A/N: Hey guys, DrPhill26 is back again with another new chapter of Evo-
Wendy: Where the hell have you been?!
Tyler: We're a month late on the update! We've never been a month late before!
DrPhill26: -lution for you... Alright fine, let's address the Donphan in the room. The short story is that I started a full time job about the same time I uploaded the last chapter. Naturally, working 40+ hours a week gives me a lot less time to work on this story, so naturally that has taken a lot of my attention of late. And since I have a standard of work with this story now that it's 40+ chapters in, I don't like uploading chapters unless they hit my personal standards. The good news is that now that I'm used to this job, I can actually work on Evolution a bit while on the clock if I've done all my duties beforehand. It's almost like being a real author.
Wendy: Huh, so that's why we've barely seen you the past two months.
DrPhill26: Plus I figured since you guys went ham in the last chapter, you needed a bit of a break to let everything settle.
Tyler: Yeah... *blushes* Last chapter was... fun.
Wendy: That's taking it lightly.
DrPhill26: Speaking of which, there's a tiny bit of Nomel berry-esque content in this chapter. Maybe closer to Nomel Zest than anything else and certainly nothing like last chapter. Be that as it may, here it is guys. Better late than never, this is the newest chapter of Evolution, enjoy dear reader :)
Tyler's eyes opened the next morning hazed over in exhaustion, seeing a pale blob as he tried to wake up. His body felt heavy as he stretched his legs, brushing against something in front of him. He looked up again through the fog and was able to make an outline of someone in front of him. It had to be Wendy, he told himself, thinking that they were spooning as they slept. He lifted his neck and kissed the back of her shoulder, smiling as she quietly murmured at his touch. Tyler felt his arms around her stomach, his left arm was trapped beneath her body but he didn't care. He snuggled even closer to her, resting his head on her shoulder.
"Morning sweetie." He whispered another kiss to her and she murmured again, still deep in her dreams. Tyler almost didn't want to wake up, and just stay wrapped up like this. Cuddling was quickly becoming one of his favorite things about having a girlfriend. The feeling of her body pressed against him in this intimate way, her just resting in his arms and finding comfort in his touch made Tyler feel fuzzy inside. He could almost feel the smile on Wendy's lips as she sunk into his arms even deeper. Tyler took a soft breath through his nose, this was what love felt like, looked like, even smelled like. But why did love smell like bacon?
A confused look on his face, Tyler smelled again and the smell of savory meats and maple sweetness filled his nostrils. Wendy smelled like breakfast? That didn't make any sense; sure Wendy was sweet to him, but that shouldn't mean she should smell like this. Was he just that hungry? Granted he could eat her again, but that wouldn't solve his now apparent hunger. He smelled again and the scents were even stronger. But what was causing them?
"Oh shit!" Realization hit Tyler like a truck as his eyes sprang wide. He must have been cooking breakfast and went back to sleep! Everything he made was going to burn! Panic sunk in as Tyler tried to free himself from Wendy. He rolled away from her, pulling his arm from beneath her with such force that he rolled out of the bed and plopped on the floor. He groaned as he stood up but rushed out the door and down the hallway. At the top of the stairs though, he heard the unmistakable sound of something new sizzling in a frying pan. If something new was being put in the pan, someone else was cooking? It couldn't have been Wendy; she'd been sleeping in his arms when he woke up. So who was it?
Tyler poked his head in the kitchen and saw that it was Will standing with his back to him as he placed a strip of bacon into a frying pan to another sizzling round of applause. He stood only in a pair of boxers with his hair tied up in a loose bun as he put more bacon in. This let Tyler see that Will had a tattoo across his back. He'd forgotten about those since Will normally had a shirt on. It looked like he had a dedicated mural to legendary Pokémon on his back. The legendary dragons Zekrom and Resharim rested on his shoulder blades with what looked like Thundurus in its therian form between them beneath his neck. Beneath those three sat three of the pixie Pokémon, Mew, Celebi and Victini, all of them sitting at a lake where Suicune was sitting and looking at the storm above them.
It was a damn impressive tattoo, but Tyler seemed more interested in Will as he stepped to his left and poured a ladleful of a thick tan liquid into what looked like a waffle iron. He closed the press shut and flipped it, shaking his hips to the left as if he was dancing. Sure enough Will's body kept dancing as he did the same to a second waffle iron. Tyler tried to stifle a smile at the amusing scene, but Will wasn't making it easy with his happy dancing. And then he raised the ladle to his lips.
"I like hot waffles and I cannot lie." Will sang into the ladle like a microphone and Tyler started snickering immediately, forcing a hand to his lips to stay quiet as he continued. "You pancake lovers can't deny, when you spread dat butter on them itty-bitty squares and ya fill 'em with syr-up you shout YUM! Can I have some more of this super delicious treat!"
"Oh my God!" Tyler thought as he tried to pull himself together. "I wish I had my phone right now." He clapped his hands to his legs looking for a pocket but only found his own flesh. He looked down and saw himself standing completely naked, almost shrieking at the realization. Sheepishly he backed away from the kitchen and saw Rose's skirt beneath his feet. His cheeks became even more flushed as yesterday's memories came back to him, and he climbed the steps to find his boxers and shorts atop the steps. He put them on, taking a few calming breaths before stepping into the kitchen.
"Morning Tyler." Will said as removed a waffle from the iron.
"You knew it was me?" Tyler asked sounding surprised.
"The girls are usually heavier sleepers than me." He finally turned and smiled at Tyler. "Normally I have to wake them up to come get breakfast."
"Weird, Wendy usually gets up before me." Tyler surveyed the food Will had apparently made and his stomach loudly growled its approval. Hot waffles, bacon, sausages, eggs, French toast? Will had made a morning feast for them and it all looked amazing.
"Hungry huh?" Will laughed at Tyler's stomach. "Can't say I blame you. We went a bit overboard last night."
"Yeah, no kiddi-whoa!" Tyler's legs slipped out from under him and he fell into the island counter with a loud clattering of pans. Fortunately, nothing broke or fell to the floor, but Tyler still felt his heart spike. "I'm okay."
"You sure about that spaghetti legs?" Will chuckled again.
"Yeah, I'll live." Tyler rolled his eyes as Will handed him a tall glass with a sparkling orange liquid in it.
"Here, drink up, I made 'morning after mimosas'.
"Morning after mimosas?" Tyler inspected the drink with a curiously raised eyebrow.
"Rose came up with the name." Tyler swirled the drink around and gave it a sip as Will continued on. "It's mostly orange juice, crushed ice, a few healthy splashes of sparkling wine, and a shot of Blissey egg too."
*PFFFFFFFFTTTTT* Tyler quickly spat the drink into the sink, seeing Will look at him with shock. "Blissey egg?!"
"Yeah" Will nodded.
"You do know what that does with wine right, or alcohol in general?"
"Yeah." Will nodded again. "It's an aphrodisiac, same with the Spore sticks we used last night."
"So why are you mixing it into a mimosa?"
"Because it tastes good." Will chuckled as he picked up Tyler's glass and poured more of the drink in it from a nearby pitcher. "Besides, liquid bliss becomes less potent when you add other things to the mixture."
"Wait liquid bliss, what?" Tyler took Will's offered drink again.
"That's what me and Rose call it." Will raised an orange glass of his own. "Though I've heard some hipster types call it Funky Cold Medina."
"Huh… Bit of an odd name for it." Tyler was taken aback by the weird name.
"I think it's a reference to some song in the 80's." Will said as Tyler took a swig of the drink and this time kept it in his mouth, shortly joining him. "Ahhh, that's refreshing." He said as he put the glass down.
"Yeah… not bad actually." Tyler agreed as he took another drink.
"See? Rose and I make this every morning after we have sex. Took a while to tweak the recipe so it'd keep us from fucking on the breakfast table, but I think we got it now. Just a friendly tingle down there, nothing more."
"That must have been fun though." Tyler imagined the scene Will just described. Rose bent over the table, her arms gripping the opposite edge while Will pounded into her so hard the table shook with each thrust. It sent a shiver down his spine just thinking about it. And sure enough, Tyler felt a friendly tingle down there just like Will said would happen.
"Oh believe me it was, at least until the table broke."
"What?" Tyler laughed as Will scratched his cheek ashamedly. "How'd that happen?"
"Well, Rose wanted to ride me one morning, so she pushed me to the table and climbed in my lap cowgirl style."
"Oh fuck that sounds hot." Tyler felt the small tingle wanting to become more than that, but bit his cheeks to keep the feeling small. "Wish I'd gotten to see that last night."
"She didn't ride you? That's a surprise, she loves cowgirl." Tyler shook his head at Will's question.
"Doggy both times not counting what we did with Scarlet. But that's how I wanted her."
"Fair enough. You'll just have to ask her next time you get together." Will chuckled, as did Tyler with a band of heated pink filling his cheeks. "Anyway, so Rose pushes me to the table and climbs in my lap. She's giving me the full treatment; shaking her hips in a slow circle, hands on my chest, staring at me through a few strands of her wild bedhead while biting her lip. One of the sexiest things I'd ever seen."
"Uh-huh." Tyler nodded as Will's vivid description left little work for his imagination. He could perfectly see everything Will described to him and now regretted the fact that he didn't get to experience it himself last night.
"So she starts getting friskier, going faster as she starts riding up my lap and it feels great. We're both starting to really feel it, and it's getting better and better by the second. But just before it gets to the best part, the damn table just collapses beneath the both of us."
"Oh fuck!" Tyler cringed at the thought, as did Will at the memory.
"Yeah… messed my back up pretty good when we fell. Needless to say we made a rule not to have sex on the table after that."
"Wow, that's unfortunate…" Tyler looked around, wanting to change the topic away from something that could lead to a rather painful case of morning wood. "So what's the story with breakfast here? Need a hand with anything?"
"Not unless you can make anything out of the leftovers." Will walked back into the kitchen and Tyler followed. "We got a couple eggs still, half a loaf of bread and the leftover French Toast mix."
"Oh easy." Tyler smiled as he grabbed the loaf of bread and cleared workspace for him. "You got a spare baking pan?"
"Yeah, here." Will handed Tyler a small baking pan. "Anything else?"
"Nah, I see everything I need actually." Tyler grabbed the leftovers of a stick of butter. "Though this needs melting." Will took the butter from Tyler and placed it in a cup, then placed that in the microwave.
"So what can you make with this?" Will asked as Tyler grabbed a knife.
"Bread pudding." Tyler explained as he emptied the loaf from its bag and started cutting the slices into cubes. "So easy to make, plus you already made half the stuff for me."
"Alright then, looking forward to it." By the time the butter had melted, Tyler had finished cutting the bread up and dropped it in the pan. Will handed Tyler the melted butter and both it and the leftover French toast batter was poured over the bread cubes with another cup of milk. Tyler then mixed the cubes around all the liquid, pressing it into the pan before placing it in the oven under some tin foil.
"See, sweet and easy." Tyler smirked confidently as he closed the oven. "Just make sure to save room for dessert."
"That shouldn't be too hard." Will laughed as he patted his stomach. "I'm a guy who likes to eat."
"Among other things…" A teasing giggle wafted into the kitchen that drew Tyler and Will's attention to it. Another more than friendly tingle shook through Tyler's body as he saw Wendy and Rose standing in the doorway with a pair of simple and revealing choices to cover their modesty this morning. Rose stood on the right of the doorway, he hair down and looking frizzled as she stood in what looked like one of Will's shirts as it was long enough to cover her hips and a small bit of her thigh. Wendy stood on the left, having found Tyler's gray PCPD hoodie once again that reached the same length as Will's shirt did on Rose.
"Morning boys." Wendy and Rose walked in together with their provocative attire towards their men, Tyler blushing heavily as Wendy walked up to him and gave him a flirty peck on the lips, Rose doing the same to Will. "Last night was fun wasn't it?"
"And then some." Will chuckled in agreement, earning an amused kiss from Rose. "Morning my love."
"Morning my knight." Rose gave another giggly kiss to Will.
"What about me Will?" Wendy half-pouted as she sauntered over to the couple. "Where's my good morning kiss?"
"Didn't you just get one from your boyfriend?" Will looked smugly at her.
"But I want one from you too." Wendy lightly pushed Rose away from Will's arms and took her place. "After all we did last night, I don't even get a little peck on the lips?"
"You are just insatiable." Will smiles as he pulls her into a brief but flirty kiss. "Happy now honey."
"Very happy hot stuff." Wendy winked at him, retreating into Rose's arms and facing her. "Now here's yours." Wendy lightly purred into Rose's lips, wrapping her arms around her girlfriend's shoulders while Rose wrapped hers around Wendy's hips.
"My little neon fairy, whatever would I do without you in my life." Rose giggled as she gave another flirty peck to Wendy.
"All I know is that it wouldn't be nearly as fun." Wendy spun out of Rose's arms, pushing her over towards Tyler, who caught her as she turned her attention to the red haired boy.
"Uh… m-morning Rose." Tyler stammered as she cupped the back of his head in her hand.
"And good morning to you my dessert fireball." Tyler felt his cheeks light up even before Rose planted her lips on him. The added feeling made the poor boy feel light headed and his knees buckled, but he kept upright as Rose pulled away with a wink.
"dessert fireball?" Wendy asked curiously.
"Yeah, I think it fits." Rose grinned glowingly at Tyler. "He's from the desserts of Orre, and that red hair of his looks like a fireball blowing in the wind."
"If you say so…" Tyler scratched his cheek shyly.
"Plus everything about last night was like making love to a fireball. So hot and steamy, I loved every second of it." Rose giggled impishly as you could see steam rising off Tyler's head.
"I wish you two would at least wait until after breakfast for the teasing to begin." Will sighed with his hands on his hips.
"Well what if I want him for breakfast?"
"No." Will sternly shot down Rose's offer.
"Can I have him then?"
"No." Will again shot down Wendy's counter offer.
"Oh, so you want him then." Rose laughed with a scheming look. "I suppose that's fair. You two were the only ones who didn't hook up last night."
"Maybe that's why they got up early this morning, so they could have some alone time away from us girls." Wendy added to Rose's teasing as she looked at Tyler. The redhead couldn't help but look away bashfully from his girlfriend's curious stare, then turned even brighter red as he remembered his and Will's kiss from last night.
"No." Will frowned this third time as he picked up a platter of food and began moving towards the table. "Tyler and I woke up to make breakfast, not fool around. And I don't know about you two but I'd rather eat it breakfast hot instead of let it get cool if we were to pick up where we left off last night. Plus, we're going to my parents' house today to spend the day at the ranch. We don't exactly have the time to do anything naughty either."
"We're going to the ranch today?" Wendy perked up as Will set some of their morning feast down on the table.
"Yup, now can you guys help out or not?" Will asked as he walked back to the kitchen.
"Darn, guess I got dressed up for nothing then." Rose pouted as she and Wendy followed to the kitchen.
"You call that dressed up?" Will teased as he lifted up the bottom of the shirt she was wearing, showing her bare ass beneath it. "Honey, there's nothing on down here, how is this dressed up?"
"I thought you'd like it." Rose responded with another teasing laugh that made Will roll his eyes yet again.
"I never said I didn't like it." Will playfully spanked Rose's bare ass, making the auburn haired girl jump forward with an amused giggle. "Maybe we'll have to sneak off and find an empty room at the ranch this afternoon so you can properly model that outfit of yours for me.
"Hmmm… maybe we'll have to do that." Rose giggled playfully as she gave Will another flirty kiss.
"Good, now why don't we get some breakfast in us okay?" Will offered as he handed both girls a tray of food. "You awake in there Tyler?"
"Huh?" Tyler snapped back to attention as Will held a plate of waffles in his hands, giving it to Tyler. "Uh, yeah."
"Good, so let's eat." And eat they did, the flirty remarks quickly being smothered by syrup and savory meats as Tyler and everyone else happily enjoyed breakfast together. All of it was incredible, each bite more delicious than the last. And with such wonderful company, time itself flowed just as quickly as the mimosas did. An hour had passed, almost becoming two before everyone was finished with their meals, and the sun shone brightly through the windows. It looked to be another gorgeous day as the four started to get ready for the rest of their day.
With another hour passed, the four of them were now dressed and ready for the short hike up town into Route 210 where the Weiland ranch waited for them. With Jason, Madison and Alicia joining them as well, the party appeared to be moving northward as well, everyone talking with merriment and excitement, looking forward to another day of well-earned relaxation. Tyler's imagination was starting to run wildly imagining what the house could look like. Yesterday Will had said that it was much larger than the comparably modest home that they'd left this morning.
But even his imagination wasn't completely prepared for the reality that he beheld up the road as they finally reached the dirt path leading up to the house. Beyond the framing path of evergreen trees was a two story mansion, with plenty of windows on both floors framed on the first floor by pillars holding up an awning. Will quickly commented that if they wanted to, everyone here could have their own room to themselves which again floored Tyler as they approached this house. The purity of the white siding only made the ranch home look more beautiful. Despite its size, it still looked like it had a homely charm to it as well, complete with a light plume of smoke rising from the chimney on the right edge of the house.
As Tyler was admiring the house, Wendy suddenly jumped past him and jogged up to the house as if it was her own. It put a smile on his face as everyone else picked up their pace a bit more when they saw a figure step out the door. Wendy picked up her pace as well on seeing the womanly figure, wrapping her up in a hug at the top of the steps. They continued to talk, Tyler watching Wendy become more animated as they got closer to her and who Tyler recognized was Will's mother.
"... forward to taking a load off. I haven't been here in so long." Wendy continued her conversation as Tyler and the rest of the group arrived.
"Oh I know dear; it just isn't the same without you or the kids around." Carla smiled as she saw her son walk up the steps. "Hi William."
"Hi mom." The two of them shared a hug, Will lifting his mother off her feet in their embrace.
"You have impeccable timing as always; lunch should be ready in about half an hour. I might need to make up a bit more though if all of you are joining us today."
"That explains the smell…" Tyler thought aloud as he took a healthy sniff of the air around him.
"It smells like ze bakery I grew up next to back in Kalos." Madison joined in as Tyler noticed the smell of cinnamon floating out the front door.
"Ah that would be the Nomel Berry bread I just put in the oven not too long ago." Carla looked at Wendy with a motherly smile as her adopted daughter's eyes glazed over. "I heard that a certain someone was coming to visit today and that she gets upset when I don't serve her a slice."
"I do not!" Wendy pouted indignantly.
"Is that so?" Carla laughed with a teasing grin. "Because I seem to remember a time when you were a young girl who came to me in tears because William here ate the last slice of bread that you were saving for after we got back from the lake one summer afternoon.
"Oh yeah… jerk." Wendy spat her words bitterly towards Will with an equally bitter stare.
"That was years ago!" Will protested. "And I didn't know you called dibs. And I'm pretty sure I apologized already."
"Well I still haven't forgiven you." Wendy continued to pout while Carla rolled her eyes and laughed.
"Oh I've missed you two being home. Come in all of you." Tyler chuckled at Wendy's complaints as he stepped through the front door, then looked on in awe at the interior of the house. He could have guessed from the size of the house, but it felt even larger inside with the vaulted ceilings and the chandelier hanging over the center of the room. A pair of angled stairs on either side of the room could take them upstairs, but Tyler watched as Wendy appeared to be hypnotically lead to a room under the second floor balcony.
"I'll go keep an eye on her." Will chuckled as he and Rose both followed Wendy through the hallway door.
"Of course dear. Now let's see; Jason you know your way around the house don't you?"
"Not really." The ranger replied. "Last time I was here was two Christmases ago."
"So you probably need a bit of a refresher of the house. Alexi! Alexis!" Within a matter of moments, Tyler heard a hustle of footsteps coming from one of the upstairs hallways. Quickly descending down the stairs on the left were a pair of mocha furred, bipedal rabbits with their ears flopping back down to beyond their hips. The two of them clasped their hands below their chests, covered in tufts of cream colored fur that matched the fur that covered their ears and their slender legs beneath them.
"Ah yes, your house bunnies." Jason nodded as he looked at the two of them, then frowned. "I still can't tell them apart at all, let alone from other Lopunny."
"Oh but it's so easy dear." Carla pointed to the one on the left. "The fur on Alexis' ears is a slightly lighter color than Alexi's."
"Yeah I still don't see it." Jason shook his head and Tyler looked just as skeptically at the two bunnies. If there was a difference between the two of them like Carla said, he wasn't seeing it between the two Lopunny.
"Have either of you two seen Alex around?" Carla asked the two of them, but both the bunnies shook their heads. "Rats, he could give a tour for you guys. I really can't leave the kitchen at the moment."
"Then let's just save it for after lunch." Jason suggested.
"I suppose that's a better idea. Now if you two aren't busy, I could use an extra set of hands in the kitchen." The bunnies nodded and they quickly scampered off to the kitchen. "If you guys don't mind just crashing in the living room until lunch is ready you can do that. Or you could try and find Tom; I think he's out in the barn with some of the rescues."
"Rescues?" Alicia perked up at the word as everyone began filed in the hallway under the awning.
"Uh-huh." Carla branched off from the group with the two Lopunny and into their kitchen while the rest of the group looked on filed into the living room across the hall. "It might not be as impressive an operation as the Riding family daycare, but Tom and I keep a few injured Pokémon in our backyard barn. They're usually rescued from poachers or abusive trainers and we nurse them back to health before releasing most of them back into the wild.
"Zat is very noble of you." Madison, and Tyler both smiled at the kind display.
"How many do you have now?" Alicia asked herself.
"I think we have about a dozen right now. Most of them are pretty small, but we have one big guy right now and he is quite the handful."
"How big a handful are we talking?" Tyler asked curiously, remembering the Arcanine from the other day. "Was he trying to eat an Oddish too?"
"An Oddish? No. But he did try to burn down the barn this morning."
"Oooo-kay then." Tyler laughed a bit nervously. "I don't want to meet him."
"Oh he's fine now honey." Carla laughed much more joyfully than Tyler. "He just needed a woman's touch to calm him down."
"Do you think we could see the rescues?" Wendy's voice sounded from down the hall, being followed again by Will and Rose.
"Oh certainly." Carla paused as she dipped a spoon into a pot and sampled the liquid inside. "I still need about twenty minutes here anyway. Who knows, maybe you guys will make a couple new friends out there. Lord knows some of those Pokémon could really use a loving home."
"I can give one a good home!" Wendy quickly walked over to a sliding glass door and threw it open. "Anyone else want to go say hi?"
"Sure, I'm in." Jason stood up himself and walked to the door.
"I'll tag along." Rose also made her way to the exit, Will quietly following her.
"You sure you don't need an extra hand in the kitchen?" Tyler asked Carla. "I'd love to help out if I can."
"I'm not going to turn away free help." Carla waved Tyler into the kitchen. "What about you two?" She asked to Alicia and Madison and the two girls looked at each other.
"We'll go pay a visit another time." Alicia yawned as she pressed herself against Maddie's shoulder. "I need a nap."
"And what makes you sink I am your pillow?" Madison tried to free herself but Alicia burrowed deeper into Madison's lap.
"Wake me up when it's lunch time." Despite Madison's complaints, Alicia closed her eyes and quickly fell asleep on her lap pillow. Madison meanwhile looked at Alicia with a disappointed sigh.
"I suppose I am stuck 'ere now."
"I suppose you are." Carla laughed at the two girls. "Well, there's plenty of hours still in the day. You're more than welcome to pay them a visit after lunch."
"Deal." Alicia yawned into Madison's lap while the Kalosian rolled her eyes in resigned defeat, as she turned on the TV.
(-o-) Wendy's POV (-o-)
Jason, Rose, Will and Wendy all walked towards the barn in the backyard of the Weiland ranch. It looked very similar to the one at the daycare back in Solaceon. The only noticeable difference was that the red of the barn was a brighter shade, the more vibrant ranger issue red that stood out greatly against all the greens of the surrounding brush and nearby trees. But as the group approached, it wasn't the color they were focused on, but the noises coming from inside. Or specifically, one noise, as the ground shook the air around them with a rumbling wail coming from inside the barn.
"You think that's the guy who tried to burn the barn down?" Rose asked with nervous laughter.
"It's a good thing he didn't; we just finished putting that thing back up in August." Will frowned himself.
"I thought mama Carla said he'd calmed down." Wendy chimed in when the barn door opened with an accompanying sigh as Will's father stepped out the doors, wiping sweat from his brow.
*phew* "Resilient bastard that one… Oh? Did Carla send you to make sure that I was still in once piece Will, or is she more concerned about the barn still standing?"
"Neither," Will chuckled at his dad's comment. "We came out to take a look at the rescues."
"Ah, well good timing then. We just got the big guy calmed down enough that he isn't scaring the little ones anymore." Tom wiped his brow a second time and stretched his shoulders. "That Salamence has been through hell the past couple days."
"SALAMENCE!" Wendy and Rose both yelled together as Tom nodded at them.
" 'Fraid so… Jason, you remember that poaching ring that's been a pain in our side for a while lead by that guy Toxic Ted or whatever?"
"Unfortunately…" The ranger frowned with an irritated scowl. "But he used to be going after much smaller prey than Dragons. The hell is he doing going after a Salamence? Hell, I didn't even know there were Salamence in the area, how'd he find one?"
"Well from what I've heard, there's a couple canyons in the mountains maybe 30 miles north of here." The ranger commander began. "Normally they're thickly covered in fog, but some eagle-eyed passerby reported seeing dragons in the area. Ted's crew got wind of that and must have used a Poké radar to track them down. They stumbled across a cave built into the hillside where they apparently found a pair of young Bagon, just hatchlings from the sound of it."
"Dammit…" Jason spat bitterly.
"Are they okay?" Wendy asked worriedly, Rose sharing in her concern.
"Well they were captured by the poachers at first…" Tom paused as Wendy and Rose both gasped together out of shock. "But as they were leaving, mama Salamence decided to show up."
"That couldn't have ended well…" Will shuddered at the thought.
"Unfortunately it didn't for anyone involved." Tom continued. "Naturally, mom went into a rage at her hatchlings being kidnapped, so she attacked the poachers. She destroyed a few of their vehicles, injured quite a few people and their Pokémon as well… But ultimately, she didn't make it."
"WHAT?!"
"They killed her?!"
"Bastards!" The girls, Will and Jason reacted together and to different emotions, the girls more sorrowfully than the men's outrage. Jason even went so far as to punch the wall of the barn to further accent his anger.
"I'm afraid so," Tom continued with a stoic expression. "The wounds on her body were particularly bad. Her wings were shredded, she had massive claw marks all over her body. It looked like she was just mauled by whatever Pokémon finished her off."
"What kind of Pokémon is strong enough to maul a Salamence?" Will wondered aloud.
"Hang on. Are we sure this is Ted's group? It doesn't sound like his M.O. at all." Jason interjected. "Like I said before, he focused on the little guys, so the hatchlings at least make some sense. But he'd never risk losing the hatchlings to try and fight off mama-mence. And especially not outright kill her, let alone by having a Pokémon rip her open when he'd much rather use poisons to subdue her."
"Rangers who responded to the scene confirmed that Ted's crew was involved, but they could have had some extra help in tracking them down." Tom answered.
"Well what about those hatchlings?" Wendy asked again. "What happened to them?"
"Fortunately the hatchlings are safe for now." Tom smiled as Wendy let out a relieved sigh. "When the nearest Ranger squad arrived, dad here had returned and was engaging Ted's crew in a rage of his own."
"I hope he ate some of them." Jason grumbled but his comment went mostly unheard.
"Once the Rangers arrived, Ted's crew split, taking the hatchlings with them. Half the Rangers chased them while the other half tried to subdue the father. Fortunately, both groups succeeded. The hatchlings are recovering from being poisoned in the Veilstone City Pokémon Center. Dad on the other hand is being looked after by me personally."
"I feel so bad for those hatchlings." Rose sulked. "They have to go the rest of their life without their mother. That's so sad."
"Well we should take solace in the fact that they still have one parent left to raise them." Another younger voice this time exited the barn, being flanked on either side by a Ninetales with luminous golden fur and a Sylveon who pranced merrily alongside the voice.
"Eric?" Will looked at his tournament partner curiously.
"Sup." He quickly replied.
"When did… when did you get here?"
"Last night." Eric yawned behind a raised hand. "During your guys' party yesterday, I was talking with your mom about some of her research. One thing leads to another, she offers a home cooked meal and a bed and I couldn't refuse that when the alternative is Ramen noodles and a bunk bed with a snoring roommate, so here I am."
"Eric has proven to be an invaluable help this morning." Tom smiled at the college aged boy. "His experience with Dragon types, and in particular Salamence thanks to… what is your Salamence's name? Fluffy?" Eric quickly nodded a response. "Right. His familiarity with Salamence anatomy and behavior patterns have been particularly helpful."
"Sylvie-vee!" Eric's Sylveon waved one of her ribbons, catching everyone's attention with her sparkling smile.
"Yes yes Nymphia, you helped... eventually." Eric rolled his eyes at the Fairy type. "But we could have avoided so much stress this morning if you didn't decide to scare him into a rage."
"Vee-on? Sylvie Syl~vee." Eric shook his head at his Pokémon's innocent façade.
"Yes I mean you. You're the one who egged him on this morning and almost got him to burn down the barhh-" Eric was interrupted by his Ninetails smacking the back of his head with one of her tails. "Oh don't take her side Ama. You were there with us. Her taunting almost set off that Salamence."
"Ninetales! Ni-ii-ii-ine tales!" The firefox barked at her trainer. "Nine Nine Ninetales!"
"Yeah I know she helped out eventually. I'm just trying to say that if she'd been more careful-"
"Ninetales Tales-Nine!" The look in the Ninetales' hazel eyes almost seemed motherly, almost like she was giving him a scolding.
"Ugh! You can be so stubborn when you're like this." Eric huffed in annoyance, turning to the Sylveon, who still had an apparently false innocence in her smile. "Thank you for helping today Nymphia."
"Vee-on!" The Sylveon's smile sparkled again, making Wendy swoon for her cuteness.
"Happy now Ama?"
"Ninetales…" The Fire type flicked its tails lazily with indifference.
"Of course you are… So Tom, you need any more help from us?" Eric asked Tom, who shook his head.
"If you can let Fluffy stay here a while to keep an eye on him, you can take a break. Especially with everyone else coming to see the rescues."
"Then we'll be in the living room if you need us." Eric and his two Pokémon began walking back towards the house, the Sylveon waving goodbye with one of its ribbons.
"So… did anyone else feel that Eric was like, talking to his Pokémon just now?" Jason asked once the boy was out of earshot. "Because it sure looked like it to me."
"Right? Especially with his Ninetales." Rose added on to Jason's curiosity. "And since when did he have a Ninetales. I honestly thought that was your mom's Ninetales Will."
"That must have been Amaterasu then." Will nodded in understanding. "Eric told me that she doesn't like to battle, so he isn't using her in the tournament. But apparently they've been together even before she officially became his partner. Like I think her den as a Vulpix was really close to Eric's house and it sounded like they played together every day as kids."
"Hmmm, now I wonder just how close they actually are." Wendy schemed to herself, making a mental note to explore a potential new article for Sweet Kiss.
"That explains why they looked like a married couple bickering just now." Jason stated, getting the commander to chuckle at the remark.
"It sure looked like it. Now then, how would you guys finally like to meet the rescues?"
"Uh-huh." The four trainers responded together.
"Come on inside then." Wendy followed the rest of the group into the barn where she quickly saw the two dragons huddled together in the back. The one that looked to be the father of the hatchlings had its head drooped sadly over the edge of its gate, the remnants of a tear or two still in its eyes. He let out a grief filled sigh that shook the gate beneath him, further shattering Wendy's heart. Her sympathy went out to the large creature, as did Fluffy's who rubbed her tail across the dad's back in a show of support.
"We have about ten little ones right now." Tom caught Wendy's attention again and whatever fragments of her heart hadn't broken from sadness turned to dust in an instant. Each of the Pokémon cowered at the appearance of the unfamiliar faces, backing away from them with fear in their eyes. She felt horrible for all of the injured Pokémon in here, but felt the worst for a Pokémon whose legs fell out from underneath him as he backed away and now shook fearfully as he looked at the humans. It was an Aron with a bandage wrapped around its front left leg.
"What happened to all of them?" Rose sobbed with her hands clasped together over her face.
"Some of them we managed to rescue from Tom's poaching crew, others here had trainers who abused them." Tom answered sadly.
"What about him?" Wendy pointed at the injured Aron, who started quaking even more as the group's collective stare turned to him.
"Oh, that poor guy was chained up to a mine cart of some illegal mining operation on Iron Island. He had to haul ore up from deep in the Earth each day. And if he didn't haul up enough ore, he wouldn't be fed."
"Oh that's horrible! He's just a baby!" Wendy sobbed again. "I can't believe anyone would be so cruel to a Pokémon." Wendy watched the little Aron try to stand again, only to cry out in pain and fall a second time as he tried to put weight on his bandaged leg. As a tear formed in the base of Aron's eye, Wendy felt something stir inside of her and she placed her hand on the latch of the gate, undoing the lock.
"Wendy…" Tom placed his hand on hers and looked at her with a fatherly gaze. "What are you doing?"
"I want to adopt that Aron." The Steel type looked up suspiciously, still trembling as he looked at the brunette. "I'm going to give him the home he deserves."
"Wendy, no." He replied quietly.
"What do you mean no?" Wendy looked at him with a betrayed look. "He needs a home; I want to adopt him."
"Wendy." Tom pressed his hand harder onto hers as she tried to free it. "I've known you since you were a baby. I know how big your heart is; your limitless love for all Pokémon is a very admirable trait of yours and sadly one that very few humans share with you. But you've said that about dozens of rescues over the years and they've needed better homes than you could provide."
"But I can provide him a good home this time!" Wendy protested. "I'm not just a little girl with no experience raising Pokémon. I can raise him properly and take care of him."
"What about your Eevee Wendy?" Tom continued. "Newborn Pokémon demand just as much attention as this Aron is going to while he recovers. I just don't want him to be neglected because you're focusing too much on the Eevee when it hatches."
"I would never do that!" Wendy looked offended and pulled her hand free from Tom's. "He needs someone who can care for him, someone who will love him and nurture him and be there for him. He needs a friend and I'm going to be his friend, just you watch!" The Aron watched Wendy open the door and step into his pen. He started shaking again as she closed the gate behind her, He tried to lean away from her, but the pain in his leg made the Steel type cry out in pain yet again.
"Hey, don't worry little Aron. I'm not going to hurt you." But when he looked up and saw Wendy's radiant and pure smile shine down on him with the warmth of the sun outside, the Aron's trembling lessened a bit. "I'm not like all those bad men in the mines who hurt you and were mean to you."
"Arrrr…" The Pokémon's voice shook almost as badly as he was as he looked at Wendy.
"It's okay honey; I know you're scared. But I promise you, that I would never ever ever hurt you in any way." Wendy continued to smile at the Aron, raising her hand and waving lightly at him. "My name is Wendy, and I'd like to be your friend."
"Arrr…ron?" He looked up at Wendy again with her warmth still washing over him.
"Uh-huh!" Her smile grew even larger. "I promise, everything is going to be better from here on out." The Aron flinched as Wendy started to extend her hand towards him. But the warmth from Wendy's smile seemed to soften his fearful thoughts. He didn't lean away from her hand as it approached until it got to about a foot in front of him.
"BYY!" All of a sudden something shot out from the shadows towards Wendy. Before she could react, she felt something slap her hand away with enough force to knock her back from the Aron.
"OW!" Wendy held her hand by the wrist and looked at the mark on the back of her hand. There was a red mark plainly in the middle of her hand that felt numb with a tingle running across it.
"Are you okay?" Will asked with concern.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Wendy frowned despite the pain in her hand. "What even was that?"
"Our self-appointed defender of the rescues." Tom pointed at the attacker in question and Wendy saw a new Pokémon standing between her and the Aron, who had resumed shaking behind his "defender". The Pokémon was small and not much larger than the Aron behind it. Its' mostly red body was bandaged as well around its forehead, beneath four bulbs of red coal-like lumps at the top of its head. It stood staggered, breathing heavily and slouched over its yellow belly, which looked like a single flame.
"A Magby is their defender?" Rose looked at the little Fire type curiously.
"Heh, I like him." Jason chuckled at what he'd seen. "Still got a bit of fire in him even though he's injured as badly as he is. That's pretty admirable."
"She, actually." Tom corrected him. "And if I'm not mistaken, that looked like she tried to use Thunder Punch just now. Although, given how weak she is now, I'd say that was closer to Thunder Slap than a full-fledged punch."
Well it still hurt." Wendy frowned at the Pokémon. "And that wasn't very nice of you. I already told all of you that I wasn't going to hurt any of you!"
"By!" The Fire type yelled back. "By-By-By-By BY! Mag-BY!" The Pokémon then took a deep breath and arched its back, puffing up its chest. Wendy quickly scooted as far back as she could, as a silver light burst forth from her belt, materializing into Pulse, who took a defensive stance in front of his master. But the Magby's attack fizzled out, resulting in a single dead ember dripping from its mouth and on its foot. She panted heavily, trying to catch her breath but fell over from exhaustion and lay face down in the pen.
*Phew* Wendy let out a relieved sigh with her hand on her chest. "Thank you Pulse."
"She is very weak." Pulse commented as the Magby tried to push herself back up. "Even so, I sense much strength in that little one's aura."
"You know, I bet a couple berries could go a long way for these guys." Wendy looked from the determined Magby to the cautious Aron. "You remember where mama Carla's berry patches are don't you Pulse?"
"Of course master, would you like me to get some?"
"If you can find some Oran berries, those would be preferable." Pulse nodded and then disappeared in a blur of blue fur that made everyone but Wendy flinch.
"Wow! That is a fast Lucario." Jason looked surprised, but Wendy paid him no mind. Her attention was squarely on the young Pokémon.
"I bet you two are hungry." Wendy smiled at the two Pokémon. The Magby appeared not to care, but the Aron looked at Wendy more curiously. "My Lucario is getting you guys some berries that will make you feel a bit better."
"Ron?" For the first time since seeing the new humans, Aron appeared to stop shaking, which only made Wendy even happier.
"Uh-huh. They're really tasty and good for you too. I bet you'll feel right as rain in no time after you have some."
"By…" The Magby balked at the offered help, but the Aron took a cautious, gingerly step towards Wendy.
"Any moment now, you can see for yourself." Right on cue, Pulse returned carrying a basket full of large blue berries in his paws. Wendy picked out the biggest berry from the group and placed it on the ground before the Aron. "Here, you can have this one all to yourself."
"Aron?" The Steel type inspected the berry, sniffing at it curiously.
"My wife takes great pride in her berry patches." Tom smiled at the Aron as well while Wendy grabbed a second berry and offered it to the Magby.
"You can have this one." But as she set it on the ground, the Magby kicked the berry across the pen away from it.
"Alright hot head, you need to cool off a bit with this attitude of yours." Jason vaulted the wall of the pen and picked up the berry, brushing the dirt off it.
"Yeah, you really should eat some to get your strength back." Wendy picked up a third berry and this time took a bite herself. She giggled innocently as the juices dripped down her chin, wiping them away with her arm. "They're really juicy too. I'm sure you'll like them."
The Aron looked back and forth from Wendy to the berry, his eyes asking for permission that was repeatedly granted to him by Wendy's smile. So he sniffed the berry once more and took a bite from the berry. Wendy cooed with delight as she saw the Aron's eyes sparkle at the taste, then watched him take a much larger second bite as he happily cried out in excitement.
"See? I told you it was yummy didn't I?"
"Aron!" The metal bug cried out between bites of the berry and Wendy laughed at his new energy.
"So how about you then?" Jason offered the previously rejected berry to the Magby, but the Magby folded its arms and looked away from the ranger. "You sure you're not hungry?"
"Mag-by!" But despite the Pokémon's defiant protests, an audible rumbling of the Magby's stomach could be heard by everyone around it.
"You sure you're not hungry?" Jason repeated with a knowing grin. In spite of the blush beneath its eyes, Magby grabbed the berry and took a large bite out of it, still looking bitterly at Jason. "That's what I thought. Well don't be shy now, there's plenty more where that came from."
"Uh-huh." Wendy agreed as she grabbed another berry and placed it before the Aron as he finished the first one, which he eagerly dives into with gusto.
"But if these aren't your cup of tea, I'm sure the commander has something more suited for Fire types lying around right?"
"I believe there are some charcoal sticks around here somewhere." Tom answered, opening a locked box hanging on the wall nearby.
"Your fire sac is probably empty, that's why you can't spit a flame." Jason explained to the young Fire type. "Little bit of charcoal in you and it should help a bit more."
"Magby..." The Pokémon pouted a response, making Jason chuckle.
"It's not a sign of weakness to ask for help you know. Sometimes the best thing a ranger can do is call for backup when he needs help."
"By..." Magby continued to pout as she took another bite of the Oran berry as Jason smirked at her.
"Ar-Aron!" Meanwhile, Wendy's new friend beamed at her happily as the berry had been completely consumed.
"Wow, you sure were hungry huh. You want another?" The Aron nodded and Wendy laughed while grabbing another berry to place before him.
"Say Wendy, you think I can have one of those?" Will scratched his cheek a bit timidly as Wendy looked at him.
"You're not a baby Pokemon Will." She teased back.
"Yeah but I'm hungry too." Will chuckled with slight embarrassment. "And those berries look good."
"Fine, go on." Wendy rolled her eyes and Will reached for the basket, pulling out a berry for himself.
"Hoooooo!" As Will raised the berry towards his lips, something made a noise from above the group and a fluttering of wings accompanied it. Shortly after, Will's and everyone else's attention was turned to a small, tan-feathered owl that had landed on Will's elbow and looked at him plainly.
"Uh... hi there." Will blinked at the feathered friend who landed on his arm.
"Hoot!" The owl hooted at him a second time, cocking its head to one side and looking at the berry in Will's hand.
"Um... this is for you?" Will held the berry to the small owl and the Pokémon looked at it with a happy expression before pecking at the berry.
"Wait a minute..." Rose said as she looked at the owl. "Is that what Pokémon I think that is?"
"It's kind of a weird looking Hoothoot." Will observed the small owl even closer, smiling at it. "He's kinda cute though; I like those green leaf-like feathers he's got. It kind of looks like a bowtie." The owl warbled lightly at Will's comment, making him chuckle even more.
"Honey, that isn't a Hoothoot."
"It isn't?"
"Then what is it?" Jason asked himself as he too watched the owl peck away at the berry.
"Unless I'm mistaken, that's a Rowlet." Rose looked even closer at the Pokémon, who inturn returned her curious gaze with one of its own between bites of the berry.
"What's a Rowlet?" Will asked again.
"Hoot." The owl hooted at him again and Will lightly brushed his finger against the bow tie-like feathers, getting another soft warble from the owl.
"Are you a Rowlet?" Will asked as he continued brushing his finger against the owlett's body to increasingly happier chirping.
"They're a Pokémon native to the Alola region." Rose smiled as the small bird rocked back and forth on Will's elbow. "It's been so long since I saw one in person. Reminds me of home."
"Ah that's right, I forgot that you're from Alola originally." Tom said. "I keep thinking you're from Unova since that's where you met Will."
"What are you doing in Sinnoh little guy? How'd you end up in the cold of Sinnoh?" Rose asked the owl.
"Smugglers." Tom answered for him as the owl took off again with a flutter of his wings only to land on Will's head and nestle into the black mess of hair atop his head.
"You sure you want to make a nest there?" Will asked the Rowlet. "Because I got another bird who likes to fuss with my hair." But the Rowlet paid his comment no mind, sinking deeper into his hairy nest. "Alright, don't get mad though if a Braviary tries to chase you away."
"So smugglers huh?" Rose and everyone turned back to Tom who nodded.
"Right, it's not that uncommon actually for Pokémon from other regions to be illegally transported from their native lands by smugglers like what happened to this guy."
"He seems pretty chill though for being abducted from home." Will chuckled as he pet the living hat on his head, hearing the owl lightly hum a response.
"Well that Rowlet has been fairly relaxed since he got here actually. Kept to himself for the most part, but I haven't had any problems with him."
"Uh commander, you still got that charcoal?" Jason interjected.
"Oh right, I knew I got this for some reason." Tom looked at the gray stick in his hand. He handed it to Jason who broke it in half and handed the smaller chunk to the Magby.
"There we go, why don't you give that a bite and see what happens." The little Fire type picked up the lump of coal, looking at it curiously. She seemed more interested in this than the berry by Jason's observation. Eventually she opened her mouth and took a bite out of the stick and chewed on it for a bit, crunching loudly on it. "Any better?"
"Magby..." The spunky fire type spoke with the coal in her mouth as a small puff of gray smoke drifted from her mouth to her surprise. She quickly swallowed what was in her mouth and blew a more visible plume of smoke from her mouth. "Magby! Mag-by-by!"
"I saw." Jason chuckled at the little girl's enthusiasm. "I bet if you had some more of that berry with your charcoal you could make a small flame." Quickly the Magby scarfed down the rest of the berry and devoured its charcoal before taking a deep breath again. This time as she breathed out, a trio of small embers shot from her mouth, one flying over the roosting Rowlet's head, making the bird fidget angrily as he almost got singed.
"Careful though. We don't want to burn the barn down do we?" Sheepishly the Magby rubbed the back of her head, a faint smile on her lips. "Didn't think so."
"You okay up there little buddy?" Will asked the nesting owl atop his head, offering him more of the berry he'd started. Seeing the berry again, the Rowlet calmed down and pecked away at it once more, making Will chuckle with amusement again.
"Well well, it looks like the three of you have each made new friends today." Tom smiled fondly as the three Pokémon appeared to bond quickly with the three humans they'd interacted with.
"I told you I could be his friend." Wendy boasted as she reached continued to smile at the young Aron.
"I suppose you've proven me wrong Wendy." Tom relented. "You're not just that little naïve girl I used to know."
"Oh she's still in there papa Tom." Wendy giggled back. "But she has grown up a bit is all."
"Well, if that's the case. Then I don't have a problem with any of you adopting any of these three Pokémon. Of course, that's if they want to travel with you."
"Considering that this little guy has already made a nest of my head, I don't think I get a say in the matter." Will laughed as the Rowlet hooted at him once more in agreement. "Well I certainly don't mind. Aquila will just have to learn to share."
"How about it Magby?" Jason kneeled down next to the Fire type. "You wanna team up with me?"
"By..." The Pokémon looked at Jason as if she were inspecting him.
"I know that look." Jason smirked at the little firestarter. "You don't think I'm good enough do you?"
"By..." She smirked back at him with a more playful look.
"You little..." He trailed off his thought with a mirthful chuckle. "Alright tell you what; I saw how you protected that Aron earlier and I have to admit, I was damn impressed by what I saw. I saw the fire of a true Ranger inside you, willing to fight to the last to protect the weak and injured from harm. You want to be a protector don't you?"
"By." The Fire type nodded, taking up a battle-ready stance with a confident grin.
"That's what the Rangers are, and that's what I've spent the past six and a half years dedicating my life to. We Rangers are the protectors of Pokémon unable to defend themselves. You team up with me and I'll guarantee you two things. First, we'll make that flame of yours so bright that it acts like a beacon, drawing those who need its comforting glow to it wherever they may be. And second, that anyone foolish enough to stand against that fire brewing inside you will be burnt to dust and won't be able to hurt anyone anymore. Plus if you need any more convincing, just ask the commander over there."
"He's not lying little one." Tom stepped up behind his trusted ranger. "Jason here is an exemplary Ranger, one of the best I've ever seen in my 40 years with the corps. He'll make good on those promises and then some, and that's my guarantee."
"You and me will make a powerful team Magby. All you gotta do is say yes." Jason held his fist out to the young Fire type, seeing Jason's confident expression. She looked at him a moment longer, the grin on her face growing more smug by the moment.
"Mag-by." Confidently, Magby punched her small fist into Jason's, a numbing jolt of electricity shooting through his arm. But the ranger stood resolute, chuckling with intrigue even as the spunky protector shocked his fist. The two nodded at each other and pulled their fists back from each other's.
"And that makes two." Wendy turned her attention back to the Aron before her, once again showering him with the warmth in her smile. "So how about it? Do you think we can be friends?"
"Ar...ron..." The little Steel type looked up at Wendy with tears forming in the wells of his eyes. He nodded and Wendy felt sheer joy surging through her heart as he stepped forward despite the limp in his step.
"Awww come here you... you... *HNNGHH!* Wendy knelt down before the Aron, placing her hands beneath its small frame and tried lifting him into a hug. But despite his small appearance, Wendy struggled mightily at lifting the Steel type into her arms for the hug she wanted to give him. Her face started turning red from the exertion she was putting into her efforts.
"Well there's that naïve little girl I've known my whole life." Tom laughed as Wendy continued to struggle. "He might look small and is underweight for his species, but even that little Aron still weighs over 100 pounds."
"You don't... say..." Wendy grunted before finally giving up, sprawling out on the ground besides the confused Aron. *phew* "Sorry honey, I want to give you a hug; but I'm just not strong enough to lift you yet."
"Aron!" The little Steel type didn't seem to mind though, as he waddled over towards where Wendy's head lay and nuzzled his cold body against hers. Wendy cooed her affections back to him, wrapping her arms around him and laughing as the Aron wept tears of happiness against her cheek.
"It's okay honey. I'm here for you and I always will be okay?"
"Aron-ron!" His body shivered as Wendy lightly rubbed her hand against his back.
"But, if you're going to join me and my friends on an adventure, you're going to need a name."
"Aron?" The Aron pulled back and looked at Wendy curiously.
"Uh-huh, a name. Like my name is Wendy."
"Ar...ron."
"Yup! Wendy. And I have a great name in mind for you if you'd like it." The Aron continued to look at Wendy, cocking its head slightly to one side. "I'd like to call you Flynt. I think that's a great name don't you?"
"Ron! Aron!" Once again the Steel type nodded happily and rushed back into Wendy's arms.
*OOF* "Careful honey, that hurt a little bit." Wendy smiled as the newly named Flynt looked at his new trainer with hope in his eyes for the first time in a long time.
*sigh* "You know, you guys are making me a bit jealous." Rose frowned as she looked at the rest of her compatriots. "Each one of you has had a partner that just jumped to you. These rescues don't seem that interested in me."
"Maybe they can see that you've got a few more thorns than the rest of us Rose." Will poked fun at his fiancée.
"You're lucky you've got a Rowlet roosting on your head right now honey." Rose stuck her tongue out playfully at Will who simply smiled back with a chuckle.
"Well, I think that by now Carla has finished lunch. How about we take care of the paperwork for you three after lunch?" Tom said after looking at his watch.
"Can we take our rescues with us?" Wendy asked as Flynt continued to nuzzle against her neck.
"They're yours now aren't they? If you want them to join us, they're more than welcome."
"Well how about it Flynt? I know it might hurt a bit, but can you walk with us to the house?"
"Aron!" The Steel type nodded and slowly walked over towards the gate. He still had a limp in his leg, but with Wendy's energy motivating him, the Aron looked to be able to tolerate the pain he was feeling.
"Alright Flynt!" Wendy cheered for her newest partner. "But don't push yourself too hard honey. I'll still be right beside you so just take it nice and easy okay?" The Aron nodded as Tom opened the gate and both he and Wendy walked out together being followed by Jason and the Magby. Tom then walked around the group and opened the barn door back outside and they all started walking back towards the house for lunch.
But they only reached about halfway before a startled sqwaking of two Starly shot out from in front of them being followed by an intimidating growl. The group turned to where the growl had come from and saw a black furred dog barking at the two panicked birds, stopping in front of the group as the two flying types had now flown away from it successfully. With a defeated growl, the dog turned to leave when he saw the humans looking at him and growled intimidatingly at them. It was then that they saw that the dog had a gray skull-like mask on its forehead with a crack beneath the right eye of the mask and a scar down the right of her muzzle.
"Magby." The heroic leader of the rescues stepped forward and beat its chest with its hand making Jason laugh out loud.
"Maybe another day champ." He continued laughing as he picked her up off the ground and held her in his arms, making the Fire type sulk in defeat.
"Is this guy one of the rescues?" Will asked as smoke growled out of the dog's maw.
"She's a bit more on the rebelious side than the others." Tom said of the Pokémon before them. "A real lone wolf type, likes to keep to herself. That scar is from an Ursaring attack."
"Hmmm, so she's got a couple thorns to her does she?" Rose smirked as she stepped forward. "Sounds like my kind of partner."
"Well unlike the other rescues, she's technically a wild Pokémon Rose. And given her lone wolf tendencies, she'll probably only accept you as a trainer if you can beat her one-on-one." Tom explained, but that made Rose's smirk grow even larger.
"Oh yeah, I definitely want her now." Rose plucked a Great ball from her belt and enlarged it. "Cloud their judgment Scarlet!" She tossed it skyward and amidst a shower of silvery sparks emerged her illusion-fox, angling itself to the ground on all fours as the Houndour across from it did the same.
"Let's take the first move, use Night Slash!" Scarlet leapt forward and in an instant was standing over the Houndour with a shadowy claw reared back and ready to attack. But the Houndour stood firm and spat a cloud of smoke into the fox's eyes, leaping back as the slash cut through the smoke but missed its target.
"Oohhh, and a crafty fighter too. Now I really want you. Keep going Scarlet! Don't stop till you hit her!" As the Zoroark lunged forward again, Wendy felt a light chill brush against her leg. She looked down at little Flynt beneath her and sat down next to him, lightly rubbing the top of his head with her hand. They both smiled at each other before turning back to watch Rose's attempt in gaining a new partner for herself.
A/N: Alright there you go, 41 chapters in the books. Hehe, if each chapter was one hour of work, we'd be getting overtime right now for this story. But anyway, I'll keep it short since I pretty much said everything in the top notes for once. Thanks for reading, I'll try to set more time aside to keep at this story and hopefully not get a 2 month gap between updates again. No promises though. So yeah, I'll see you next time whenever that may be.
Tyler's team: Magnus (Quilava, male), Caelum (Staraptor, male), Felix (Gligar, male), Yuki (Glaceon, Female)
Wendy's team: Pulse (Lucario, male), Tess (Ampharos, female), Yuri (Lilligant, female), Flynt (Aron, male)