A/N: Hey guys, I did better than last time waiting almost a year to update again. Haha... I still feel pretty shitty about that, and I'm sorry again. I'm doing better than I was last time I posted though, so there's that. Things got really, really bad last fall around the holidays personally, and then 2020 didn't get off to the best of starts either for me. But, I do think a lot of the bad stuff is finally slipping behind me and I can actually get started with pulling out of this prolonged tailspin of a year. I really do want to get back into writing and actually have drafts of some of the future chapters already started as a means of motivating myself to move along to the stuff I have planned farther ahead of this chapter. In the meantime, this newest chapter for all of ya'lls is ready to go so I do hope you enjoy it. And for what little it's worth Happy Valentine's day :D Because I honestly and truly love writing this story for you guys even if the rest of my life doesn't allow me the time or mental state needed to do so as much as I want. Enjoy :D
The skies were a suffocating shade of gray this morning, a stoic silver that sapped your desire to even make that first cup of coffee to start your day. The kind of sky that hangs there apathetically, unmoving, uncaring, unyielding in its lack of movement. The kind of day that looked like mother nature herself had decided to go back to bed at sunrise. It looked like it'd rain soon, but even that required effort the world appeared unwilling to give this morning This was the kind of lifeless sky that Wendy found herself staring at. She glanced down at her phone and read the clock face. 10:03 am.
"Seriously?" Wendy groaned and slouched over the patio railing. It'd been only two hours since she woke up, but she felt like she'd been up for days. She was exhausted, stress weighing down her usually jubilant emerald-eyed smile to microscopic levels. Back-breaking days and grief-stricken sleepless nights had left Wendy's entire body aching all over from head to toe and her heart in between. Maybe she should go back to bed like mother nature must have this morning.
"Master..." Pulse's soothing paw touched Wendy's back, the Lucario looking up at his master with a pained expression of his own.
"Pulse no, I'm fine." Wendy chided her partner, not even looking at him.
"Master..."
"No, Pulse. I'm fine." She repeated more firmly.
"You are lying to yourself master..."
"No, I'm not."
"I am worried about you."
"Well, you don't need to be. I'm fine." She repeated herself a third time, even though she knew it was a lie. She was lying to herself, trying to put on a strong face. Her parents had too much on their plates as is, Wendy didn't want to burden them with her own misery.
"That kind of response is precisely why I am worried about you, master." But Pulse was the one person, or rather Pokémon she couldn't hide her true feelings from. Their aura-connection kept Wendy from doing so, allowing Pulse to see exactly how much Wendy was hurting inside. "You do not need to force yourself. It is okay for you to rest master."
"You know I can't Pulse..." Wendy sighed inwardly. "Mom and dad have been busting their butts all week dealing with angry trainers screaming their faces blue about their Pokémon being stolen. Hell, even the ones that weren't stolen are still pissed that we couldn't stop this from happening in the first place!
"None of that is your fault master, and there's no way to have possibly foreseen an event like the one that happened last week."
"I know that Pulse, but it's not fair!" Wendy's emotions bubbled up to the surface, gripping the patio railing so hard she rang a few more tears from her already waterlogged eyes. "It's not their fault that any of this happened! It's that Team Eclipse or whatever's fault! I know that… but every time they pick up the phone, they just... they..." Wendy trailed off, lacking the energy necessary to fuel her sadness. "They don't deserve any of this."
"The burden your parents both shoulder now is unimaginably heavy." Pulse sympathized with Wendy's concern.
"That's why I can't afford to take a break Pulse. I need to be there to help them."
"I understand where you are coming from master, but ask yourself this. If you burn yourself out, would that not add to their already heavy hearts?" Wendy's stomach churned as Pulse spoke her greatest concern at the moment. Wendy had to help her parents; her heart wouldn't let her not help! Not only their business, but their home was destroyed in the raid last week. She had to be there to help them rebuild from the ashes of what was left of their lives.
"Well..." But Wendy couldn't deny that she was already pushed to her breaking point, and the last thing she wanted to do was further burden her parents by making them worry about her.
"As usual, your heart is in the right place master. And I am not going to tell you to stop doing what your heart tells you." Pulse lightly rubbed Wendy's back, finally getting the brunette to turn to him. "I only ask that you take some time to look after yourself too. Put yourself and your needs first, even if for a moment and ask yourself, what is it that I want to do right now that will make me happy?"
At that moment, Wendy's phone vibrated atop the patio railing. She turned to pick it up and unlocked the phone, and in the process unlocked her smile as well. It was a message from Tyler with a picture attached. He and Jason were sitting at a restaurant booth with what looked like a late breakfast before them. Jason was shoveling half a pancake into his mouth like an undignified glutton. But Tyler was smiling his cute boyish smile and waving at the camera happily.
"Got your message right before our battle started. Helped light a fire in us on the way to victory. Jay skipped breakfast so we're getting brunch to celebrate our win lol. Don't work too hard today, haha. Love you 😊" Wendy's heart fluttered in her chest, one of the few times it had this past week as she simply stared at Tyler and smiled.
"Can the thing I want to do that makes me happy be him?" Wendy snickered her signature mischievous smile as she showed the phone to Pulse.
"Master..." Pulse groaned and facepalmed, or, was it face-pawed? Either way, his disappointment at Wendy's joke was evident. But that was exactly the response Wendy was looking for as she finally laughed a liberating laugh, a playful grin coming over her face
"What? You're not jealous of me loving my Super-Cutie-Ty are you Pulse?" She teasingly ruffled the fur between the Lucario's ears with her hand.
"My happiness is tied to your happiness master." Pulse's canine-like tail wagged slightly at Wendy's affection. "And if you wish to indulge your more carnal intimacies with Sir Tyler, I will not interfere." Wendy traded her hand for a kiss on her Lucario's forehead, smiling warmly at her loyal partner.
"Well… Tyler isn't the only good boy in my life who deserves some loving if you know what I mean."
"I'm a good boy..." Pulse wagged his tail as Wendy ruffled his ears again.
"You're a very good boy." Wendy's smile was warm and she clung to that warmth. She might need it to get through this doldrum of a day.
*SQUAA* Wendy looked up at the sound of a loud cawing voice and saw something approaching up the dirt road to the Weiland Ranch.
"Okay Wendy, showtime." She stood up from the patio, walking down the steps as the distant Pokémon cawed a second time and third time. She squinted down the road and it looked like the loud squawker was a Dodrio, its three heads appearing to yell at each other. Its apparent trainer sat behind the three heads, Wendy seeing an old leather helmet atop its head.
"Hi! Can I help you?" Wendy shouted as the rider slowed to a stop before her and dismounted. The rider took off their helmet, freeing and waving their hair back and forth before it settled into some messy shoulder-length Jerri Curls the color of sand that framed the rider's feminine face. The rider then reached to the breast pocket of a denim jacket and pulled a pair of half-rim glasses, pushing them up slowly to their chocolate-colored eyes.
"Um…" The rider's dainty voice trailed off nervously. "Is this… I was told that I could find my Pokémon here?"
"Were you looking for the daycare?" The rider nodded pensively.
"Yes, I saw a sign that said to come here instead?"
"Then you found the right place! Welcome to the Solaceon Daycare's new temporary location!" Wendy smiled as she offered her hand to the rider. "Name's Wendy, and you are?"
"Ah – Adeline… Adeline Marcroft." The rider softly held her hand to Wendy, who could feel her anxiety trembling in her fingers as they shook.
"Nice to meet you!" Wendy clasped Adeline's hand between both of hers and gave a more enthusiastic greeting. "My parents are the ones who own the daycare."
"Oh, my stars! I'm so sorry!" The woman apologized immediately. "I can't imagine how awful it must be for you and your family after what happened."
"We're making ends meet. But thank you so much for your concern!" Wendy continued to smile, trying her best not to let her true feelings bubble up and unnerve Adeline. "We have wonderful friends and family helping us keep afloat in these difficult times."
"That's good to hear."
"So, what can I help you with?" Wendy changed gears and released Adeline from her handshake. "You said you were looking for your Pokémon?"
"Ah, yes. My Stoutland..." The woman nervously clenched a fist over her heart. "I left him here about a couple weeks ago. He's getting up there in age and I wanted to spoil him for a little bit with a vacation of sorts. But ever since I heard about the attack, I've been a nervous wreck. I can't sleep, I can't focus, I can't - *hic* - all I can do is worry about him and I don't even know if he's okay or not and this is the earliest I could-"
"Shhhh-shhhh-shhhh, it's okay sweetie." Wendy wrapped the sputtering woman in her arms, cradling the back of her head while she herself held back a lump in her throat. It felt like a hollow gesture to Wendy, partly doing it to make herself feel better. But Wendy felt the need to help this woman anyway that she could.
"I hope so..." Adeline's sob tugged tight against Wendy's heartstrings. "Stoutland is very special to me. He *sniff* he was a gift from my late grandfather."
"Oh, I'm sorry..." The lump in Wendy's throat grew a size larger.
"My grandparents raised me as a girl, and they got me Stoutland as a birthday present when I turned eleven. But he's all I have left of them now."
"Oh, honey – I am so sorry to hear that." Wendy clenched Adelene tighter, trying harder and harder not to burst into tears herself. "And I'm so sorry that we're putting you through all of this."
"It's - it's okay. I know it's not your guys' fault." Adeline apologized for Wendy's own apology. "You guys were always so nice to Stoutland whenever he came here. He loved coming here and digging holes and rolling in the dirt. You guys made him feel like a Lilipup every time I brought him here."
"Thank you for that." Wendy lessened her grip, almost beaming in praise at Adelene's remarks as she finally broke their embrace. "You have no idea how much it means to hear you say that today." With her smile partly restored, Wendy unclipped a walkie-talkie from her belt and pressed the call button. "Hey, daddy?"
"Is that you sweat pea?"
"Uh-huh," Wendy answered her father's voice from the walkie. "I'm here with someone who's looking for their Pokémon." Wendy clicks the microphone and waits…
"Alright, send them on over to the barn and we'll try to help them."
"Okay." Wendy clipped the walkie back to her belt. "If you don't mind following me, I'll take you to the barn right away."
"Okay, thank you." Wendy smiled again as Adeline fell in stride with her, starting towards the large red structure in the distance "Again, I'm really sorry for you all for having to go through this."
"You don't need to apologize, it's us who need to apologize for everything you've been through." Wendy also apologized to Adeline. "I couldn't possibly imagine what it's been like for you and everyone else. I know I'd be a nervous wreck if Pulse or Tess or Yuri or even my newest boy Flynt were among the ones that got snagged by those awful men."
"You – were you here when it happened?"
"I was. It was really scary." Wendy admitted behind an anxious frown. "I was up late with my boyfriend Tyler when it happened; just this loud BOOM and we look out the window and the barn is on fire."
"Oh my Gosh!"
"Right? Scary stuff. And doubly so for us, because our incubator was in the barn, and the egg his Glaceon had just laid with my Lucario was in there."
"Oh no! Is the egg okay?!"
"Thankfully yes," Wendy smiled, calming Adeline's frightened outburst. "But we did have to fight the poachers to rescue it.
"You had to fight them?!" Adeline panicked a second time. "Wow… I don't know if I could do something like that. You must be really brave." But Wendy shook her head.
"I'm not brave. Tyler's the one who ran into the burning barn with my Lucario to look for our egg. But the poachers had already grabbed it and left. If it wasn't for my Lucario here and his ability to sense auras, we'd have never found them."
"I see…" Adeline looked at the Lucario next to her, who responded with a quiet nod.
"They were pretty strong. But with some help from the Rangers, we were able to beat them and rescue our egg. He's safe in our new incubator now."
"That's still amazing, incredible even!" Adeline praised Wendy's efforts, even if the brunette herself didn't think she did that much "You must really care a lot about your Pokémon if you were willing to chase down these bad guys to get your egg back."
"Of course I do." Wendy beamed at Pulse, even scratching the smiling pup behind his ears. "We're all super close; one big happy family. And I imagine you and your Stoutland are about as close as me and Pulse are. I really do hope we can reunite you two today."
"I do too." Adeline sighed as she and Wendy now stood before the barn. The demure girl looked up at the door, fidgeting as she tried to reach out and open it, but stopped just shy of the handle.
"What if he's not in there?" Adeline turned to Wendy, her waterlogged eyes tearing up again. "What happens then? I don't – I don't think I could handle him not being in there."
"It's going to be okay." Wendy put her hand on Adeline's shoulder and smiled. "You will be reunited with Stoutland, I promise you."
"You… you mean it?"
"Pinky swears." Wendy giggled childishly as she raised her pinky to Adeline. "Because even if he isn't back there. Papa Tom is the head Ranger in all of Sinnoh, and he's got his best men looking for all the missing Pokémon as we speak!"
"Wait, I thought your dad owned the daycare."
"Oh! No, Papa Tom isn't my dad." Wendy shook her head. "See, Papa Tom and Mama Carla and my parents go way back before I was born. Their two boys and I all make one giant family together!" Wendy waggled her pinky finger again. "That's why I know it'll be okay. Because Papa Tom said it'd be okay, and he's never lied to me once." Adeline still looked unsure, but Wendy's growing smile stirred a small hope inside of her and she grasped Wendy's pinky with her own.
"Okay, it's a promise."
"Great! Now let's go find your Stoutland!" Wendy pushed open the barn door and was hit with the rustic scent of hay and dried wood that put her mind at ease for a moment as she looked for her parents. "Dad?! Daaa~add!"
"Over here sweat pea!" From her right side, Wendy heard the distinct call of her father and casually strolled towards him and her mother beside him. "You too, don't be shy. We won't bite." Dad added on, noticing that Adeline hadn't stepped towards them.
"Arthur," Julia huffed at her husband.
"What?! She's stiff as a board! I'm just trying to lighten the mood a bit."
"She's worried sick about her Pokémon, and you're trying to crack a joke! How could you be so insensitive?!"
"I'm not – how is this being insensitive?!" Arthur spun on his heels and got in his wife's face. "I'm trying to stay positive here! You're the one being Negative Nancy!"
"We don't know if we even have her Pokémon." Julia leaned in herself, her own frustration rapidly boiling out of her lungs. "You're setting her up with false hope that'll only make it more painful for her if we don't have her Pokémon!"
"Yeah – IF – if we don't have her Pokémon Julia! That truck that Tom found the night of the raid had just over half the Pokémon stolen in it."
"Hey-hey-hey! Calm down, you guys! There's no need to yell." Wendy tried to stop her parents from arguing,
"But that doesn't mean that we have all of the Pokémon here Arthur!" But unfortunately, the fighting escalated to another level as both Mr. and Mrs. Riding raised their voices.
"Mom! Dad! Please stop yelling!"
"Then we tell them that the Rangers are looking for the rest of them! Tom said he was personally picking the best of the best to look for these Pokémon as a favor to us! How can you have so little faith in them getting our stolen Pokémon back?!"
"Guys, could you please-"
"I have perfect faith in them Arthur! But it's going to take time to find them all! Days, weeks, maybe even months or more before they all get tracked down. And we have trainers coming in TODAY looking for their lost Pokémon that WE–DON'T– HAVE!"
"Well, what should we do Julia, huh?! What are we supposed to do – give them that little sliver of hope that we can reunite them with their Pokémon? Or do we smother it immediately, tell them we lost their Pokémon, that we have no idea where it is, that the Rangers don't even know where it is, and have them face the possibility of never being able to see their Pokémon ever again?! I CAN'T DO THAT JULIA!"
"DAAAAAAD!" Wendy finally screamed herself, huffing with balled up fists as her two parents recognized her presence and stopped themselves. The two of them looked up, seeing the anxious woman looking even tenser than when she'd first arrived by Wendy's observation of her. All three members of the Riding family took a moment to catch their breath, as Arthur pinched the bridge of his nose and let out an exhausted, lengthy sigh.
"I'm… so sorry that you had to see that…" He apologized, taking the initiative and closing the gap to Adeline himself. "It's been really, really hard for all of us since the raid happened."
"Oh, no I understand." Adeline apologized behind her hands. "I'm sorry for adding another burden to your day."
"Sweetie, it's not you who should be apologizing, it's us." Julia looked down with a somber expression of her own. "We're the ones that have put you through all this worry and heartache."
"No no, I don't blame you guys for what happened. It's not your fault either." A sob hiccupped out of Adeline's throat. "It's those evil people who attacked you."
"Well that we can all agree on." Both Mr. and Mrs. Riding took a calming breath together. "Now, which Pokémon are you here to pick up today?"
"I… his name is Archy. He's a Stoutland." Adeline began anxiously. "He's a bit on the older side and his fur is starting to gray a bit compared to most Stoutland." Wendy noticed that her father had pulled out a clipboard with papers on it, starting to cycle through them as Adeline kept going.
"He… he's not as good a runner as he used to be, but he'll still chase me around the yard and helps me dig holes for my flower garden. He likes to nap in the sun with me on a nice breezy day. He…"
Adeline kept going, but Wendy's attention became more clued into her father's face as he flipped through page after page on his clipboard. She could see the edges of his lips become more pronounced and bitter as he flipped through each consecutive page, more and more worry creeping its way into his eyes and by extension Wendy's own. It was plainly obvious that Adeline and her Stoutland Archy were incredibly close. She couldn't bear to see this poor girl's heart wrenched any tighter. It'd probably shatter to dust if Archy wasn't here at the barn.
"Please… please be here. Please!" Wendy clenched her eyes shut and prayed for some positivity on this pitiful pale morning.
"Ah." Mr. Riding stopped, looking at a paper towards the back end of his stack, Wendy peeking a gaze as her father held up the clipboard to Adeline. "Is this your Archy?"
"Yes, yes that's him!" Adeline's face lit up. "Does that mean you have him?!" Wendy again turned her gaze back to her father, slowly nod his head as an elated Adeline's and Wendy's eyes both twinkled with relief.
"Hey, Key!" Mr. Riding unclipped his walkie and spoke into it.
"Yes, Luna?" Keanu's voice answered back through the speaker.
"You still looking after that Stoutland?"
"I am Luna." Keanu answered after a pause.
"Well bring him on up would ya? His trainer's here to pick him up."
"Ha-ha! That is wonderful news Luna!" Wendy could hear Keanu's jovial laugh even without the walkie off in the distance. "Did'ja hear that boy? Your trainer's 'ere to pick you up! You get to go home today!" A low-pitched but clearly excited sounding pair of barks filled the barn with a scampering of paws on clattering against wood floorboards.
"That's him! That's Archy! I'd know that bark anywhere!" Adeline got more and more excited, which in turn earned another bark from the distance. "That's definitely him – oh my God!"
"Hey, easy! I know you're – Archy! Hang on a sec-AGHHH!" Towards the back of the barn a gate burst open and a hefty sized canine Pokémon with shaggy gray and cream-colored fur bounded out, looking around for its trainer. He looked left and even though his fur covered his eyes, Wendy could see a sparkle as the Stoutland barked again and rushed towards Adeline.
"Archy! You're safe! I'm so happy you're- *BLAHFFF* Before Adeline was ready for it, Archy quickly closed the gap across the barn floor and tackled his trainer with a slobbering of tongue kisses, yipping and barking and shaking his tail with a youthful vigor that betrayed his apparent age. Tears of joy and relief dripped from the young woman's cheeks, with Wendy also feeling a substantial knot in her throat.
"Owww… that smarts." Keanu meanwhile had hobbled his way to the group, rolling his possibly injured shoulder. "Oh, morning Wendy."
"Morning Kee." She smiled both at him but also at Stoutland and Adeline's happy reunion.
"I was so worried about you! Did you miss me?"
*BOOF*
"I missed you too!" Adeline finally managed to sit up with Archy's front paws sitting on her lap. She smiled a joyful grin, lightly stroking the dog's shaggy fur with her hand in a moment of peace before her attention turned to the Stoutland's front paws, and a pair of bandages around his front legs. "Hang on, what happened here?"
"Ah, well, you see, Archy did get a decent burn on his paw during the fire." Keanu knelt down and joined in on petting the large dog's back. "But he's been recovering well. It's nothing you need to be too concerned about. Just let this guy rest up with plenty of Z's in a nice sunny spot back home and he'll be good as new in no time. I guarantee it."
*BOOF*
"Ahh, I'm gonna miss ya 'round here now that you're goin' home Archy." Keanu tussled the dog's fur some more, the Stoutland wagging its tail happily in response. "Yeah that's right, I'm talkin' about you ya' big goof!"
"I couldn't possibly thank you enough, for taking care of my dear Archy." Adeline hugs her old puppy one more time before finally standing upright. "Thank you doesn't even begin to express how I feel right now."
"It's the least we could do sweetie," Julia says while fighting through some sniffles. "I only wish that all of our stories could have happy endings as yours has."
"Well, thank you. Thank you both so much. And thank you mister...?"
"Tis Keanu my lehua." Wendy couldn't help but roll her eyes and laugh as Keanu tried to shoot his shot. Honestly, of all times to try and put the moves on someone, you pick now? However, it might have actually worked, as Wendy did notice a shy smile from Adeline in response as she looked up at the Alolan islander.
"Keanu… thank you so much for looking after Archy."
"Think nothing of it, we had a lot of fun together, didn't we Archy?" *BOOF* "See? It was a fun time."
"Well, I don't mean to just up and run now that I know Archy is safe, but I-"
"It's okay sweetie, we understand." Julia smiled at Adeline. "Have a lovely rest of your day."
"Thanks, I will. Come on Archy, let's go home!" One final bark from the Stoutland and Adeline said her goodbyes, heading towards the barn door.
"I'm so happy for her."
"Yeah, me too… Honey, I'm sorry I yelled at you." Arthur now apologized to his wife.
"I'm sorry too." Julia wrapped her arm around her husband's and the two of them stared wistfully as Adeline waved one last time at the group.
"Well, I'm gonna go back up front and see if we've got any other potential trainers looking for their own happy reunions like Adeline."
"Okay sweet pea, radio us if you do." Dad smiled back at Wendy who trotted back outside with a spring in her step. A joyful reunion like Adeline and her Stoutland's was just the thing Wendy needed to maybe straighten out this previously miserable day.
As she pushed the barn door open, Wendy heard a distant car engine revving down the path of the walkway to the ranch. She couldn't see it just yet with the winding path flanked by trees on both sides, but it was definitely heading this way, getting louder by the moment. Wendy could see Adeline and her Stoutland making their way towards the same pathway at their own casual stride. They could see the car coming and stepped to the side of the path, but had to scamper off-path completely as the car recklessly drifted around the final turn and skidded to a halt, bringing with it a dust cloud that slowly drifted over the car's sparkling black and gold paint job.
"Adeline!" Wendy and Pulse both rushed over towards the girl, ignoring the car's gullwing door opening up and the driver stepping out to check on their former client. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah! I'm fine." She said while rubbing dust from her eyes. "How about you Archy?" The Stoutland barked an affirmative as well, shaking his already shaggy fur into a complete mess.
"That's a relief." Wendy sighed for a moment before looking back over her shoulder at the driver who'd almost hit Adeline. The driver, apparently uncaring that he'd almost hit another person with his car, had instead reached into his pocket and pulled out a comb, fixing his overly styled platinum blonde hair back into an apparent fauxhawk before returning the comb to the breast pocket of his three-piece burgundy suit.
"Typical backwoods establishment," The man voiced his apparent displeasure all too loudly. "doesn't even have a concierge to greet someone when they arrive."
"Oh goodie, I think he's here to pick up a Pokémon," Wendy stated flatly, her recent joy immediately quashed by this pretentious playboy's arrival. "I wish everyone we've dealt with could be more like you."
"I'm sorry…" Adeline offered her sympathy as she stood up. "Maybe it'll go real quick and he'll be out of your hair as soon as he got here."
"Yeah, that's the hope alright." Wendy sighed, dusting herself off before walking towards the luxury car driver.
"Ah, about time someone came to greet me." The driver's arrogance greeted Wendy as she approached him.
"Did you not see that woman and her Stoutland when you were driving up? You almost hit them!" Wendy gestured towards the two of them.
"Oh, what? They're hurt, are they? I know a scam artist when I see one!" The man hollered at Adeline, further cementing Wendy's poor opinion of him. "You were gonna throw yourself at my car for insurance money! You try that again and I'll sue the pants off your scrawny ass. Now run along back to your slapdash apartment and take that mangy mutt of yours with you before I call my lawyers." Adeline responded quite loudly with a middle finger gesture aimed firmly at the driver as she and her Stotland walked away.
"Well, now that that vulturous leech is gone, perhaps you can finally help me in some way… perhaps more than one way actually dollface." It took every ounce of strength Wendy had not to throw a strong hook at the pompous prick's perfectly punchable face… and damn did she want to.
"And what is it that I might be able to help you with sir?" Wendy swallowed her anger and spoke to the rude man.
"Sir? Well, you see dollface-"
"My name is Wendy"
"You see Wanda, a little over two weeks ago, I had some urgent business to attend to regarding a potential merger of my grandfather's company and the Macro Cosmos conglomerate in the Galar region."
"Oh boy…" Wendy rolled her eyes, quietly shelving the fact that this man couldn't even be bothered to remember her name she'd literally just told him, and listened to him continue.
"We've been trying to get this merger done for months you see, almost a year now actually. Many arduous days and nights of tense negotiations, back and forth at each other's throats like wild Pokémon until we finally reached the terms of arrangement for our merger. The amount of money involved would make your cute little head spin Winry."
"So then why are you here?" Wendy tried to get him to the point.
"Well, Winona,"
"It's Wendy."
"one of my new Galarian business associates is unfortunately severely allergic to canine Pokémon." Once again, Wendy's name was ignored and the man continued without restraint. "Even a single tuft of fur could send him to the hospital and we'd need to delay our merger for another month minimum. I'm sure you know this already Wynie, but time is money, and especially so when there are a dozen zeros involved. So, I tried to make arrangements for my Arcanine to be sent to the groomers to be taken care of while I'm away making money.
"So, you left your Arcanine with us?" Wendy had a good feeling she knew exactly the troublesome Arcanine he was talking about. The one that had been bullying Oddish ever since he'd first arrived. It all made so much sense now considering this was probably his trainer.
"Tch, not by choice, that's for sure." Wendy's vision flashed red as the man let out a disgusted groan. "No matter how much money I tried paying them, my former groomers couldn't move around their schedules to accommodate my glorious purebred. Honestly, I was willing to pay them their annual salaries upfront, and they STILL had the audacity to tell a member of the distinguished McAvoy family no! Ungrateful swine. Long story short, their shortsightedness turned to your so-called daycare's gain, even if it is a podunk establishment in the middle of nowhere."
"Then why don't we try to find your precious Arcanine so that we aren't wasting any more of your equally precious time." Wendy tilted her head with a false smile.
"Now you're starting to understand Wynter."
"Wendy. Not Wynter. Wen-dee." A façade that almost cracked at yet another instance of her name being butchered.
"Well let's get a move on Winifred." With an uncaring "shoo" gesture towards Wendy that made her want to shove her fist so far up his gigantimaxed ego, she could use him as a ventriloquist puppet.
"Patience master…" The Lucario's calming voice played in her head. "You will only need to deal with this man for a few moments longer."
"I know… thanks, Pulse." Wendy took a moment to center herself and before gesturing towards the large structure in the distance. "If you'd please follow me to the barn, we'll have you reunited with your Pokémon in no time."
"About time Wynita."
"Wend – whatever…" Wendy kept her liquified hate bottled up for now as she spun on her heel, imagining she was grinding the snob's nose beneath it as she began the short walk towards the barn. Each step, another part of his loathsome existence crushed beneath her heel. His tiny sausage-fingers, his bloated windbag of a chest, the microscopic excuse of masculinity between his legs that his bravado was oh so clearly compensating for. Though based on the vibe she was getting from him, that's probably how the scumbag got his rocks off in the first place. A truly nauseating thought at that.
*UCKHH* The snob's own nauseated response brought Wendy back towards reality. "What is that revolting smell?"
"What's the matter? Have you never smelled the inside of a barn before?" Wendy's mouth curled malevolently as the man covered his mouth and nose."
"Disgusting… *Urp* I can actually taste it…" The man reached into his breast pocket, pulling out a small vial of breath spray and cleaning his palate to an unnoticed eye-roll from Wendy. "I guess it's only appropriate though; a shit smelling barn that offers shit quality service since I've been here would taste the same."
"Ignore him, Wendy… Just ignore him…" Wendy calmed herself as she looks through the barn for her parents. They were just around the door a few minutes ago when Adeline was here… Maybe they'd moved farther back into the barn? She poked her head around one of the pens near the front… only they weren't there either.
"Mom? Daddy? Kee?" Wendy called out for someone to help her… but didn't receive a response from anyone? "Hello?!" She called out again… still no response.
"I certainly hope this isn't your idea of a joke Whitney." The man stated bitterly, bluntly.
"No no, this is the right place. My parents were just here a moment ago."
"Well hurry up, would you? I don't want this suit to be stained with this foul stench any longer."
"Daddy!" Wendy called out again and still could not get a response except for her own frown. "Pulse, could you find daddy for me and bring him here?"
"Of course, master." Pulse nodded and flashed his signature purple aura as he reached out to find Wendy's parents.
"You're not wasting my time with some sort of magic trick, are you?" The snob folded his arms, his already thinly veiled patience becoming more and more tested by the moment. "I've told you before, my time is too valuable to be spent standing around in this musty old barn."
"S-sir… this barn is hardly a year old, it's anything but musty."
"Maybe to you it isn't since you're clearly used to living in filth like this. But for someone as distinguished as I, it is completely intolerable." The man sniffs again and inhales enough of the barn's apparently arduous odor to cover his nose with his hand. "Disgusting… you'll be receiving an invoice from my dry cleaner for the damages you've done to this suit when I leave."
At this point, Wendy's burning hatred of this man was melting away any and all restraint towards her remaining politeness. She could feel her aura smoldering with volcanic hatred, and her teeth could crush diamonds with how tightly they were clenched together. And speaking of diamonds, she knew exactly which two she'd crush fist if this guy continued to press the few buttons she had remaining to give.
"I'm so sorry that our barn is not up to your high standards of service. This is the best we could manage on short notice, since, you know, our actual barn at our normal location was destroyed less than a week ago by Pokémon poachers!"
"Whatever, I'll send it to the owners of this barn then. It makes no difference to me. As long as I can get my Arcanine and be gone of this place, I'll be willing to overlook the inconveniences of your service today."
"Master…" Pulse's calming voice soothed Wendy's response before she could even make one.
"Thank God Pulse, please tell me you've found someone who can help us."
"Regrettably, no." Pulse's ears slackened with his bad news. "Your parents are both on the phone with two more angry customers, and Sir Keanu is dressing new bandages on another Pokémon and cannot assist us for a few more minutes."
"Damn…" Wendy disappointedly shook her head. "Can you tell them to hurry if they can?"
"I will try, master."
"Is something the matter, Waverly?" Steam shot from both of Wendy's ears as her entire body turned as red as her boyfriend's hair.
"I'm sorry to say… s-sir… that my parents are a bit p-preoccupied at the mm-moment." With deliberate restraint to her movement and her words, Wendy turned around and faced the man who'd butchered her name for what felt like the hundredth time in what had to be only five minutes. And yet Wendy had put up with enough of this man in these five minutes to last the rest of her lifetime, multiple lifetimes even!
"If you wouldn't mind waiting just a few minutes longer, we will be right with you and help you find your Arcanine."
"Waiting around in this putrid cesspool for you and your complete and utter incompetence is not how I planned on spending my day, Waylin!" The man finally snapped at the woman who's name he seemingly couldn't remember. "I am done waiting. Either bring me my Arcanine or so help me Wendolyn, I will-"
"IT'S WENDY! FOR FUCKSAE YOU BRAINDEAD PILE OF TAUROS-SHIT! MY NAME – IS – WENDY! W-E-N-D-Y!" She'd finally had enough. All the heartache, the stress, the anger, the sadness, the frustration, all of it had reached the breaking point for Wendy. And she wasn't going to let this pretentious, uncaring, old-money elitist fucktard that couldn't even remember her own goddamn name say another thing about her or her family!
"I don't give a Rattata's ass who you are or how much money you make. You have done nothing since you've gotten here except trash everything that my family has built for years and years of our lives. This daycare isn't just a business to us, it's our goddamn home! My mom, my dad and I have all literally given our blood, sweat, and tears towards making our daycare; no-no, making our home a place that everyone in Sinnoh and their Pokémon can call home too! We opened our doors to you and your Arcanine, who's just as much an entitled asshole as you are, and treated him like family! We showed him kindness, compassion, love! Three things that you seem completely incapable of showing a Pokémon yourself considering that he spent half his time here bullying the other Pokémon!"
"Of course, you would see it that way."
"I did see it that way! He tried making the Oddish here into his personal chew toys every time he saw them!"
"They could have fought back."
"They were too scared to fight back! And they shouldn't have to fight back anyway because you should have done a better job raising your stupid Arcanine in the first place!"
"Hmph, and why should I be bothered to do that."
"BECAUSE HE'S YOUR FUCKING POKÉMON! Wendy exploded a second time, her face starting to turn purple as she screamed at this incorrigible excuse of a human being. "Pokémon are not tools and symbols of wealth and power! They are living creatures capable of forming and sharing bonds as strong and intimate as our family! I love all my Pokémon, Pulse, Tess, Yuri, and Flynt just as much as I do all my other friends and family! And I extend that love to every Pokémon that isn't mine that belongs to someone outside my family because that's what this daycare means to me!
"Master…" Pulse looked up in awe at Wendy, feeling the white-hot passion burning from her heart as she continued her super-heated speech.
"People like you disgust me, and no, it isn't because I'm jealous of how much of daddy's money you get to spend. It's because people like you don't give a shit about anything other than themselves! You were born with a silver spoon lodged firmly inside the depths of your ungrateful asshole and have never once gained any sense of appreciation for any of the things you have! You don't care about your fancy car, your nice suit; hell, you don't even care about your Arcanine you left with us. You only care about the fact that other people think you're cool because you have all this money and can buy all these cool things."
"Well, I don't!" Wendy firmly jabbed a finger into the man's chest, forcing him to stagger back two steps. "I don't see the suave businessman you think you are! I see a complete and utter jackass who doesn't care that the daycare his untrained Arcanine was at just got destroyed and burned to the ground a week ago, and someone who can't even be bothered to learn the fucking name of the person he's talking to when he tries to pick the brutish Pokémon up!"
"So what?"
"So what?! SO WHAT?! You can go fuck yourself, that's what! You've shown me nothing but disrespect since you've gotten here and I'm not just going to stand here and-"
*SMACK*
Her face was already burning red as it was, but now Wendy's face stung with a different redness, a sharper more painful redness in her cheek. She staggered backward, almost falling over, but was able to brace herself with her hand against the floor. She looked up in shock, seeing the man standing over her with a completely disgusted look of his own as he rubbed the back of his hand.
"Do you have any idea who you're talking to you fucking bitch?"
"How DARE YOU!" Pulse let loose a furious howl, his aura manifesting and completely engulfing the Lucario's body with a blood-red hue instead of his usual calming purple. Wendy could feel her Pokémon's bad intentions as he bared his fangs, receiving a disturbingly vivid image of Pulse's fangs firmly clenched around the man's wrist. "My master has shown you nothing but respect since you've arrived, and yet you dare to lay a finger on her?"
"And what are you going to do about it?" The man turned his attention to the enraged Lucario. "You so much as lay a pawprint on me and I'll personally see to it that you get put down like the stupid mutt you are."
"If you continue to attack my master, it won't be just a pawprint that I lay upon your body, you fiend."
"Pulse, it's fine," Wendy said as she stood up, stepping between her Pokémon and him while holding her cheek and smugly staring the man in the eyes. "Tyler could give me a much better pounding than this pussy's backhand ever could."
"Why you - You've got some nerve, you know that?!" The man glared darkly at Pulse and Wendy. "First you incompetent neanderthals lose my Pokémon and then you have the nerve to back-talk me like this after you've done nothing but completely waste my time since I arrived at this hell hole?! You're lucky I've only hit you once with all the inconvenience you've given me today! But, if you need to be taught a lesson in respect, I'll be more than happy to give it to you again and again until you learn it!" Once again, the man raised his hand, further back this time and aimed another strike against Wendy's face.
"And just what do you think you're doing to my goddaughter, boy!" The man flinched and held back his strike, but Wendy felt her own heart chill from knowing whose voice that was. It's a voice she was all too familiar with, one that had put the fear of God in her many times as a young girl. Its owner stood at the door of the barn, her usually soft and warm demeanor hardened to the strength of steel that framed a scorching stare the color of molten copper. An Ursaring would wilt at the strength of this Mean Look attack from its owner, and for once, Wendy was glad that it was on her side.
"M-mama Carla!"
"Mama? So, this is your mother then?"
"God-mother actually." Mama Carla's arms fell to her hips as she stepped crossly towards the man, Mama-Ursaring mode fully engaged at this point. "And you'd better thank your lucky stars that I'm not her actual mother, or I'd have ripped the arm you just struck my goddaughter with off at the elbow and shove it so far up your backside I could use you as a ventriloquist puppet."
"Tch…" The man clicks his tongue uncaringly. "I see where you get your lip from Wesley."
"Her name is Wendy you sanctimonious slimeball. And I'd suggest you learn it and apologize to her this instant!" Mama Carla stood right up in the man's face, her mere presence towering over the arrogant man despite her smaller size.
"Apologize, me? If anything, she's the one who owes me an apology!" But the man glared defiantly back at Wendy's godmother without backing down. "Ever since I first arrived here, the quality of service I've received from her and her bastard parents at this deplorable excuse of a daycare has been terrible and gotten drastically worse with each passing second I waste spending here. And then I find out that they've actually managed to lose my prized Arcanine, who is worth more than this wretched heap of a barn, only for this dike to turn around and start insulting me! ME! A member of the McAvoy estate! I could buy this pathetic daycare and have it leveled into a parking lot in a matter of hours if I wanted to!"
"Oh-ho, so you're a McAvoy, are you?" Mama Carla folded her arms smugly.
"That's right. Finally, someone with a sense of respect around here." The man stepped back and did the same. "You could learn a thing or two from this woman Wren."
"So, tell me, boy, how is old Archibald doing? I haven't seen him since the gala we had at his estate last December."
"You erm… you know my grandfather?" The man froze like a Deerling caught in the headlights.
"Uh-oh…" Wendy quietly snickered to herself as an impish grin teased its way across her face.
"Oh but of course! My husband and I see him quite regularly. He's quite the philanthropist as I'm sure you know; you are his kin after all."
"Y-yeah?"
"And then I'm sure you know how generous he is in pledging his support to the Sinnohan Rangers?"
"Y-yeah?"
"Well then boy, would you happen to know the name of the man who is the head of the Sinnohan Rangers that your grandfather is so generous in supporting?"
"I… I dunno. I think it's… um…"
"Oh, come now, it's not that hard. Here, I'll give you the first letter – W, just like my sweet goddaughter Wendy over there who you just a moment ago had the audacity to lay a finger upon." Wendy giggled and waved her fingers teasingly at the man who was starting to shrink like a Muk using Minimize beneath Mama Carla's Scary Face attack. If only she had some popcorn to eat while enjoying her godmother digging this man his grave for him.
"Um… was it Watson? Maybe Waldorf? I dunno. I've never been good with names."
"You've made that quite evident from the start, haven't you?" Mama Carla delivered a perfect deadpan sigh, earning a nervous chuckle in response from her prey. "Alright, I'll tell you since you're so bad with names. It's Weiland. Thomas Weiland, head of the Sinnohan Rangers. My husband. And most importantly, Wendy's godfather."
"W-wait! You mean you're-"
"Carla Weiland, it's a pleasure to meet you…" Mama Carla's scowl shone through her attempt at a polite introduction. "is what I would be saying if you hadn't so blatantly disrespected my family with your terrible attitude ever since you arrived on my homestead."
"Homestead?! You mean this is your-"
"Home? Why yes, this barn that we are standing in is on mine and my husband's ranch." Mama Carla's fangs once again poked out behind her weathered smile. "You see boy, the Riding family and our own are incredibly close together. And after the tragedy that happened to them last week, we've generously allowed them to stay at our ranch while they put the pieces of their daycare back together."
"W-well… that doesn't change the fact that they managed to lose my Arcanine in the first place. I deserve some form of compensation for the inconvenience they've caused me."
"And you think that gives you the right to physically assault my goddaughter on my property?!"
"Well – I mean – uh…"
"Perhaps I should call your grandfather and see what he has to say about this?"
"NO!" The man shrunk even further as Mama Carla pulled out a phone from her pocket. "I mean uh – we don't… we don't need to get him involved in all this."
"No? Then perhaps my husband? After all, you did assault his goddaughter. And I don't think even the wealth of the McAvoy family could stop him from sending the Ranger's wrath against you."
"No no no! That's-"
"Or perhaps Wendy's real parents? I know how stressed they both have been this week. And I'm sure they'd love the chance to let off some steam after hearing what you've done to their daughter!"
"Okay-okay! I get it! I'm sorry!"
"Oh, don't apologize to me, apologize to her!" Mama Carla grabbed the man by his ear and spun him around to face Wendy, who simply smiled and waved at the man groveling before her.
"I – I'm sorry… uh… Wynette?"
"Oh for the love of pete – It's Wendy!" Carla groaned as she twisted the man's ear. "Get it through that empty skull of yours already!"
"Owow-wowow-ow! W-Wendy!"
"Say you're sorry!"
"I'm sorry Wendy!"
"Huh, only took you fourteen times to get it right." Wendy commented dryly.
"Whatever, I'm sorr – OOWWW!"
"And just what is it that you're sorry for, McAvoy?"
"I'm sorry for slapping you!"
"Aaaand?"
"And also – OW! And also, for… uh… OWOWW! Stop it, that hurts!"
"What else are you sorry for?"
"Um… for not saying your name, right?"
"Good start. Now, what else?"
"And for uh… all the mean things I said about your family?"
"Anything else you care to add boy?"
"Um… and for almost hitting that other girl with my car?"
"Oh? I didn't know about that part, but that sounds like a good one to add." Another whimpering from the now groveling and emasculated man added to Wendy's satisfaction at the moment. "What do you say, Wendy? Has he had enough?"
"Well… I guess that could be enough." Wendy shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. "I'm not that into sadism anyway."
"There." Mama Carla finally let go of the man's ear after adding one last motherly twist for good measure. "Now, if you truly have lost your Arcanine, then I will offer you an apology of my own. I do understand your frustration and offer my condolences to you. But there is absolutely no excuse for someone of your stature taking it out on anyone, and especially not my goddaughter. You embarrass your family name by doing so."
"I'm sorry…" The man mumbled into his chin.
"I will, however, tell you the same thing that I have told every other trainer who has had their Pokémon stolen as part of this tragedy. My husband pledges the full support of the Sinnohan Rangers to retrieve every single Pokémon that was stolen and will do everything in our power to reunite you with your Arcanine. It may take a while, but we assure you that you will be together again at some point in time."
"Okay… I'm sorry…" The man repeated again.
"Good." Mama Carla let out a deep breath, letting her claws and fangs retreat back to her usually motherly nature. "Now, if that is all. I would strongly suggest that you leave before you cause any more problems today. We still have your contact information and we will notify you of when we find your Arcanine and will make the arrangements necessary to-"
"ODDDD-DIHH-HIHH-HISSHHH!" The panicked cry of a scared Oddish running through the barn doors interrupted Mrs. Weiland, all three of them watching as the frightened Grass-type waddled over to Wendy and hid behind her leg crying. Before Wendy could ask what was wrong, a loud bark also came from the barn door. And standing in its way, was a particular canine Pokémon, crouched on all four legs with golden fur covering an orange and black-striped body. Embers huffed from its nose as it snarled with apparent glee as it looked towards Wendy, or more specifically the Oddish behind her.
"Oh… you do have my Arcanine after all." The man stared blankly.
"This… is your Arcanine?" The claws came back out and Mama Carla glared over her shoulder at the man who was once again shrinking beneath her re-invigored scowl.
"Um… yes?"
"…Boy… I'm going to close my eyes… and when I open them again… I do not want to see you or your Arcanine ever again… Do you understand?"
"Yup – uh-huh – loud and clear! I'm sorry for everything!" Before Mama Carla had the chance to close her eyes, the man raised a gilded looking black Poké ball and quickly retreated his Pokémon to its home before spinning on his heel and sprinting out of the barn with a terrified scream. The engine to his car revved to life and mere moments later became a distant hum echoing through the surrounding forest.
*Phew* "Thanks, Mama Carla." Wendy sighed, hand over her heart and exhausted from the ordeal she just faced.
"Think nothing of it, my dear." Carla smiled her warm motherly smile as she looked back at her unofficial daughter. "Are you hurt at all?"
"No, just a little shaken up is all."
"Then maybe you should take a bath, a nice, soothing, bath to help calm you back down."
"Oh, no. Mama Carla, I'm-"
"Wendy dear…" Now it was Wendy's turn to feel the Mama-Ursaring's aura rising up over her.
"Uh… on second thought. A bath sounds lovely! What do you say, little guy?" Wendy turned her attention away from her adoptive mother and to the trembling Oddish, hoisting it up into her arms. "How about a bubble bath? You and me? I think we could both use a little R&R after the morning we've had, huh?"
"Odd-dish?" The Pokémon looked warily at Wendy.
"Exactly. Bubble bath! Come on Pulse, you're joining us too. Thanks again, Mama Carla!"
"I'll let your parents know you're taking a break!" Mrs. Weiland called out as Wendy tucked the Weed Pokémon under her arm and walked briskly out of the barn, looking very much forward to the soothing scents of jade and lavender, as well as the gentle tickle of soapy bubbles enveloping her entire body. It was going to be a long day today. Might as well get some enjoyment out of this dreadfully gray day.