Tale of the Ocean Drifter
Or
"Where do Babies Come From?"
A/N: Round 5 = Phione
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Life (noun) - the quality that distinguishes a vital and functional being from a dead body
~ Merriam-Webster Dictionary
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All was at peace in the Temple of the Sea. Nothing was amiss, and everything was as it should be. A school of Finneon and Lumineon swam past, and a Mantine soared through the water like a Fearow soars through air, casting a shadow on the floor of the regal aquatic structure. Manaphy closed his eyes and let a content sigh. "Life is wonderful," He laughed to no-one in particular. All of a sudden, an excited squeal caught his attention.
"Kyaah! It's so cute!"
Manaphy smiled at the recognition of the voice. He could recognize the high pitched tone of his daughter anywhere.
Phione held up something in her hands to show Manaphy. "Look daddy!" She said, lifting her hands to his face. "It's a baby Tentacool!" She cooed. Manaphy looked, and saw that it was true. The small water-type was tiny, small enough to fit in his daughter's tiny hands. It didn't look like much more than a shapeless light blue blob with several red specks in it, and a pair of wet, floppy, hair-like tendrils coming out of it. It was hard to imagine that this little jelly-like thing might someday grow up to be something as large, intimidating and powerful as a Tentacruel, Manaphy mused. He was broken out of his reverie by Phione begging, "Can we keep it, daddy? Can we please keep it?"
When Manaphy looked at his daughter, her eyes big, beseeching and wearing a look that was usually only worn by starving Growlithes begging for food, he knew he didn't stand a chance against his daughter's secret 'Convince-daddy-to-do-something' weapon: The Puppy-Growlithe face. Which was actually quite ironic, considering that she, a water-type legendary, the Princess of the Ocean, was wearing it, and at the bottom of the sea, no less. Weren't Growlithes fire-types?
"Please can we keep it? It was lost, and I couldn't find its mommy and daddy! It was sad! It needs a home! Humans probably took away his family! Please can we keep it? Even if it's just until we find his real family if we can?" Phione pleaded.
Manaphy sighed and shook his head in defeat, knowing that he had lost the battle from the moment he looked up to see her face, and sighed, "Alright, alright. You win okay, Phione? We can keep the little baby Tentacool. But you have to promise to give it back if we find its real family, or a good Tentacruel family to take care of it, got it, Princess?" he said, raising a figurative eyebrow.
Phione nodded vigorously, obviously ecstatic about being allowed to keep her new (and most probably temporary) 'pet'. She swung it around in a circle, and then hugged it close, squishing its gelatinous form and drawing a quiet, strangled little sound that sounded something like "Gnee!" from the small water-, poison-type Pokémon. Manaphy couldn't help but laugh at his daughter's joyous play, and mentally noted that he should probably tell her to stop doing that, but then pushed the thought to the back of his head, thinking, 'I'll do it later.'
"I'm going to name him Squishy! He shall be called Squishy, and he shall be mine!" Phione proclaimed in her excited, high-pitched voice cuddling the Tentacool once again, but not as tight as the last time.
Manaphy laughed yet again. "Oh, so now it's a 'he'? How do you know that it isn't a 'she'?" He chuckled. The Prince of the Sea let out a sigh of contentment again, and couldn't help musing out loud. Phione and Squishy were now playing and popping a bunch of bubbles that were being blown by several Krabby and Kingler on the temple floor. "Ah, life is wonderful," he decided, repeating his words from before.
All of a sudden, Phione stopped popping bubbles with Squishy, and turned to Manaphy with big, curious blue eyes. "Daddy," she asked, "What's life? I've heard you talk about it, but what exactly is it?"
Manaphy's eyes widened as he stuttered and tried to search for the right words. How do you explain life to a child? He questioned himself. "Well, Phione. Um… Well, er… Life is… Life is… Life is the… Life is… Being alive! Yes, life is being alive," he answered, satisfied with his answer. However, Phione didn't seem to understand or be satisfied.
"What is being alive?"
Once again, the Prince of the Sea found himself at loss for words. In the end, the only answer he could sputter out was, "Being alive is… Having life."
"Daddy, that doesn't make any sense," his daughter pointed out matter-of-factly.
"I know," Manaphy groaned. "I know… Phione, why don't you go back to playing with your-" his eyes suddenly lit up as an idea hit him like a stampede of Tauros, and you could almost see a figurative light bulb above his head, "Of course! Bubbles!"
Phione tilted her head to one side. "Daddy, what does that mean?" She inquired, "Do you want to play bubbles with me and Squishy?"
"Squishy and I, dear," Manaphy corrected. "And, no. I finally figured out how to explain life. You see, life is like those bubbles you were popping. Some last longer than others, and some don't last very long. But they're all beautiful when they last, no matter how long they last. Right?" Manaphy explained, hoping and praying to Arceus that his daughter would understand. It was hard to describe how relieved he was when he saw Phione nod.
"Now, when a bubble pops, it's like a Pokémon dying. But there are always more bubbles being made by the Krabby, so the bubbles won't run out. The new bubbles are baby Pokémon, like Squishy over there, do you get what a mean? So we have to treasure life and its beauty while the bubbles are still here, or else when we turn around and forget, the bubbles will pop before you know it."
What the Sea Prince didn't expect was for his daughter's eyes to widen in horror. "Does that mean every time that me and Squishy pop a bubble, a Pokémon dies?"
Manaphy shook his head in a 'no' vigorously. "No, no, no. That's not it! It isn't really like that, this is just a… A comparison! Krabbies don't really make babies either!"
Phione nodded again in understanding, a smile on her face. "Oh, I get it now!" She said, cuddling Squishy yet again. Manaphy smiled as well, and was glad that he had answered his precious little girl's question. However, when the father heard Phione's next question, he could practically feel his face pale, as the blood drained from it.
"So, daddy, if babies don't come from Krabbies… Where do babies come from?"
