Author notes:
1)English is my second language. Forgive me for any mistake.
2)I don't own Pokemon, obviously.
3)I only own the plot for this story and the eventual OCs
4)Pokemon's speeches are "Like this"
Later that day, Jack asked Alfred what was that fanny pack Misaka now had. The butler explained him that he bought that to the ampharos because the small pokemon seemed to have liked it.
The man said he was surprised by how much the pokemon was thankful for it. He also said that he placed some change inside of the waist bag for the electric type spend with candies or something like it.
The boy thanked the man for his kindness.
Days passed by and one day, on Friday, when Jack was having breakfast with John, Jennifer and Justin. There was an awkward silence in the room.
John Grandfist was very upset during the breakfast that morning.
Jack noticed that his father had a concerned expression in his face and dared to ask what was wrong.
The man sighed and replied: "It's just that it has been an awful long time since Pete left to get his first badge. The Violet city was a bit far from there, but he should have been home by now!"
Jennifer added: "I knew that we should have made him go by car…But apparently, you can't be a 'pokemon master' is you travel by car. As if having a small shortcut makes any difference. Plus he said he would come here to show us his first bade." She finished the sentence scoffing a little.
'And my baby didn't even call me…' she added in her mind.
Justin just remained quiet as he heard his parents complaining. He wasn't sure himself if he wanted to be a pokemon master or champion or something like that. He had his pokemon, sure, but he didn't want to walk around the entire country for this, especially since he knew there was many stronger trainers out there.
Jack fidget with his food for a while. During his time in the house, he mostly interacted with Alfred, then with John and Jennifer and hardly with Justin. Not that the boy actually tried to pull a conversation with his brother. He just didn't know what to say.
Most of the interaction between them consisted of "hi", "good morning/afternoon/evening" and "bye". He didn't know if the two teens had anything in common. And he honestly feared his relationship with his other brother, who he didn't meet up until that point, would be pretty much the same.
Jack never liked this whole 'pokemon battle thing'. And Pete seemed to enjoy it, like most of the world population. Jack, however, was somewhat used dealing with pokemon battle lovers. He would simply politely deny and walk away.
Jack then tried to calm down his parents: "Violet city is near of like…two other cities with gyms as well, right? Maybe he decided to get their badges before returning home and make a surprise."
The man scratched is chin for a while. He had forgotten about that. "I guess you're right."
The man then paused and chuckled "Yeah. Maybe he wants to show us how strong his team is by showing three or four badges in a row."
Jack smiled a bit for raising his father's mood a bit.
They finished their breakfast and then started to get dressed for work and school.
Before leaving Jack remembered something he was intending to ask his father about since a couple of days before.
"Hey, Mr. John, I've been thinking. Can I build a shelter for my pokemon at the backyard? It' because I want them to be protected from rain and the wind at night. Don't worry about the materials. I can talk with mister Jack and he can get some wood and nails from a friend of his." He finished saying it a bit nervous.
The older man stopped and stayed silent for a few minutes. He then smiled and said: "I guess you can. Maybe we can build it together after school. Also, don't worry about the materials. Just come home straight from school and leave the materials for me to get."
The boy smiled because he got the permission and because he would spend some more time with his father. He couldn't wait until school was over.
Jack thanked the man, who patted the boy gently on the back and told him it was no big deal.
Then the boy went to the backyard and said bye to his friends then his family and finally went to school.
During lunch break, Jack and Mary bought sandwiches in the cafeteria and then moved to sit together. The boy then told her: "Hey, Mary, I have some news for you. I'm going to build a shelter for my pokemon at my house."
The girl then replied: "Really? That's really cool! When are you going to build it?" when she finished saying it she took a bite on her sandwich.
The boy smiled said: "I'm going to build it today. Mr. John is even going to help me!"
Mary smiled happy that her friend was getting along well with his adoptive father and said: "Do you need any materials? I think that dad can get some for you." Taking another bite on her sandwich.
The boy then shook his head and said: "Thanks, but Mr. John is already providing that."
Then the boy paused for a while and blushed a little as he asked: "Would you… like to help me?"
The girls giggled and replied: "Sure! I'll talk to dad. I think he would like to help you as well! We can go there after school."
The boy grinned and said: "That would be great!"
Mary smiled back and said: "Now I think we should finish eating before the bell rings, right? You didn't even started your lunch, silly!"
The boy blushed and started to eat his lunch to Mary's amusement. She giggled and told him to slow down, because it was unhealthy to eat so fast.
When school was over, Jack returned home and was greeted by Alfred, who was cleaning the house a little bit.
Jack then asked the man: "Hey, Mr. Alfred, is dad going to take long until he arrives?"
Alfred sighed and then told the boy: "I'm sorry, Master Jack, but Master Grandfist called here a couple of hours ago saying that a business partner just called him and he would have to attend the matter and sadly couldn't come here to help you. He said he was very sorry, but he at least managed to get the materials for the shelter to be delivered here. The materials are at the backyard. Your pokemon are there as well waiting for us to start."
The boy was a little taken aback by the butler's offer to help. But the boy couldn't let him help given the man's age and the fact that he seemed to be busy as well.
"Thanks, Mr. Alfred, but I think Hiro and the others can be enough help." The boy said.
The butler insisted to help as well. They eventually gave in, but he told the older man to not push himself too hard.
Alfred laughed and said: "I'm not that old, boy. You don't have to worry about me."
Jack got a little nervous because of what he implied to the man and quickly tried to change subject by telling him that Mary, and possibly her father as well, would be coming over to help him a little.
Alfred then said: "Alright. I'll have something for us all to eat while we work here."
Jack then smiled at said: "Okay."
The boy then proceed to go to the backyard where his pokemon where.
Hiro, Misaka, Touma and Fiona knew that Jack wanted to build them a shelter. They thought it was a good idea. There wasn't much space for them to go in case of rain. The creatures were sure surprised, however, by the amount of material that was carefully placed in the backyard.
The ponyta carefully sniffed the wood and she found the smell to be…interesting for her. It had a faint familiar aroma she liked.
Hiro noticed the ponyta's interest in the wood and wondered why. Too bad the fire type was still an infant, so he couldn't directly ask her. But he decided to check if the wood's smell by himself and after a few sniffs, he discovered why the ponyta enjoyed it.
It smelled like the farm they had visited. It sure smelled nice and he could see why it caught the ponyta's interest.
Touma, meanwhile was checking everything they had brought. "Let's see… hammers, nails, wood, paint…Is something missing? Will this enough? I'm no engineer[1]."
The small ampharos then replied shrugging a bit: "I guess this is more than enough."
She doubted she could lift one of those wood planks. At the best scenario, she would just drag then over to one place to another.
Then, when Jack arrived, the pokemon greeted him as usual. He asked how each one of them was doing and then he saw the big pile of material. The boy was disappointed that his father wouldn't be able to join him.
It wasn't because of the help itself. He was looking forward talking a little more with the man while doing something together.
The nidorino noticed the distant look the boy had then moved next to Jack and gently rubbed his face on the boy's leg and asked: "Are you alright, Jack?"
Jack knew that the pokemon were worried and not just the poison type. He then smiled and said: "Don't worry, guys. I just spaced out. By the way, Mary and her dad are coming here to help us."
That hadn't assured the pokemon all that much, but at least made the boy think of something else. But the second news really caught their attention.
"Really? That's neat!" Hiro said.
The others were happy as well. Fiona remembered this 'Mary' person and the fire type would be glad to see her again.
They then waited for about fifteen minutes until Mary and her father arrived. When the boy heard the doorbell he quickly went inside of the house, being followed by his pokemon.
'An opening!' Touma thought as he used Jack's distraction and quickly teleported to the boy's shoulders, using them as a chair. The boy turned his head and saw the abra grinning.
The boy then decided to go along with the psychic type's idea and took him along as they went to the front door of the house.
The butler opened the door to reveal Mary and Jake. The man had brought some of his own tools to assist in the task.
Jack greeted both of them and introduced Alfred to Jake. The two men shook their hands while Mary greeted the pokemon.
Jake then smiled at the pokemon and said: "Hello, Hiro, Touma and Misaka. You are all looking good!"
Then he turned to the ponyta who slowly approached him gently sniffing him. He had a scent that was similar to Mary's and this made the horse-like pokemon to be eager to trust the man.
Jake was going to pet the ponyta when Jack quickly said: "Mr. Jake, it's better if you pet her a bit away from her fire. She can't control it that well yet."
The man nodded and petted the ponyta's muzzle and neck. Fiona neighed in delight as response.
"Come Mary. I'll show you where we are going to build the shelter." Jack said excitedly.
Then the two young teens rushed to the backyard for the men amusement.
Jake then turned to the butler and asked: "How's Jack doing?"
Alfred then smiled and said: "He's adjusting well. He and Mr. and Mrs. Grandfist are getting along with him. Too bad they're very busy people, thou."
Jake smiled and said: "I just want the boy to have a happy family."
The butler smiled back at the man and then guided him to the backyard.
The boy already had chosen a good place for their shelter in case John allowed him to build. It had to be big enough to fit all his pokemon even if they were fully evolved, but not big enough to stand out like an eyesore.
Jack didn't want to abuse of the kindness his adoptive family was giving him after all.
The boy had learned how to repair some of the facilities for the pokemon back in the orphanage. He never build one, so he was glad that Jake was there to help. The boy wanted this opportunity learn a bit more.
Jake then said: "We should start with the base. Let's bring some of the material here so we can start."
The boy pointed a spacious empty space at the backyard and told his friends: "Hiro and Fiona bring the bucket of nails, Misaka you bring the hammers and screwdrivers and Touma, can you bring some of the other wooden planks?"
"Aye, aye, captain!" Touma said playfully while giving a salute. Then the abra went to the pile of wood, grabbed one and teleported himself along with the wood to the place where Jack wanted it.
The psychic type could teleport objects along with him. It was a bit extra tiring for him, thou.
Meanwhile the nidorino told Fiona to hold the bucket by its handle with the mouth and take it to Jack.
As for Misaka she said: "Hey, I can carry some of these wood planks as well, you know!" She then tried to lift one and she almost lost balance and it fell on the ground afterwards.
The abra snickered and said: "Way to go. You need to do some workout. Better start with some feathers, you sdon't want to sprain anything, don't you?"
The ampharos then glared daggers to the psychic type and replied: "What you talking about? You can only carry the wood because you can teleport!"
Touma smiled and replied: "So? At least I can move it."
"You…you…idiot!" She said angrily.
"Best comeback of the year!" Touma replied jokingly.
Misaka then clenched her fists and thought: 'If we didn't need your help, I would totally paraylize you!'
Misaka then decided ignore the abra and she thought it would be better to just bring one tool at a time since some, like the hammers were quite heavy for her.
The butler told them: "I'll be right back. I'll prepare something for us." Then he left back inside of the home.
Jake instructed Jack, Mary and the pokemon how to proceed to begin with the base.
When they got some of the material together, the humans started by fixing the floor of the shelter. Jack showed his pokemon how to use the hammer and the screwdriver. Since Touma had a better dexterity, he handled the screw driver and Hiro, who had a quite strong mouth, handled the hammer. Misaka helped Hiro by adjusting the nails in position for the poison type. And as For Fiona, she was bringing them some more nails and tools when they needed them.
Once when they were done with the floor, it was time to get the walls done. But Mary had a question to her father: "Don't you think the floor is a bit too big, dad?"
Jake then said: "It's because I thought it would be good if each of your pokemon had their own individual room. What do you think, Jack?"
The boy liked this idea and the pokemon also liked it as well.
Then they continued building the wall and after they successfully made a strong enough one it was time to raise it and join with the base of the shelter.
The abra then got a little bit tired and teleported himself to his most comfortable position. Right over Jack's shoulders.
The boy was taken by surprise by that, but he just laughed and asked the abra to bring him the hammer again.
But before the psychic type could react, Fiona showed up holding the hammer with her mouth and giving it to Jack. The both thanked her and that earned a happy neigh form her.
For Jack's surprise, the wall was somewhat heavy and it needed him and Mary to support the wall from the inner side, while Jake and Hiro on the other side to make sure it was perfectly still.
The only free pokemon left to use the hammer and the big nails to properly attach the wall was Misaka and Jack knew she wasn't all that strong to do it all by himself, plus it would make things take a longer than he expected. He was about to go call Alfred, when he heard Misaka saying something on the other side.
Hiro looked at her and asked what she was planning. The ampharos happily picked one of the nails, aimed properly and them she threw the nail.
Jack and Mary felt a something hitting the base of the structure quite strongly. Jack was confused of what was going on and he couldn't see anything that was happening on the other side.
Touma had to whistle when he saw that Misaka throwing the nails[2].
Jake looked at the nails at the bottom of the wall and saw that they were sparking a little bit. 'She must have charged them with electricity to add power' The man thought.
"That is amazing, Misaka!" Hiro said surprised that his friend could do something like that.
Misaka grinned and said: "It's something I wanted to try out since I can't use use the hammer properly."
She then proceeded to shove several nails deep into the wood, making the structure stable.
"What's going on there?" Mary asked confused.
Jake then replied: "The ampharos is throwing the nails into the wood. Just hold tight until it's complete"
Then, when Misaka finished throwing the nails. Jake checked for the wall stability and told the others to let go of it. He was glad the wood they got was a very sturdy one.
The man then said semi-joking: "I've never seen a pokemon use nails like that. You should consider a career at construction sites!"
Misaka blushed with the compliments of her friends.
This also made Jack think they might finish this sooner than he initially expected and told his friends to continue with the work.
Jack then noticed the abra had turned his hair into some kind of pillow for his head. He then asked. "Are you that comfortable there?" The boy asked.
The abra gave a short laugh, moved his arms lazily a little and replied: "Kinda. I always liked being here."
Noticing the abra's laugh and gesture over his head, the boy smiled d said: "I'm glad you like it there, but I need your help, Touma. Please bring some more wood over here."
The psychic type looked at the wood across the backyard and had an idea. He had thought about it before and finally decided to give it a shot.
Touma rose his right arm towards the pile of wood and focused. Soon, three planks of wood teleported by Jack's side.
This took everyone by surprise. Teleporting himself with objects was one thing, but teleporting other things without having to move along was another. That was the first time any of them saw a psychic type use teleport like that.
"Wow, Jack, your pokemon are really amazing!" Mary said surprised by the abra's stunt.
"Wow! I wonder the stuff you can do when you evolve, Touma" Misaka said amused as well.
The psychic type shrugged a bit and replied: "I dunno. I like being this way. I don't really want to evolve, you know."
Alfred then came by with some sandwiches, water, juice, pokemon food and a few towels for them.
The butler then gave thee towels, one for each human. They, were also surprised when they saw Fionae quickly grabbing one towel from the man with her mouth and giving them to Hiro and then another one for Misaka.
The two pokemon thanked their friend for them. As for Touma, he was just laying his head over Jack's head and yawning a bit lazily. He wasn't sweaty like his other friends, but he wasn't going to stop helping them providing material either.
After that, they proceed to continue building the shelter. It took a few hours, but they finished building the outer area of the shelter. Jake made sure the shelter was large enough to have divisions inside of it. One for each pokemon, Jack and some extra space in case Jack managed to get some other pokemon.
It didn't have a door yet, but there was enough spare word to do a movable door as long as they had some extra tools to attach it to the entrance. All that it was left for them to do was pain it the outside part of it.
The boy then told his pokemon he would pick the outside color of the shelter, and they could pick the colors of each of their rooms.
The pokemon agreed with the boy's suggestion and each one started to think of a color they would like to decorate their room with.
Jack then picked a blue ink and asked Alfred, Jake and Mary to help him.
Then the four humans proceed to paint the shelter. However, his pokemon didn't like the idea of handing all the last work to the two humans, but they couldn't help much in this part given the fact that they can't reach the top of the shelter to properly paint it. Plus, Jack said it would be bad for them in case they swallowed paint. Misaka and Touma's arms weren't long enough and Hiro and Fiona would have to hold the paint brush with their mouths.
Soon the entire shelter was done and it was quite beautiful.
"When we decorate it inside, it'll be perfect!" Misaka said with her eyes glowing with their new home.
"True. This was a fantastic job, everyone." Hiro added.
Jack was drenched in sweat by that point. The pokemon were also a bit sweaty and tired as well.
Jake looked at his clock and he saw that it was already 6:30 pm. He apologized to Jack, but he had to take Mary home now for dinner. But the man also said that he would come back to help fix the door on the next day. "I have the measurements of the door, so don't worry about it. Plus we need to finish the inside as well. I've planned to make individual rooms for your pokemon and yourself, Jack, in case you want to spend the night there." He finished saying.
Mary then said: "Time really flies! This was really fun. I'll be back tomorrow with dad too."
Jack thanked all of them for their helped and then walked along with them to the front door, where they said their byes once more.
The butler then told the boy that he should go clean himself and the pokemon while he cleaned some of the mess there. The boy wanted to protest, but he had to admit he was tired by this point. "Will this be too much trouble for you?" The boy asked hesitantly.
The man smiled and then said: "Not at all. I'll just organize the rest of the material for tomorrow. Plus you deserve some rest."
The boy thanked him and then guided his pokemon for the deserved bath. That is except Fiona, who had the be cleaned with a humid tissue and then carefully brushed. Fire types need water to survive just like any other living being in their world, but they couldn't stand being showered like humans or other pokemon types do.
"I can't wait to who this to Mr. John." The boy said proudly as he guided his friends inside of the house.
Hours passed by and neither John or Jennifer got back home. Justin got home at 9 pm, said good night to Jack and Alfred and went to his room to sleep.
Hiro, Misaka, Touma and Fiona went to sleep a little early that day because of their tiredness.
Jack had finished his homework and was beginning to be worried about his parents until he heard their house phone ring. Alfred picked it up and talked with the person who had called.
The boy decided to overhear the conversation.
"Hello, This is the Grandfist residence. Who am I speaking with?" the man said.
…
"Oh. Good evening, Mr. Grandfist. Everything here is doing alright. Will you be arriving home late again?"
…
"I see…I'll give the boys the news."
…
"Have a nice stay, Mr. Grandfist." Alfred said before hanging up the phone.
"So Mr. John be late today?" The boy asked a bit nervous.
The butler shook his head. "As you know, Master Jack, Mr. Grandfist is the Mayor of this town, so he had to leave to ask for the collaboration to some business men to support his re-election in two years. Plus, he's also a business man himself. Sadly, that's a common case in this household. He and his wife sometimes have to spend a whole weekend outside of the town dealing with business and/or political matters."
This news made the boy sadden a little bit. The man noticed the change of the boy's expression and assured him: "Don't worry too much, Jack. They'll be back by Sunday night and you can show them our little project on Monday morning. I bet it'll be a big surprise for them."
"Yeah…" The boy said softly. It wasn't like he didn't understand. But that didn't mean he liked it. He was looking forward building the shelter along with his father and friends. He wanted everyone to get along and have fun.
The butler knew that the boy was looking forward bonding with John, but it couldn't be helped. He felt sorry for the boy, but tried to take his mind out of it. "John, how about you go get some sleep. Today has a been a tiring day and your friends well come back tomorrow, won't they. They'll get here early and you'll need the energy."
The boy just nodded and went to his room to sleep.
Alfred decided he at least could try cheer him up on the following day.
On the next day, Jack and Justin had breakfast alone and in silence. Jack tried to bring a conversation up with the older boy: "So…what are you doing after breakfast?"
Justin looked at him and said: "I'm going to hang out with my friends. I think I'll only come back at night. Gotta enjoy while you're still young, right?"
"I guess…"the boy replied uncertain.
Once the older boy finished his meal, he left the house.
Jack just sat there alone for a while until Alfred came by to give him some company.
The man sat on a chair next to the boy and said: "Master Justin has always been like that. He always liked hanging out with his friends and barely stays at home. Even his parents wanted him to spend more time at home"
Jack looked at his empty plate and replied: "I see."
Alfred's expression saddened a little bit. He then told Jack: "By the way, I already gave your pokemon their breakfast. They woke up about twenty minutes ago. I guess they were really tired."
Jack then turned and replied: "I guess so. I also fell asleep as soon as I hit the bed. I guess I'll go play with them until Mary and Mr. Jake arrive."
The butler smiled to him and said: "That sounds like a plan."
The boy smiled back and went to the backyard. The sun was shining brightly at the sky and there wasn't many clouds on the sky, which was a good thing since it helped to dry the paint better, The whole thing could be delayed by a lot if it started raining.
The pokemon were finishing their food and water when Jack arrived.
"Good morning, everyone!" Jack greeted them.
The pokemon then moved next to Jack to wish him good morning as well. The boy petted each one of them in their favorite spot. Hiro was behind his ears, Fiona was below her muzzle, Touma and Misaka were on the top of their heads.
The abra then grinned and told his electric type friend: "Hey, Jack did you know that Misaka snored last night?"
The ampharos got annoyed and replied: "I totally did not!"
Hiro cleared his throat and said: "Uh, Misaka…Touma is kinda right on this one. I woke up in the middle of the night and did hear you snoring a little bit. But there's nothing wrong with it. You were just very tired. I bet I snored too while I was asleep and you guys didn't hear it"
Misaka blushed harder and said: "I. . Snore."
Seeing this conversation, Jack managed to assume what was going on and told the abra: "Touma, I already told you it's not very nice to tease Misaka that much."
Misaka hugged the boy and thanked him for his support.
The abra crossed his arms and said: "Come on. I was just playing with her."
Misaka then told him: "You shouldn't tease a lady!"
Touma then said: "I'm not teasing Fiona and Mary isn't here yet. So your point mute."
Misaka then got a little angry and said: "I'm going to paralyze you!"
Seeing a few electric sparks coming out of Misaka, Jack frowned and said: "I told you two to quit it. You're friends. Why are you acting this way?"
Hiro sighed and told them: "Really? Fiona is younger than the two of you and she's more mature than you two."
The abra grinned and replied: "Wait until she learns how to talk." But then he saw Jack's serious expression and said: "Fine, I'll stop. For today, that is."
Misaka frowned and before she could reply, Touma said: "Oh, come on. You know I don't mean the stuff I tell you. Don't be so uptight. Friends tease each other. I remember that you teased me about the unholy abomination every nurse carries around."
Seeing how they seemed to stop arguing Jack then said: "Okay, now the two of you hug each other to apologize"
Touma and Misaka's heads turned to him and said in unison: "What?"
The boy then pressed them: "You are friends, so hug each other to show you're sorry."
The two pokeon tried to resist, but the boy insited on it. The electric and psychic pokemon gave up and gave each other a quick hug. When they released they saw Jack laughing a little bit along with Hiro.
"When is the wedding?" The nidorino asked smiling.
"Et Tu, Hiro[3]?" Touma said pretending to be shocked.
Then the pokemon laughed together calming down the mood they had. The boy watched with a smile. He could understand and interpret some of their gestures, voice tones, but he wished he could fully understand everything they said.
They decided to wait together until Mary and Jake arrived.
When it was around 9 a.m., the doorbell rang. Jack and the pokemon rushed to the front door and got there before Alfred could. When they opened it they greeted Mary and Jake.
The man was holding a big wooden door under his left arm and a bucketed with some tools and joints for it.
Mary and Jake greeted the other two humans and the pokemon as well. The four creatures were glad to see them once more and hoped they could stay in for the whole day.
The butler then offered the girl and her father: "Did you have breakfast? I could make a snack for you."
The man then politely said: "Thanks, but we just had breakfast."
Jack then asked Mary: "Is your mother coming too?"
The girl then replied: "No. She's kinda busy this weekend. She has a lot of work to do finishing her novel. The editors are pressing her to finish it quickly, so she's thankful for the alone time for focus."
Jack scratched the back of his head and said: "I see…"
Mary's mother, Samantha, was a writer and she wrote a few novels, which vary from adventure, fantasy to romance. Jack had enjoyed a few books of hers.
They then decided to go to the backyard to finished their project. Jake the placed the materials next to house and started to inspect it carefully. Checking for any loose wood, screw or nail.
Thankfully, there wasn't anything wrong with it. All the man said was "We did a really good job yesterday. Once we finish inside, we should also give a second hand painting outside to make the color stand out better and we need to do the same inside as well
Jake told them that it's not good to be inside of their new home in same day they painted it, they should wait one or two days before actually using that place to sleep because the smell of the paint might be nauseating for them.
The man then got inside of the house and started to make some measurements for each individual room he had planned. He already had a general idea of the size for each of the seven rooms, but he decided to take a few notes just to avoid mistakes.
Jake then instructed both humans and pokemon about the size of each wall they should build. "Well, since the door is somewhat small for the walls, I think that we should build the walls inside."
However, Hiro then remembered that it wasn't necessary. The nidorino poked the boy's leg with his front right leg and then pointed to the abra.
Jack's eyes went wide with the realization and asked: "Touma, can you teleport these walls inside of the house?"
The abra was thoughtful for a while and nodded confident he could do it.
The boy then turned to the man and grinned: "We can build it here. And Touma takes them inside."
Mary thought it was a nice plan. She then suggested to add some windows in the house to make it have some air blowing inside. In case of heat or just keep then closed when it was cold.
Jake then said he didn't have the materials for that at the moment, but they could be arranged later.
They then started to build the inner walls of the shelter. It was a nice cooperative effort from them. Misaka and Touma's powers were very handy in building the walls and taking them inside.
Jake made sure to give the proper size for each room when he placed each wall. He didn't want to be unfair with any pokemon, but the largest section had to be Jack's, because of the boy's size.
The man wondered if Fiona had the risk of setting the whole place on fire since Jack told him that she couldn't control her flames very well. He even asked the boy to be sure about the size of the ponyta's room.
But the boy told him: "Don't worry, Mr. Jake. Fiona's flames just hurt a little in contact, they don't really set things on fire by touching them. Ponyta and Rapidash's back flames don't do that unless they actually mean to harm someone or to defend themselves."
That bit of information was somewhat weird for the boy. He wondered how a flame could be hot, hurt by contact and yet not set things on fire. 'There must be some special propriety on them. Since they can prevent these flames from completely harming others' the boy thought
When they were all inside, Hiro, Mary, Jack and Alfred took care of making wall stay perfectly still for the man to properly join them to the shelter.
They told Misaka to not throw any nail or screw inside to prevent any kind of accident. Touma just assumed his default position of using Jack's shoulders as a chair and his head as a pillow, but he used his teleportation to bring in the walls when requested.
Mary giggled as she saw the pokemon using Jack as a bed. "Your head must be comfortable." She said with a smile, which made Jack blush a little.
Jake and Alfred just watched their interaction with a bit of amusement, but they decided not to but in.
After the walls were placed each area was well divided for the pokemon. Misaka wondered if she could place a small carpet in her room or something like it.
Touma was only interested in a big and fluffy bed and Hiro wondered if it would be possible for one of those wind bells he had seen in town before. He could try communicating with the boy to see if he could get one for him.
Mary then suggested: Misaka, Fiona, would you like to have mirrors? I think I have two at home.
Jack looked at his friend asked: "Why mirrors?"
Mary then said: "Pokemon or not, they're girls, silly."
Misaka loved Mary's suggestion and Fiona wondered what a mirror even was, but it seemed like it was a good thing since Misaka wanted one.
After they were finished there, Jake told them to get out of the shelter and told them to pick the color to decorate their rooms.
Alfred looked at his clock and he noticed it was approaching lunch hour and he had yet to fix it. He then excused himself in order to prepare the lunch. Thankfully he had prepared a lasagna and all it was left was to put it to cook while he prepared the vegetables and juice.
Jack then said it would be okay for them to pick any of the available colors they had there to paint it. Them the pokemon and Mary went over the several paint buckets to pick one.
The boy was about to join them, when Jake asked him to have a quick talk with him in private. The boy wondered what the man wanted as the man took Jack a bit farther from the others.
"Jack, how is it here? Are the Grandfist a good family for you?" The man asked seriously.
The reason why he asked that was because the Jake cared about Jack and wanted to make sure he was in a good family.
The boy fidget a little bit and then replied: "Well, they are good people and they make sure I'm comfortable. During some of my conversations with Mr. John, he wanted to encourage me to pick a good career for my future…"
The man knew that the boy was hiding something that's why he said: "But…"
Jack then confessed him: "It's just that sometimes I feel out of place, you know. They do a lot of good stuff for me and we talk, but we don't spend much time together. I get that they're busy with their jobs, but I wish we would talk more and spend time together. Also, my 'brother' Justin and I exchange pretty much the same 5 or 6 words every day. Sometimes I get the feeling he doesn't want me here."
The man paused as he reflected about what the boy had just told him.
The boy then continued: "I…can't even call them 'mom' and 'dad' yet…"
The man placed his hand over the boy's right shoulder in a fatherly way and told him: "Many kids go through this, Jack. This is nothing to be ashamed of. It has been just a few months since you were adopted. This kind of change can be hard, I know. I've seen it a lot."
The man gave a short pause and continued: "One thing that you need to be sure is that there are people who care about you, Jack. Mary, me, your pokemon, that butler and from what I heard it seems that your parents care about you too. Love, many times, grow with time. I bet that you'll warm up to them sooner than you imagine. Maybe you can arrange a family game night or something like it during their breaks."
The boy remained silent thoughtful, but Jake then added another thing: "But, Jack, no matter what, always keep one thing in mind: never change that. You are a good boy and never let anyone else tell you otherwise."
The boy smiled weakly and said: "Thanks, Mr. Jake. I needed that."
The man patted the boy on the shoulder and smiled.
Meanwhile, the pokemon were choosing the colors of their rooms carefully. Hiro wanted the blue color inside of his room as well, Touma wanted it red, Misaka liked the color orange and Fiona picked the green color.
They then came back carrying their respective ink bucket. Mary came back with them and she noticed that her dad and Jack were talking about something. She was curious to know exactly what was the subject of the talk, but she wasn't sure if it would be polite to flat out inquire either of them about it.
The man then picked the paint bucket and told the others: "I think it'll take the whole day and even tomorrow for us to finish all the stuff we need to do. For example, we can only do the second hand painting outside after we install the windows to not ruin the painting."
Jake then looked to the boy and asked him: "Is it okay for us to come back here tomorrow as well?"
The boy then smiled and told them: "It would be great."
Mary agreed wholeheartedly with this.
Then the butler came out of the house and suggested them: "How about a quick break? Also it would be fantastic if the two of you staid for lunch. You said so yourself your wife need some time alone to finish her novel, didn't you?"
Mary, Jack and the pokemon suddenly turned to Jake and started to give him puppy eyes.
The man raised his arms in defeat and said: "Okay. But I need to call Sam to tell her that we are going to have lunch outside. She probably even forgot to eat. She often does that when she's too focused writing."
Jack and Mary grinned with the news that they would hang out together for the whole day. The boy was very happy because that day gave him many cheerful memories.
End of chapter 12
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please review.
More author notes:
[1]I also don't know anything about building homes so I just took a wild guess here. If this scene was poorly written, I would appreciate if someone pointed me to the right direction to fix this scene if it needs. [2]In case you're wondering. Misaka was using the move Fling.
[3]From Latin: "Even you, Hiro?"