A few days after the class were at Pallet Town
"Wow, I'm actually impressed." Cass said, walking down as Ark and Pikachu were cleaning up the last of the bottles.
"It's not all that hard to clean them up if you put your mind to it." Ark admitted, tying up a trash bag. "Plus we lost Litten two days ago."
"Black and red cat?" Cass asked.
"Yeah, have you seen him?" Ark asked.
"Check the front garden." Cass said plainly.
Ark and Pikachu went outside to find Litten taking a nap on top of a rock in the front yard.
"There you are Litten." Ark said. "Sorry about the mess here, none of us are really used to this kind of lifestyle." Ark admitted.
Staying in the Ketchum house in Pallet had been a difficult adjustment these past few days. Trumbeak was used to being able to practice her attacks, and Litten was used to being able to nap anywhere he wanted, but here, it just wasn't as easy. The only one of their team who was doing fine was Wimpod, who already annoyed small and dark places. But they weren't the only reason Ark had cleaned up, his actual mom and Cass deserved to live in a better place, and Lillie was always a bit of a germaphobe. Currently Lillie was with Professor Oak picking up mother from the airport to meet with Delia today.
"I've never seen Pokemon like most of yours before, are all of them in Alola like this?" Cass asked.
"Oh yeah, theres plenty of great Pokemon, especially in Melemele, like Bewear and Stuffle, Oranguru, Toucannon and their flock, the Passimian Gang." Ark listed off. "Plus at the school, all my friends Pokemon plus the Lycanroc and Komala. It's great!"
"Better than here?" Cass asked.
"I never said that." Ark commented, grabbing a shopping basket. "Wanna see something cool?"
"Do I have a choice?" Cass asked.
"Well, I bought the berries anyways so the choice is if you want to see it, or want to go inside." Ark commented.
"Alright, humor me." Cass said.
"Trumbeak, it's practice time!" Ark called out.
Trumbeak swooped down off of the house, landing near Ark as he held out a berry for her to peck at.
"I know, I know it's not as fresh as Anela's or Bewear's but it's the best I could get." Ark sighed, holding out the berry.
"Trum!" Trumbeak said, having finished most of the berry.
"Now hold on, what do you mean they aren't fresh! Those berries from the market are locally grown!" Cass defended.
"I never said they weren't fresh, I said not as fresh." Ark remarked. "Now Trumbeak use Bullet Seed!"
Trumbeak barely opened her mouth, firing off a straight line of seeds from the berry with great force down the road.
"Ahh Snowy use Powder Snow!" Lillie called out, the seeds freezing before they hit anything.
"Oops." Ark commented, rushing down the road. "Sorry about that!"
"Ark, it's great to see you." Lusamine said, hugging him.
"Hi mother, how was your flight?" Ark asked.
"It was good." Lusamine said. "So Lillie told me a bit about your family, I'm excited to meet them."
"We just finished cleaning up, and were doing a bit of battle practice." Ark said. "Come on, Cass is still outside."
"Cass?" Lusamine asked, looking at Lillie.
"Cassandra, the little sister I told you about." Lillie reminded.
"Right, right." Lusamine said.
Inside the Ketchum house
"You must be Delia, Ark er Ashton's mother." Lusamine said.
"You must be Lusamine, the woman whose experiment took my son." Delia commented.
Ark, Lillie, and Cass all held their breath at this, not sure how these two would interact at this point.
"Thank you for taking care of him." Delia said, embracing Lusamine.
"Of course, if the tables were turned I'd hope you'd do the same for either of my own children." Lusamine said, patting Delia on the back.
"I know you never meant to take him, and the fact that you took him in as your own and raised him means the world to me." Delia said.
"So does that mean you'll stop drinking?" Cass half joked. "What, you have a problem!"
"I'll work on it, but your father will be coming home by next week, knowing our son is alive, he's excited to finally be back." Delia said.
"Oh I'm so sorry that we'll miss him, but Ark and Lillie do have school to get back to." Lusamine said. "I was only coming here for the weekend to pick them up."
"You can't just take Ashton, he's finally home!" Delia argued.
"He also has a life, and friends, and responsibilities in Alola." Lusamine pointed out. "He's only part way through the school year, his studies are important!"
"And I'm saying no." Delia said. "I am his mother too, and he will be staying!"
"WILL YOU BOTH BE ADULTS!" Lillie shouted, causing both mothers to stop their bickering.
"Oh she's good." Cass commented.
"She has experience with me and Gladion." Ark responded.
"The two of you are talking about Ark like he's some object. Something that has no say in whether or not he stays here or in Alola. How about you let him decide where to go!" Lillie reminded. "By both regions laws he is old enough to be a Pokemon trainer and go on a journey away from home as long as he has a Pokemon by his side. Which he has four of. So let him choose where he's going."
Ark looked from one side of the table to the other. On one side, Lusamine and Lillie, the girls who had been a part of his life for years. The ones he's always known as his mother and sister. On the other side Cass and Delia, effectively strangers, Cass still didn't even like him that much, but they were his real family. The woman who gave birth to him, and a sister who shared his genetics. This would never be an easy decision.
