felt his skin crawl. Sasha seemed unsettled as well as she grimaced immediately at his paper. Walking around the table to look directly at the man, he felt a deep rumbling growl escape from his maw.
"What are you playing at?" he barked.
Cotter, unperturbed by his outburst, continued to ignore him and carried on.
"I'm well aware of your perception of me, Ms Reed, but I assure you that this is most certainly in your best interest for your future. I recall you wish to run a pokemon daycare of your own, yes?"
"Yes sir," Sasha replied.
"And you are aware of the requirements necessary to reach that goal?" Cotter asked.
"I need a minimum of three badges and need to have raised a minimum of four pokemon into maturity, right?"
"Correct, Ms Reed, but you also need to attend a specific set of curriculars. Not every pokemon can be treated the same, quite a number of them require specific knowledge in order to facilitate their upbringing as well as special techniques to handle them while their owner is away."
Leaning forward, Cotter continued with a glint in his eyes. "And I do believe I can help you with that."
Sasha looked down to the paper, reading in silence as Bones' vision jumped between the two. He couldn't bring himself to trust this man any further. Up to this point, his patience was reaching its end.
Determined not to be ignored any longer, Bones leaped onto the table to stand in front of him. With an annoyed sigh Cotter finally had no choice to address him. Bones felt some satisfaction in getting some sort of reaction from the obnoxious man.
Glancing behind him, Bones could see Sasha readying his pokeball. Surprisingly, Cotter stopped her as he held up his hand towards her. Pulling his wallet from back pocket, Cotter slid a few bills towards Sasha.
"Ms Reed, I would like to speak to your mothers pokemon alone for a few minutes if that's fine. Could I trouble you to procure some refreshments from the school's vending machine? You can get anything you like for yourself and Bones."
"I... Okay," Sasha agreed begrudgingly.
"Oh, I would prefer pinap juice, please," Cotter added.
"I don't want anything from this guy," Bones thought to himself.
Pocketing the money, Sasha got up and left the room. Turning towards Cotter, Bones leered at the man. Saying nothing, Cotter kept quiet until the sounds of Sasha's footsteps disappeared. Bones noticed the paper she had been reading was left on the table top.
"Bones, over the course of her academic life, I have to acknowledge the support you've given Sasha as a friend and a member of her family," Cotter began. "She needed you to be there for her. However it's time you stepped aside and let her start to grow on her own terms."
Before he realized it, Bones felt a vicious growl rumble within him. The very idea of leaving her side was nothing less than abandonment in his eyes.
"Oh come now, surely you've noticed it. The past few days have been nothing short of incredible. I don't know why, but she is clearly driven to improve. Just hear me out okay?" Cotter asked, a hint of pleading carried in his voice. "If she agrees, I can help broaden her knowledge of pokemon that the school doesn't cover. Each region has vastly differing pokemon. This will help her in her gym circuit as well as give her a head start in the workforce."
Bones was still unconvinced, he held his defiant stance. If this man was telling the truth, it still didn't explain why he suddenly had this change of heart. Pinching the bridge of his nose, Cotter released another sigh.
"Robert asked me to watch over her school academics," Cotter admitted.
"Just like you needed to support her, I needed to challenge her. I thought if I did, she would finally build up the courage to excel. I don't know why and I really don't care, but she is finally in a position for me to offer her the tools to succeed."
Bones relaxed himself as he thought about what Cotter had said. Cotter had always been such a bastard in his eyes, but maybe he wasn't so bad. Even though he didn't approve of his methods, Bones reluctantly understood why he had done and said the things he had.
"My plan, Bones, is for Sasha to join my classes and begin battling with my own assortment of pokemon and begin studying regional pokemon from Kanto, Hoenn, Unova, and even Sinnoh."
Bones felt himself stiffen at his words. He effectively would have to take a step back in his role as her battle partner. He always joked that he didn't have to listen to Sasha because she wasn't his true master, but the truth was that he had become accustomed to her commands in battle. Bones' gaze fell to his paws as he considered what he might have to do before laying down on the table.
"You know, that doesn't mean you can't come to the school with her and watch her matches," Cotter offered as if Bones' expression alone told him everything he needed to know.
Bones got up and hopped off the table. Turning to Cotter, he reluctantly gave him a nod and a short bark as a sign of his consent. Cotter explained in detail what his plans were for Sasha, but Bones slowly began to tune him out as he began to bury himself deeper and deeper in thought.
As much as he didn't trust Cotter, he knew the man put education first in any situation; many times his methods left Sasha crying. His role as her support was left untouched as he could still support her from home even if he wouldn't be her direct battle partner.
When Sasha finally returned, Cotter handed her the papers again as he began to go into details once more, this time omitting the truth of Robert's request. After Cotter finished his spiel, he gestured to Bones.
"Bones is on board as well. We both agree this is important for your future."
As Sasha considered his offer, her eyes never left the paper as she studied it. After a moment she announced her decision.
"I want to do it, but I'll have to talk to my mom about it," she firmly answered.
"Of course," Cotter replied with a warm smile.
Mixed feelings swarmed his head as Bones heard her answer. He was proud of her; proud of her confidence to move forward. He was disappointed; disappointed that he would be far less influential of her growth. He was scared; scared their bond could suffer if they didn't battle together in the future. In the end, his pride for her outweighed everything as he flailed his tail back and forth for her.
With their business concluded, Cotter began to organize his papers back into his folders. As he did this, a small envelope fell to the floor and slid beneath the table. As it fell, Bones noticed a small red cross in the corner. Figuring it was the right thing to do, Bones stopped and went to pick it up. Noticing it had already been opened, Bones could detect a familiar scent from within; it was Robert's.
"Well...he did say Robert was in cahoots with him," Bones mused to himself..
"What did you find, Bones?" Sasha asked, noticing he wasn't following her out the door.
Picking it up in his jaws gently, he pawed at Cotter's leg to get his attention.
Looking over, Cotter quickly snatched the letter from him before Sasha drew near.
"Ah! Much obliged, Bones. It's a letter from a friend," Cotter quickly replied. "It's getting late, you surely need to go home, right Ms Reed?"
Adjusting her purse, Sasha nodded and waved Bones over then departed. Looking up, Bones admired the confidence she held with each step. No matter what was going to happen, he was excited to see where her future would lead her.
To Be Continued
Authors Note:
As many of you are aware, Hurricane Laura devastated the southern coastal line and was shortly after hit by Hurricane Delta as well. The result of this has been an incredible amount of stress as well as large amounts of damage to my home and neighborhood. Since then, I have been dealing with bouts of anxiety attacks that resulted in emergency trips to the hospital as well as a more recent auto accident. I'll be frank, it hasn't been the best year for me, but thankfully I've had good friends on here, discord, twitch, and in life to support me and help me through this difficult time.
I wholeheartedly apologize for the massive delay for this chapter as I've had to live each day with no idea what the next day will hold. I've had to sleep in my car, travel between states on my days off in order to have a bed to sleep in, and rarely have had access to a computer to make any sort of progress in my work. Going forward, I will still be working on my story as much as time permits but I sadly may have another 2 to 4 month gap between chapters. This is due to construction beginning on my house soon as I may be left without a computer/place to stay while it is being done.
But enough about that, let's talk about the story.
Thank you once more for your patience and I hope you've enjoyed the ride so far. I'm not sure what the proper protocol is for swapping points of view between characters, so I'm improvising. Each perspective swap will be represented by an underscore break as well as the name of the person/pokemon in the upper right of the page after it. I apologize if this might confuse people and I'm open to suggestions to handle it better if there are any. As I've never written anything, I'm learning as I go.
This actually has been incredibly helpful for me to write each character as their own entity and their own personalities. This has helped me reduce any risk of breaking character in each section. As I go forward I will more than likely restructure the first few chapters (or this one) depending on the feedback.
Hope to see you next chapter!