A/N: I don't own anything except for any OCs that may or may not pop up. I also forgot to mention that this is AU since this story is mostly game/anime for Pokémon. I might include some of the manga characters. No promises, though. Also, I am so sorry about the long wait for this chapter. I've been busy with school work and my work place has had me working longer hours lately. Original plot belongs to WizardsGirl. Read, enjoy and review!

Nozomi was happy…she was treated like a child…like Dudley with a more manageable list of chores. She had a family that took care of her and now she had to beautiful loving Pokémon who wouldn't willingly leave her by herself. Akito talked to the Professor for about twenty more minutes about different things before they left for home.

Nozomi had let both Hikari and Haru out of their Pokéballs to let Akito see them but he was still in a foul mood. Both Hikari and Haru were a little on guard around him and Nozomi had the feeling that until he got out of this foul mood, the two of them would remain so. However, they didn't bother him and instead were talking to Cho about various thing. Apparently, all three of the Pokémon were basically the youngest in each of their families so far.

As they rounded a corner, Nozomi spotted a long sleek black limo parked in front of the house. It had white flags with red 'R's on the front and back.

"Ne, Akito-san, whose that?" Nozomi softly asked curiously. The normally cheerful man clenched his jaw in undisguised anger while glowering at the car.

"Rei's older brother," was all that Akito managed to coldly say. He didn't notice Nozomi's flinch but both Hikari and Haru did. They knew that Akito wasn't her real father, but…they had assumed that the man had been a packmate to Nozomi's birth parents and had decided to take her in with his mate. They weren't going to push her to tell them why she seemed to be so on guard all the time but they weren't just going to let her remain quiet about it.

Nozomi kept quiet for the rest of the way home with her head bowed, successfully hiding her unshed tears. She wouldn't let anyone see her cry. Crying only made the beatings worse or would be the reason why she was getting a beating. Aiko ran ahead with Cho on her shoulder, seemingly excited to see her uncle, when they came through the gate with Akito stalking behind her before shutting the door firmly behind him, leaving Nozomi, Hikari and Haru outside.

The tears started to swell up as the three stared at it for a minute before Nozomi turned her back to the door, letting a few tears to escape. She angrily swiped at them before heading towards the gate. Nozomi paused at the gate only for a few minutes to let her Pokémon catch up with her before she returned them to their pokéballs. She looked at the limo's tainted windows for a few seconds before she walked away from the house and down the street with her head bowed once more and with a heavy heart.

Once she was away from the house, she ran as if Dudley and his gang were 'Hope Hunting' and they were catching up to her. Nozomi ran until she reached the outskirts of town. Once she reached the outskirts, she switched from running to jogging. All she could think about was that the Makinos didn't want her. Nozomi barely noticed that the houses were spreading out and that there was more plant life popping up. She finally came to a stop in front of a good sized rock for her to sit on. Nozomi barely noticed that both Hikari and Haru had somehow gotten out their Pokéballs. She merely brought her knees up to her chest as she started to cry silently for the first time in a long time, mourning the fact that no one would ever want her—a freak—to be a part of their family.

She never heard the soft steps that were coming from behind her but both Hikari and Haru did. They both turned around to see what as approaching them, startled to see a large cat like creature approach their Trainer. The cat like creature ignored them in favor of keeping his attention on the crying girl. Nozomi jumped slightly when she felt something soft rubbed up against her and sounded like it was purring. She lifted her head up revealing swollen red eyes from her crying that was still going on. The cat like creature was about waist height on her with soft beautiful silky tan to creamish white fur. It looked similar to a black panther with only the tip of the tail curling. Its eyes were large and the color was an almost smoldering gold. On its forehead was a beautiful reddish-purple orb. Sniffling, she let go of her knees and scrubbed her tear streaked face furiously.

Tell me, cub, why do you cry? a masculine voice asked her as the feline creature sat up. Once she sat up, he gave Nozomi's face a lick. Both Haru and Hikari slowly approached the feline creature, not wanting Nozomi to get hurt. Nozomi sniffed again and rubbed at her now running nose.

"I t-t-tho-ought-," her breath hitched as she tried to swallow past the lump that had formed in her throat, "t-th-at th-they ca-ca-cared for me." She leaned into the Pokémon's chest with more tears falling from her eyes. "Th-They t-t-ook me in and t-t-ook ca-ca-care o-o-of me, b-b-but th-th-then Ak-Ak-Akito got ma-mad and shut th-the door on m-m-me. I-I kn-kn-know th-th-that he w-w-wasn't m-m-mad at m-me. I th-th-thought t-th-at t-th-ey w-w-ere j-just like them…" The Pokémon started to purr comfortably and nuzzled her head gently, almost fatherly.

Basically, this Akito was upset with someone else and took that anger out on you by accident? Nozomi merely nodded her head, having finally stopped her crying. He'll remember soon, cub. Even though he forgot himself for a short while, that doesn't mean that he no longer cares for you. Watashitoisshoni ritorukabu kuru, watashi wa karera ni ie iku koto ga dekimasu. Nozomi paused before she nodded her head and got up as she scrubbed her still drying face.

"My name's Yagami Nozomi, not cub. These two are my Pokémon, Hikari, my Growlithe, and Haru, my female Nidoran." Nozomi told him softly before she quietly once again returned the two Pokémon into their pokéballs. She placed a hand on his shoulder as she put the two pokéballs up. Once the two pokéballs were put up, she pulled out her Pokédex before she shyly asked, "if you don't mind, can I scan you? I don't know what Pokémon you are."

The Pokémon just nodded his head regally before Nozomi scanned him .

Persian-the Classy Cat Pokémon and the evolve form of Meowth. This Pokémon is very haughty. The size of the jewel on its forehead is the topic of much talk among fans. The whiskers sense air movements to determine what is in the surrounding vicinity. It will become docile if it's whiskers are grabbed. If the tail is straight up, that is a signal that it is about to pounce and bite. This Pokémon is known for being extremely loyal and can be very protective to human children as well as to Pokémon babies.

"Sugoi!" Nozomi said as she put her Pokédex back into her pocket. "You must be extremely strong then if you're an evolved form! You're also quiet handsome, Persian-san."

My Trainer was quiet pleased when I evolved and is still pleased with how strong I am the Persian said proudly as he stalked ahead slightly as they approached Rei-san's and Akito-san's house. Nozomi merely smiled with still slightly red and swollen eyes. She was starting to get a headache from all the crying that she had done earlier and found herself yawning slightly as they rounded the corner and got closer to the house. Nozomi could see Rei, Akito and a man wearing a suit who looked similar to Rei were searching for her. Akito was the first person to see her and profound relief came onto his face that Nozomi just knew that he had regret for what he had done earlier.

"Nozomi-chan!" He cried as he rushed over to her. The cry got the attention of the other to causing Nozomi to nervously press closer to her Persian friend. Persian could sense her fear and started to snarled at the man who skidded to a stop before the Pokémon. Akito stared at Persian warily.

"Nozomi-chan?" the man tentatively asked but Nozomi didn't lift her head. She was still unused to affection willingly given to her and flinched when Akito tried to gently hug her. Persian hissed at the man while getting in his way and made a swipe at Akito's hand. Nozomi was startled and looked up when Akito yelped in pain.

"Persian-san!" she gasped softly while staring, horrified, at the blood that was now dripping from Akito's hand, which was now cradled close as possible to his chest. The Persian merely growled at Akito before he turned his back to Akito and gently started nuzzling Nozomi. Nozomi buried her head in the soft cream colored fur wondering and afraid what would happen next. Would she be punished? Would Persian be punished?

Easy, cub, easy. Watashi ga koko ni iru to shinkokyū suru. No one will hurt you while I'm here Nozomi nodded her head before shutting her eyes tight and focused on Persian's own calm deep breathing. Slowly she felt herself calm down and she found herself getting sleepy.

"Nozomi?" Rei asked as gently as she could and the girl slowly lifted her head. Nozomi noticed that Akito had backed away from the Persian and now had a regretful expression on his face. Rei, on the other hand, was merely a foot away and was crouching down so that the two of them could be eye to eye. She smiled softly and held out her hand for Nozomi to take if she wanted too.

"It's going to be alright, Nozomi-chan, okay? It's going to be okay, sweetheart. Akito wasn't mad at you, sweetheart, and neither am I, Nozomi-chan. Please, come inside?" Nozomi hesitated and looked at Akito's wounded hand. Rei noticed what Nozomi was looking at almost immediately. "Nozomi-chan, no one's going to punish you or hurt you. It wasn't your fault or even Persian's. Please, sweetheart, come inside." Nozomi hesitated for a few more minutes with her fingers temporarily tightening in Persian's fur before reaching forward and taking her hand tentatively while allowing Rei to pull her into a hug, causing Nozomi to stiffen.

Nozomi let out a dry sob and clung to Rei while shaking hard. Rei cooed at her softly, trying hard to get her to calm down, before shushing Nozomi and picking her up. Nozomi just clung to her and whimpered when some of the still fading bruises were pressed. Her eyes hurt and her head was pounding. She snuggled her face into Rei's neck before letting out a sigh.

"I'm sorry I ran off," Nozomi mumbled, but somehow Rei managed to hear her and shook her head. Rei shook her head since she could understand why she had run off after what Akito shut the door on her.

"It wasn't your fault, sweetie. Akito's a bit of a baka when it comes to my brother. Come on, sweetie, let's get inside and relax." Nozomi nodded her head before closing her eyes.

"Ne, Rei-san. Who's he?" Nozomi asked as she tilted her head towards the unknown man. She knew that the man was Aiko's uncle but she had never met the man or heard much about the man.

"I'm Rocket "Giovanni" Sakaki, little one." The man said with a slight smirk as Nozomi blushed in Rei's arms. He could already tell that something about the girl in his sister's arms would bring some sort of change to his life.

Giovanni-san, as Nozomi had decide to call the man, was going to stay the night and a few weeks with the rest of his family and Nozomi. Akito wasn't happy about it, but he was more concerned about reconciling with Nozomi to really express his feelings about it. They ate ice cream and played several board games after dinner. Or at least until Giovanni's cellphone rang. Frowning, he checked the caller ID before he quickly answered it.

"What is it?" He snapped as he went to a quiet corner in the room as the game continued without him. Nozomi could hear rapid talking on the other end of the line. "So, you decided to actually do your jobs and find another Pokémon to capture." As soon as he finished speaking, Nozomi could hear even more rapid talking on the other end and a spark lit up in Giovanni's onyx black eyes. "Really? You have, hmm…" He turned to Rei for a minute before turning his conversation to her. "Imouto, would you mind if three of my more idiotic comes over tomorrow to show me something that they found?" Rei shook her head, amused, after she shoot Akito a look to keep him from giving voice to his feelings. "Wonderful!" With that, he started to give whoever was on the other end of the line directions to the house before giving them a warning to not get caught by any Officer Jennys. Nozomi turned to Akito with a questioning look in her jade green eyes.

"Ano…Akito-san, what does Giovanni-san do?" She asked softly with a curious filled voice before Rei smiled warmly and gently at her. Nozomi absentmindedly scratched Persian behind one of his ears, where she seemed to know that was where he liked it best. She had been somewhat surprised but pleased to learn that Giovanni-san was Persian's Trainer.

"Saka-kun is a Gym Leader, chīsana ai, and owns a multi-billion dollar company known as Team Rocket." Nozomi looked at Giovanni with wide eyes that held a kind of awed curiosity.

"Ne, Giovanni-san, what does Team Rocket do?" She asked as the man ended the called and put away the phone. Akito gave his brother-in-law a sneer of distaste.

"They steal Pokémon from their Trainers." Nozomi stared at Giovanni with her head cocked to one side, bewildered and confused.

"Why not catch your own Pokémon?" She asked simply as she moved to rub Persian's head with a light hand. Giovanni shook his head solemnly before giving Akito a glare worthy of the Shinigami in terms of the amount of murderous intent it contained. Akito paled under his brother-in-law's glare and reached for his wife's hand before looking away from Giovanni.

"It would take too long for us to train them up to the efficiency that we need them to be," he explained as his eyes calmed and softened just a little bit as they landed on the auburn haired girl who was sitting indian-style on the ground with her back against Rei's legs. Persian was sprawled out besides her with his head in Nozomi's lap, purring enthusiastically as Nozomi's hand slowly and gently moved across his head. "We want Pokémon that are already trained, so that way we'll have more power." Nozomi thought about it for a few minutes before an idea came to her before she shook her head, not really agreeing with it.

"Sore wa chotto orokada," Nozomi said candidly as well as softly. "I mean, if you take healthy and happy Pokémon away from the Trainers that they love, wouldn't they be less likely to follow your orders as well as trust you? But," she quickly added before Giovanni could interrupt," if you take abused and unhappy Pokémon from their Trainers while rescuing abandoned Pokémon, I think that you'll be more likely to have Pokémon who will obey you as well as love you. Though you might have to get someone helping them through any emotional problems they might have but I think that you'll find that the final result to be much more satisfying." Giovanni thought about it for a few minutes while weighting the pros and the cons.

"That is…a rather innovative idea, Nozomi-chan. Arigatō." Nozomi nodded before ducking her head and she started to fiddle with Persian's ears. Giovanni watched her for a few minutes, surprised that Persian seemed to have taken the girl under his 'wing', before they were all startled as the clock chimed ten o'clock.

"Shūshin-ji, kizzu." Rei said somewhat firmly before Aiko started to send up a series of protests while Nozomi lightly tapped Persian's nose to get him to lift his head off her lap before Nozomi got to her feet and took the six year old's hand.

"Come on, Aiko-chan. Don't you want to sleep with me? I'll be scared if you don't…" Nozomi said, pretending to be sad before the younger girl latched onto her.

"Don't worry, Nozomi-nee-chan! I'll keep you company!" Aiko said as Nozomi allowed the little girl to drag her back to Aiko's bedroom where Nozomi would be staying while Giovanni would be getting the couch where Nozomi had been sleeping ever since she had arrived at the Makino household..

"Oyasumi, Akito-san, Rei-san, Giovanni-san. Oyasuminasai, Persian-san!" Nozomi called out over her shoulder as the auburn haired girl yawned on her way to Aiko's room.

"I'll be there soon to tuck both of you in here in a few minutes, alright?" Rei said as she watched both girls enter Aiko's room before Nozomi nodded her head. As she got into Aiko's bed, Aiko wrapped her arms around the older girl causing Nozomi to stiffen once again before Nozomi slowly relaxed and did the same to the much younger girl allowing both of the girls to fall asleep relatively quickly.

In the Living Room

"What an unusual child you seemed to have found, imouto." Giovanni said as Persian moved to sit at his Trainer's feet before laying his head on Giovanni's lap like he did with Nozomi. With Persian's head in his lap, Giovanni started to absentmindedly stroke his head. "Very insightful though I can tell that she's as shy as a rabbit." He sent his younger sister a canny look. "Tell me, imouto, are you considering adopting her?" Akito and Rei glanced at each other, both somewhat hesitant.

"We would love to adopt Nozomi-chan," Akito carefully said before he looked back at Giovanni.

"But she'll be leaving soon for her Pokémon Journey," Rei said with concern while biting her bottom lip and glancing back down the hall that led to Aiko's room. "Watashi wa chōdo kanojo ga daijōbu ni naru koto o negatte imasu." Akito took his wife's hand and squeezed it reassuringly.

"Don't worry, my love, she can take care of herself. Besides, she'll have her Pokémon to help her out as well as any friends that she'll make along the way." Rei nodded her head, still somewhat hesitantly as her brother gained a thoughtful look on his face.

"I'm actually going into town in the morning before those three get here in order to get items for Persian. Would you like me to take her into town to get supplies for her Journey? She'll need more supplies than what you can afford right now, imouto…" Rei shook her head as some of her fears were put to rest by her brother's offer.

"It's perfectly alright, Saka-kun. Though, could you take her to Pewter City. I can tell that she likes you and Persian already. It took us about two weeks to gain her trust." Rei's eyes glittered mischievously as she gave her brother a smirk. "Maybe you could even take her to the gym to try going against Takeshi…" Her brother's return smirk was slow but it had an edge to it almost like a shark who had scented fresh blood.

"Maybe I shall, watashi no aisuru imouto," Giovanni said as his brother-in-law and sister left the room to get ready for bed. "Maybe I shall…"

With Nozomi—The Next Morning

Nozomi was awoken once more to Agni poking her repeatedly on her forehead.

Come on, namakemono, and help me with breakfast Nozomi moaned a bit at the consistent and annoying fire-type Pokémon before untangling herself from the covers and an extremely clingy Aiko. Yawning, she went the restroom and used some water to rinse the morning breath away before she began to brush her hair with her fingers. She quickly changed back into her clothes, having slept in some old clothes of Rei's that the Makinos had given her. The clothes that she had changed into were the ones that she had worn when she had 'escorted' Cho home and when she had left the Dursleys back in her old world.

She quickly headed into the kitchen where she noticed that Agni had gotten out supplies for pancakes. He had even gotten out chocolate chips, Nozomi's favorite pancake filling, strawberries, which were Nozomi's favorite pancake toppings and two bowls so one could be plain while the other could have chocolate chips. Together, Nozomi and Agni started working on breakfast for everyone.

When the other current members of the household were aroused from sleep to the smell of bacon and coffee, Nozomi and Agni had made a large pile of pancakes and a huge bowl of bacon. Giovanni careen into the kitchen just as Nozomi made a second cup of coffee. She quickly gave him the cup which he took with just a small spoonful of sugar. He sat down at the table and took a deep breath with his eyes closed. Giovanni enjoyed the aromas that surrounded him before he opened his eyes and stared.

Both Nozomi and Agni were covered in different layers of flour, pancake mix, pancake batter but they were both grinning and unrepentant of the mess they had made.

"Anata wa shokumotsu to issho ni tanoshī jikan o sugoshita yōna mā, sore wa miemasu." Giovanni said as he took a plate that Nozomi had handed him before she pointed him towards the large pile of food. Agni, meanwhile, helped himself to a chocolate chip pancake before helping himself to some bacon and ate all of it quite happily. Akito and Rei were soon at the table, each with a cup of coffee or tea for Rei as well as a plate filled with food. Giovanni was on his second plate and was marveling at how good the food was. All three of them watched with shocked filled eyes as Nozomi made more food while leaving the bacon for Agni to do. They followed the pancakes as she flipped them with ease into the air when they were finished and successfully caught them on a plate.

Aiko stumbled into the room before she bumped into Nozomi, who had just set down the pan for the pancakes down, as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and as Aiko tried to look around the room. Nozomi merely smiled and gave the younger girl a cup of regular milk as well as a pancake in the shape of a Growlithe. The younger girl dug in happily as Nozomi made her another pancake in the shape of a Butterfree and another one in the shape of a Caterpie. Nozomi could just tell that today was going to be an interesting day.

A/N2: Translation time!

Watashitoisshoni ritorukabu kuru, watashi wa karera ni ie iku koto ga dekimasu=Come with me, little cub, I will take you home to them

Watashi ga koko ni iru to shinkokyū suru=I'm here and take deep breaths

Imouto=little sister

Sore wa chotto orokada=That's kind of stupid

Arigatō=Thank you

Shūshin-ji, kizzu=Bedtime, kids

Oyasumi=Good night

Oyasuminasai=Good night

Watashi wa chōdo kanojo ga daijōbu ni naru koto o negatte imasu=I just hope that she will be alright

Watashi no aisuru imouto=my dear sister

Namakemono=lazy bones

Anata wa shokumotsu to issho ni tanoshī jikan o sugoshita yōna mā, sore wa miemasu= Well, it looks like you had fun with the food