Oh yeah I forgot to mention I caught up posting with my writing, so weekly release isn't happening probably.

But there's only two chapters left (which includes the epilogue), so I think it's alright. Thanks for the reviews guys.

Chapter 9

"A Place to Call Home"

Avery didn't know what to think. He was yawning and stretching his arms wide as he sat up in bed, only to come face to face with Nadia. She looked at him curiously with a tilted head, as Avery yelped and flew backwards into his covers once again. Slowly he regained his heart rate and slowed his breathing as Nadia looked at him nervously, she invited him in and he sighed. "Nadia?"

"I'm so sorry Avery!" she expressed worriedly. "I wasn't attempting to scare you pup."

Avery slowly rubbed his face with one hand, then shook his head lightly, "It's alright Nadia." He thought about his time waking up last night, and frowned. "Did you stay with me that whole time?"

She nodded her head slowly, and gave him a smile. "I did," she said nervously. "Your mother requested it, since you seemed to find comfort with me."

Avery hadn't felt like correcting her about Luna this time, and instead looked awkwardly back at the Arcanine. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be such a chore last night. You don't have to come help me next time Nadia, I promise I'll be fine by myself."

Nadia walked around the side of the bed, slowly leaning in to nuzzle the boy. "Well, as your new bodyguard, I will refuse your request if it puts you into any more danger."

"Huh?" he replied with a raised brow.

Nadia smiled and licked the side of his face, causing him to blush. "Sorry, you're stuck with me pup. That's my new job, and I intend to be the best I can at it." she nuzzled him once again.

Avery giggled as her whiskers tickled his face, and he pushed her away slightly. "Okay! I'd rather have you as my bodyguard than someone else anyway. Thank you Nadia."

The Arcanine almost seemed to blush as she averted her gaze with a smile. She turned back to him after a few moments and began nudging him off the bed. "Alright you're going to be late for breakfast. Go get yourself freshened up."

Avery nodded, hopping off the bed and retreating to his bathroom. The closet was connected on the inside, and now that he wasn't quite as tired he noticed that there were quite a few sets of clothing in his size. He stared in wonder before doing his daily morning routine. He left the bathroom with a fresh set of clothes; a red and purple shirt with blue jeans. He met Nadia outside his room and she guided him to where breakfast was, which was easy because it was the same place he had dinner.

Nadia left him at the entrance, he went to inquire on why she was leaving him but she told him that the staff had their own room for eating. It was to give privacy to the family, Avery begrudgingly nodded and she promised to pick him up when he left. Avery slowly opened the large door that dwarfed over him, and peaked inside. He saw Ares sitting at the far end of the table with his glasses on and drinking coffee as he leisurely looked through a newspaper. He was about to open it when he felt a paw touch him, it made him jump, but when he turned he was instantly within Luna's arms and his worries were misplaced. He smiled at her before hugging her, and Luna walked into the dining room. "There you two are," Ares said with a smile.

Luna giggled, "I caught this little one sneaking around outside, I think he was spying on you honey."

Avery blushed and shook his head, "N-No I wasn't, I was just nervous." he said truthfully.

Ares smiled, "At least he's honest, darling. Your house is quite the daunting place to get used to."

Luna carried me over and sat me right next to Ares, as she seated herself on my other side. The table had room for about twelve people, but it obviously wasn't being used currently. It wasn't long before an Emolga emerged from the kitchen, she came over and inquired on what they'd like to drink. Avery was stunned, it felt like he was at a fancy restaurant yet it was just his own house… After asking for apple juice it wasn't long before they brought them their drinks and plates with plenty of delicious food. Avery was staring in awe at it as they dropped it in front of him and left the room. Luna played with his hair slightly, "I know it's a lot. You'll get used to it I promise sweetie."

Avery nodded and began to dig in, one great thing about communicating this way was that eating and talking was quite easy and normal. So as he began to eat he questioned her. "Luna, you said you'd tell me why you own such a big place."

She giggled and nodded, "You're right. Well, it started the moment I got separated from you."

"I don't know if you realize, but being separated from your trainer, with how loyal Goodras tend to be, was absolutely heart wrenching. Especially since I've been by your side since you were in diapers." Avery blushed but thankfully she continued on.

"After Mew and Xerneas explained everything to us, I was terrified. I immediately began to command the pokemon that were looking around in confusion and hopelessness. I knew that we'd have to make recovery super quick, even if not everyone could communicate with humans yet. So back in our hometown, I split everyone up into teams with one psychic type each and we scoured the place."

Luna tried to hold in her emotions as she continued, "As you know. I couldn't find you, which made me extend my search efforts farther and farther. Eventually other regions were asking me to help organize their search efforts as well, and it really wasn't that long before I decided to write up a whole list of rules and ways of handling things, and had it shipped across every region. Soon everybody was following my orders on how to handle things, and the only roadblock was the previous pokemon that used to be owned by terrorist groups like team Flare. When that happened, I was also one of the first ones to lead in an operation to take them down."

Ares chuckled and interrupted slightly, "Yup she was an amazing commander too."

Luna rolled her eyes playfully, "That's also where I met this big goofball. He actually didn't even like me at first."

Ares held his hands up defensively, "I was just extremely angry that day! I promise it wasn't you."

Luna giggled, "Anyway, he eventually followed my order, begrudgingly."

Ares smirked, "When you gave out such commanding orders I couldn't help myself from following, you were extremely ho-"

Luna cleared her throat and raised a brow, glancing between Avery and him with a warning. "Ares, that's inappropriate!" she scolded him out loud.

Ares smiled sheepishly, "She had a way with words, I mean." he clarified. "But it was sexy." he reiterated out loud.

Luna blushed wildly, "Ares! Stop!" she hissed quietly with much embarrassment by his words, which only caused him to laugh.

Avery was looking between the two with confusion as Luna cleared her throat finally and shook her head. "After that whole battle, the pokemon I had been commanding insisted on continuing to follow my orders… One thing led to another, and somehow I found myself running a whole corporation. And they gave me this mansion practically free, with all of those pokemon volunteering to be my staff. I was just as stunned as you when I first saw it, Avery."

Avery nodded, "I always knew you were amazing Lulu, I don't even know if I should be surprised."

Luna kissed his head, "Oh please, I did it all out of fear of finding you. Without thinking about my little Avery that whole time there was no way I could've done all of that."

They all found themselves finished with eating, and after her words Avery couldn't help but lean in for a hug with the Goodra. She quickly embraced him back, bringing him up onto her lap. "Can I just say again that I'm so happy to have you back Avery? You have no idea how much I missed you hatchling." she smiled while nuzzling his face.

"I think you've made it pretty clear. But I like hearing you say it because I felt the same way." Avery replied with a smug grin. Luna had no other words for that, she just held the boy to her chest for a moment and thanked whatever deity could hear it.

"Miss Spiritclaw?" A voice said curiously from the doorway, which turned Luna's head.

"Sarai? Why are you addressing me like that dear?" Luna asked her Mienshao secretary.

She cleared her throat. "If I'm honest with you Luna, it's because you'd get sort of snappy if we didn't a few weeks ago." Sarai seemed saddened, then felt horrible seeing Luna's face fall as she quickly clarified in a panic. "But we know you didn't mean to! We're all just happy that you're so joyful now."

Luna couldn't look at her friend. "I'm sorry Sarai, I just couldn't feel anything other than panic the longer he was gone." She said, turning and resting her head against Avery's.

"We know dear, none of us are upset with you I promise!" Sarai reassured her.

Luna shook her head. "You guys may not be, but I'm upset with myself. I'll make it up to all of you I promise."

Sarai sighed, knowing there was no way of talking her friend out of the guilt, then smiled at them. "Well, I came to inform you that after yesterday's incident, there's quite a lot of… media attention."

Luna rolled her eyes, "Oh I'm sure there is…"

Sarai continued with a nod. "And I didn't know whether you were comfortable with working? Of course I can tell them to hold off their questioning for a later date and-"

Luna giggled, "Yes I'm able to work Sarai. I'll be up in a while to start."

Sarai grimaced. "I meant not to pull you away from your little one, it's just…"

Ares finally chimed in. "That the media is a bunch of bloodhounds that wouldn't hesitate to fabricate a story if not for her own input? You're on point about that assumption Sarai." He sneered as he sipped his coffee.

Luna sighed. "What he said."

Sarai giggled and nodded. "Then I will see you shortly, Luna." she said bowing before taking an exit.

Luna looked down at Avery, who seemed more than content to just rest himself against the Goodra after eating breakfast, he wasn't asleep but he was resting his eyes. Her heart melted at the sight and she almost decided against it right than, but she knew she had duties to attend to. "Hey, Avery honey."

He looked up at her curiously, and she continued. "I know it's only your first day back, but I have to do some work in my office. Will you be okay?"

Avery sat straight up and nodded, rubbing his eyes. "Oh sorry Luna, I'm sure you have lots to do. I'll be okay."

Her heart ached at that and she put a paw on his cheek. "I'm not going to be gone all day, I promise. I'll always make time for you, and you can always come into my office while I'm working. Okay?" She knew Avery was used to a parent being gone for extended periods, his father had done such for quite a while before his mother got sick. And his mother wasn't always well enough for him to see her. He'd often wondered if he was a burden for wanting to see his parents. She just hoped he wouldn't think that she would be like that. "I love you, okay?"

Avery giggled and shied away from her paw that was caressing his cheek. "You don't have to tell me all the time Lulu, I know."

The smile brightened her heart and she giggled to herself. "You'd have to tape my mouth shut to stop me." With that she lowered the boy to the ground and stood up, when she got to the door she looked back again. "If you need me just tell Nadia to show you my office, and Ares will most likely be in the library." Avery just nodded as she turned to leave and Ares cut her out of the connection.

Avery turned. "Hey, Ares?"

He looked up curiously. "Yes?"

"Do you mind showing me the library?" Avery inquired.

Ares smiled as he set his paper down. "Of course! Luna wasn't kidding when she said you were a bookworm eh?" He said standing up and stretching.

Avery shrugged. "It's the easiest way to escape into my imagination. I don't need hearing for it either."

Ares put a gentle paw on his shoulder and guided him out. "That's a good way of looking at it."

Nadia met them right outside the door, and the three of them made their way to the library. It was a longer walk than Avery expected, as it was on the far right wing. When Ares opened the door for him Avery stood in awe. It was a circular room, with a large glass window at the back. On each side of the room was a curved bookshelf that went up around ten feet. There were a bunch of cushions, chairs, and desks. The top of the room was an intricately wooden carving of a compass, and a ladder sat in the corner for grabbing books. "Impressive, isn't it?" Ares smiled at the boy's wide smile.

"Isn't it? It's amazing!" He said look through the different categories of books already.

Ares chuckled. "My guess is the guy who lived here before was also a bookworm. Quite the collection here."

Avery quickly spotted something that caught his eye, and removed it from the shelf. It had been a book that Finn had recommended to him after their previous books, but they hadn't gotten the time to read it before he left. He held it up to Ares, "C-Can I read it?" He handed it over.

Ares smiled while admiring the book's front and back as he adjusted his glasses. "I haven't read it. But I'm sure you'd like it!"

Avery took it back and admired it once again with excitement as he glanced behind the Delphox. "Can I read it outside?"

Ares followed his gaze and looked out the window. "It's a beautiful day outside, I'd read out there too if I wasn't intending on meeting someone later. Go right ahead."

Avery smiled and practically raced to the door, but he looked back shyly. "Thanks Ares."

"Of course, little one." Ares seemed to remember something. "I might bring someone to meet with you later as well. If you're comfortable with that?"

"What for?"

"It would be better if I let them explain than me." Ares said cryptically.

"Well, okay. As long as Luna is okay with it, I am too." Ares nodded, realizing this meant the child didn't quite trust him fully yet. He was okay with that, as long as he made sure not to do something unfavorable to the child.

"Go have fun." Ares urged the child who was flip-flopping between heels and toes. He didn't wait for another second as he turned and joyfully went down the hallway, Nadia giggled and followed after him.

The gardens outside were beautiful. Avery had found a spot under a large willow tree, but the surrounding gardens were so nice that he didn't only want to read his book, but to look around as well. The few pokemon that he noticed working in the gardens were very friendly and greeted him with large smiles and waves. It wasn't long before he had settles against Nadia's stomach and began reading out loud as he had done many times with Finn. Nadia didn't mind, and was resting her head on her front paws in relaxation.

He read for a long while, they would laugh and talk to each other many times throughout the chapters. Of course Nadia was relaxed, she was confident in her protection, still she kept one eye open. It was on a particular point in the story when the topic of the main character's mother had come up, and something made Avery stop and hum. Nadia glanced at him with one eye, "You alright?"

"I… think so…" Avery muttered.

She nudged his arm gently. "Avery, you can speak to me. Did the story upset you?"

Avery was surprised by her attentiveness and intuition, and he sighed curiously. "I'm not upset… I do miss my mother."

Nadia licked his arm gently, garnering a small smile from the boy. "Nadia… Did you have parents?"

She shook her head slowly. "I was a wild pokemon. I was raised in the forest."

Avery nodded in understanding. "It's just that… Luna is…" Avery hummed unsurely and opened the book again. "Nevermind."

Nadia growled lightly and lowered the book from his hands with one of her paws. "Like I said, I'm listening, Avery. You can tell me I promise."

Avery sighed and nodded. "I was just thinking. Luna treats me like… her son. Doesn't she?"

Nadia laughed once. "Yes, there's a reason I called her your mother when we first met, pup. Does that bother you?"

Avery shook his head. "Well no, I mean…" he fidgeted in unsureness again until he was facing her more directly. "I've known her my whole life. I guess I never really thought about it, but she takes care of me like my mother used to."

"Well…" Nadia started, looking up at him with a tilted head. "Do you want her to be your mother?"

Avery blushed and looked down at the grass. "Would she even want that?"

Nadia nearly rolled her eyes as she nuzzled his head upwards. "Well that's the silliest question I've heard yet. She loves you like no other Avery, it's quite obvious she'd be happy no matter what."

"You're right." Avery started, rubbing that back of his head. "I guess that just makes me the hesitant one."

"Nobody would blame you for that either, Avery. You deserve time to mourn your parents, you don't have to immediately accept a new one." Nadia reassured him.

Avery shook his head. "Knowing my mother, she would want me to move on. It's been almost a year." Avery sighed and patted his face on both sides. "Thanks Nadia. I'll think about it more, but I'm a lot less confused now."

She lowered her head again. "Any time, little bro."

"Huh?" Avery said, raising an eyebrow. She covered her muzzle as she giggled.

Suddenly she bumped his side, and guided his head to look up. A maid was coming their way with a tray in her arms. Nadia pulled her into the connection as she got close. "Master Avery, we thought you might like lunch, so we brought you something to eat."

"Master?" Avery laughed. "I don't like that. Just call me Avery please, what's your name?"

The Heliolisk maid smiled widely as she placed the tray down. "My name is Lanni. It's nice to meet you Avery."

Avery nodded with a smile as he looked down at the tray. Two plates with a sandwich each, some fruit, and a glass of what looked to be lemonade. "Thank you for lunch. It looks great."

"Of course!" She said before bowing, and turning to leave. "Oh, and your mother wants you inside in an hour. Master Ares has arranged a meeting involving you." She added before leaving.

Avery nodded and turned to Nadia as they began to eat. "Do you have any idea who Ares wants me to meet?"

She shook her head. "Not a clue."

Luna was a little bit exhausted, after doing the most important paperwork. She had also done a few segments for news channels, and even a video interview with another station. Keeping public appearances were hard, especially restraining herself as she continued to berate the human hating groups subtly. On more than one occasion she had Sarai check on what her boy was doing, and finding out he was spending most of his day in the gardens calmed her. She knew she didn't want to be too overbearing, but she didn't know how else to handle her worry.

Leaving her office for the day, she met up with Ares in the main hallway. "Oh, hi honey." Ares said with a smile.

She smiled back and went for a hug as she rested her head on his chest. Ares laughed. "That much, huh?"

"Yep." she answered simply. She pulled back to raise a brow at him. "And now you have someone else coming over. Could it not have waited?"

Ares hummed. "It could have waited. I don't think you want it to wait, however."

She was about to question him right then, but the doorbell rang and he jogged over to greet whoever was coming. Just then Luna turned as she heard pawsteps, and noticed Avery and Nadia returning. "How was the garden sweetie?" Luna asked nicely as she gently fixed his clothing to be more presentable.

He laughed. "It's beautiful. Great place to read."

She ruffled his hair and pulled him towards her. "My smart little hatchling." she teased.

Avery laughed but didn't make a single attempt to get away. "Yeah yeah, I try."

Ares began approaching with another pokemon. It was an Alakazam and he was wearing a long white lab coat. He looked rather friendly and waved as Ares gestured to him. "This is Doctor Lucas. He's an Otolaryngologist, which is just a fancy way of saying he's an expert on how ears work." The Alakazam bowed.

This surprised almost everyone in the room as Avery looked at Ares curiously. "What's he here to do?"

Ares smirked. "Take a guess."

"I already had my ears checked and everything though." Avery said with confusion.

Lucas stepped forward. "Not to be pretentious but I am one of the very best in the field, and really it never hurts to get a second opinion."

Luna looked unsure, but hopeful as she looked down at me and rested a hand on my back. I nodded after a moment. "Well, what could go wrong?"

After setting up all of his equipment, which he basically materialized out of thin air which surprised Avery. He was sitting in a typical doctor's work bed, but attached to it were many contraptions he didn't understand. Luna held his hand as the doctor began his procedures, asking him how he lost hearing, what happened immediately afterwards, and what other doctors had done with his ears. The Alakazam was not just using the instruments, but probing around in one of his ears with some sort of psychic energy.

After a long while and many tests, he backed up and looked at them. "Well, they weren't wrong. Your ears are definitely unusable in their current state."

Avery frowned. "It was worth a shot… Thanks anyway-"

Lucas interrupted him. "In their current state, I said. Now, I'm not promising to get you back your original hearing, but there is a procedure that might allow you to hear again."

"Really?" Avery asked in awe.

Luna also looked up in surprise and hope. "Can you really do that?"

He nodded. "There is a thing called Cochlear Implants. Humans used to perform surgery to plant a device in the ear that could replicate sounds."

"Surgery?" Avery asked with a bit of worry.

Lucas laughed. "Don't worry. Pokemon have recently developed a new device, much easier to implant, that works much better than the old human ones. We've only done this procedure on two subjects so far, but both have nearly returned to regular hearing."

Avery didn't know how to process that information. He would be able to hear again? And it worked better than any other procedure that humans had developed? It was like his dream was coming true. "That sounds great!"

Lucas nodded. "I thought you might change your tune."

Luna hummed nervously. "It's such a new procedure. Won't it put him at risk? What if something goes wrong?" she expressed her motherly worry as she looked unsure.

Lucas shook his head. "The device is implanted psychically. If anything it's safer than the human's procedure for doing it." Luna nodded with a bit of relief.

Ares stepped forward. "So when would you be able to do this?"

Lucas looked at his papers again, then back up to them with a smile. "Well I have to make sure we make the implant correctly, so it'll be a few days. So in a few days time you could be hearing with your own ears again." He told the little boy. Avery was ecstatic with that information, and if Luna's embrace was enough to go off of, she was too.

Avery sighed. "I'll be glad to be back to talking normally. These psychic connections are super tiring." they all laughed in agreement with the boy as Lucas packed up.

He gave them an estimate and said farewell as he left the door. Ares closed it behind him and turned to them only to be hit by Avery running full force into him with a hug. "Thank you!" he said with tears.

Ares smiled and got on his knees, giving the boy a full hug. "Of course Avery." Luna's heart warmed as she watched the two bond, and when Ares looked up at her curiously she gestured for him to continue. Ares huffed a laugh and playfully rolled his eyes. Nadia couldn't help but giggle as well.

"This is the nicest thing someone's done for me…" Avery continued through his tears as he held onto him.

Ares sighed and picked the boy up as he stood, holding him gently to his chest. "It might sound weird Avery, but I care for you just as much as Luna does." He reassured him with a small blush on his face. "I wouldn't feel right leaving you deaf when I knew I could do something about it." Luna came over and joined in on the hug, giving Ares a kiss. Then she gestured for Nadia to come over as well. Nadia was hesitant at first but obliged, soon the four of them were hugging in a long embrace.

Avery muttered suddenly. "Also I don't know if it's physically possible to care more than Luna does Ares. Sorry."

They all laughed, and Ares shook his head. "No, you're probably right, lad."

It was later that night and Luna was taking Avery to bed. She knew he could walk, but the boy had passed out not long after dinner, and she wasn't getting rid of this chance to carry him. She smiled at the boy in her arms, remembering what his previous mother told her, then gripping him tighter.

Nadia had gone to her own room. And Luna gently pushed his door open and brought him to his bed, where she pulled the covers back and placed him. She was just about to leave as she smiled at him, but she heard him stir and he gently opened his eyes to look at her. "Lulu?"

"Yes dear?" She asked, sitting on the edge of his bed with one paw on his arm.

He seemed to blush as he averted his eyes. "I was thinking earlier, talking to Nadia…" he seemed quite unsure of himself, and Luna stroked his arm gently. "You've been so nice and caring to me since you found me."

Luna, thinking that was all, only smiled and leaned down to kiss his cheek. "I love you Avery." she reassured him with a motherly tone.

"I know…" Avery muttered nervously. "That's why I was wondering, if you… if you think of me like your son?"

Luna's eyes widened as she looked down at the embarrassed and wide-eyed boy. Her heart melted at this, but she kept her composure as she hummed. "Your mother asked me to take the very best care of you that I could. And I fully intend on keeping that promise. If it makes you uncomfortable I'm sorry Avery." She began apologizing sincerely.

"N-No!" He said suddenly, causing her surprise as she tilted her head. "I-I mean. I wasn't saying that." She watched many emotions pass through the boy's face, waiting for him to say what was on his mind.

Suddenly he closed his eyes and some tears came out with a whimper, Luna's heart ached. "Avery-" she began.

"Is it okay… If I want to call you momma?" he asked almost with a scared voice.

Luna's mind froze for a moment, wondering if he had actually asked that or not. She stared at the boy for a while, and he grew uncomfortable as he slowly opened his eyes. He sighed, "It was a stupid question Luna, I'm sorry."

She didn't know what to say, she was happy. Slowly she leaned down, removing his hands from his face. She nuzzled him and then brought him into an embrace with him sitting on her lap. Gently she shushed him as he cried, "Avery sweetie. Do you really want that?"

He slowly nodded, too embarrassed to keep eye contact, "But i-it's okay if you don't like that…"

"Avery I would be so happy if you were to call me your momma. I just don't want you to do it because of me pressuring you… Would you be okay with that? You just lost your mother and I'm not trying to replace her." she asked worriedly.

Avery shook his head and buried his face in her chest. "I don't want to replace her. But I still want a momma."

Luna's heart ached but at the same time it fluttered with excitement and love. She kissed his head and began rocking back and forth. "Momma's got you." she said quietly. "I won't ever replace her. But I will be your momma in her stead as long as you want me to." she said resolutely.

Avery smiled and held her tighter. "I love you Momma."

She nuzzled his nose with a giggle. "I love you too, my little hatchling!" she said joyfully as she lowered him back down into the bed. She tucked him in again and gave him one last kiss on the cheek. She pulled back, "If you need momma, I'll always be at the end of the hall. And Nadia is across the way, okay? You don't have to suffer and cry alone. Promise me you won't."

He nodded and yawned. "I won't, I promise Momma."

She slowly stood up. "That's my good boy. Sweet dreams little one."

He was almost instantly out as she walked to the doorway, she couldn't take her eyes off the little bundle of joy she brought home. She had to conceal herself from squealing in delight as she finally thought to herself. Exiting the room she asked, "Ares what just happened?" as she made her way to the bedroom.

She swears she heard him laugh. "The cutest interaction I've ever heard is what." he paused for a moment as she giggled. "Congratulations Momma. Welcome to parenthood." Ares said smugly.

"Feels amazing." she started. "Maybe he'll call you daddy next?" She teased.

"That would require us to marry, dear." He teased her.

Luna hummed curiously. "I'm waiting for you to stop being lazy and man up." She teased right back. The lack of a response let her know that Ares was most likely blushing like a madman, and she giggled.

.

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END