Today's Pokefact is that in an episode of the anime, Max, a little kid, is carrying Munchlax on his back, and it's at this moment I say, Munchlax weights 231.5 pounds/105 kilograms.
"What would you like for dinner, honey, since we won't be seeing you for a while?" Alice asks as I'm tapping away on my laptop, Alicia in my lap and Aria off playing with Violet somewhere.
"Nothing in particular, whatever's easiest for you," I answer while scrolling through a Pokemon training website. Violet really fucked up Alicia growth in psychic powers, and it's a good thing Alicia is only four months old, else we would really have a problem.
"Really? Nothing? Not even dessert for dinner?" Alica asks back teasingly.
"If that's on the menu, I'm all for it," I say back, barely paying attention.
"I swear, you and your mom sometimes, look lively!" Alice complains as she walks upstairs.
"I can kinda tell why you dislike Violet so much, she really caused problems for you," I say to Alicia as I close the laptop.
"Ralts," she sadly agrees.
"Anyway, the best course of action is to train you incrementally like you would have learned to use your psychic powers, let's get started outside," I say as Alicia jumps off my lap and walks to the door, me following closely. She walks really fast considering that she doesn't really have legs.
I'll be honest, I didn't receive the warmest welcome back home. I'm well aware that Milla is in no way happy at all with my decision and I understand why this is perfectly well. I just would have enjoyed a less passive aggressive greeting from someone who considers me their child. Not that Alice is much better. She's giving me the shaft in her own colder way, a hurtful remark here disguised as caring for me, and an irritating comment about my appearance there have been oh so common the past two days.
I didn't expect them to be proud or happy for me, and I know they're hoping I give up on this Pokemon Journey before college starts, but I'm starting to get badly tempted to yell at them and shame them for their behavior as if I were the parent and them the child. The only thing keeping my temper at bay is that I'll be gone tomorrow, and even that is starting to not work anymore.
Sadly enough, I need my parents for finances. If I want food or clothing, I need money, and while the Pokemon Leauge gives a certain amount of money for trainers depending on the number of Gym Badges you have, it is not enough to have a nearly decent living unless you have all eight badges, and at that point you'll probably be employed by the League.
"Ralts, Ralts!" Alicia says as she focuses, her tiny arms holding onto her head.
"It's alright, calm down. If you fail, you fail. We can try again after. Don't get yourself into a tizzy. It'll be fine," I say to calm down Alicia so she doesn't make herself pass out before I zone out again.
I barely pay attention as Alicia continues to try to move the flower I picked for her to practice with in our yard. I don't even notice the fact that hours have passed in the cesspool of deadness that is my mind or that the sun was starting to set, or even that I missed lunch.
I did this a lot in school, I would zone out and think about anything that came to mind before letting the next thing come and lead me off. I did this to the point were my teachers thought I was slow for about a month until they realized that I was actually just bored when it came to testing time and I got top scores.
"Alishia, your mom told me to get you for dinner," a feminine voice says.
I almost call the woman behind me Violet until it hits me that it's Milla, not Violet behind me. I wish it was Violet, though, as I enjoy being able to confide in the fact that she'll put up with me and not be sickeningly nice like a lot of other people. Honestly, I think I actually have a-
"Alishia?"
"Yeah, sorry, I heard you. Oh, you poor thing, I'm sorry I wasn't paying attention. You should get food and rest now," I say to Alicia as I pick her up while she looks like she's about to pass out. She lets out a small coo as I pet her head and walk past Milla.
"Honey?"
"Yes?" I say, not bothering to turn around.
"You've... Never been our child, have you?"
"What do you mean?" I say innocently while I turn around and try my best to give off the vibe of a young child.
She's always been a tad suspicious of me,
"...Nothing... Don't worry about it..." Milla says before she goes quiet. I shrug and walk away from her to the exit of the yard and open the fence gate before closing it after I walk through. I turn sharply right to face the door of my house before I open it and walk in, only to be met with a giant hug from Violet who was wearing a conservative white, long sleeve blouse.
"Hey! I got here earlier, but you looked like you were busy so I didn't want to interrupt you. Your mom made dinner by the way," Violet says kindly.
"Yeah, let me just get something for Alicia first. Do you have her Pokeball so she can sleep?" I ask as I walk with Violet past the kitchen to the stairs to my bedroom.
"Yeah, but she likes sleeping outside it better, oh, and here's some of her food. Do you want me to get something to cool her down?" Violet asks as she hands me a plastic bag stuffed with blocks of varying shades of pink inside it.
"Yeah, that would be great," I reply as we split off from each other, me going into my bedroom, and her the bathroom.
I kick the crud on the floor of my bedroom aside as I walk to my bed and sit Alicia down on it and sit next to her, before opening the bag of food and saying to Alicia, "I have a problem with spacing out. We probably should have stopped earlier, sorry about that."
"Ralts, ralts," Alicia says in a way that makes me think she means, "I know, just give me food, I'm hungry."
"Yeah, here you go," I say as I dump half of the bag's contents in from of Alicia, who, to my surprise, gulps down the whole thing in just a few seconds and looks at me before I give her the rest of the bag.
The speed that she eats it with kind of reminds me of a dog I had in my past life. When he was... I would say from when we got him to when he was a year old, he would just scarf down his food in ten seconds. He did a lot of things when he was younger that I missed when he got older. For instance, when he was a puppy, I would come downstairs for breakfast, I would hide under a blanket and he would jump on me-
"There you go," Violet says as she starts to wipe off Alicia with a cool cloth before Violet gives it to Alicia, who presses it to her face before she lies down on my pillow.
"Alishia, are you okay? You've been a bit... Well, off..."
I turn to at Violet before I reply, "Really? How?"
"Well, usually you would have no problem with your parent joking around, but you've been a bit... well, you have a completely different reaction than you would and you're kind of zoning out more," Violet says as she looks away from me.
"...I just feel like they're mocking me... Well, I feel like Alice is, I feel like Milla is trying to ignore me," I say, regretting it immediately.
"I'm sure they aren't! I bet Milla is just trying to give you space, and I'm sure that Alice really cares for you and isn't trying to offend you!" Violet says as she gives me a small hug.
"Yeah," I say, not really meaning it.
"... Alishia...?"
"Hm?"
"Not everyone is against you."
Not everyone is against me, hm? That's one idea I definitely had burned out of me in my past life. Why am I being fought? I only want what's best for the people, why do you not understand facts? This can fix everything you say you want to be fixed, balance the budget even.
Because you can't go against them.
Your parents will always be there for you, though.
"Anyway, dinner," I say as I get up with Violet while Alicia snuggles in my blankets on my pillow. It's also at this moment I realize she's wearing a black, what's basically the most mini of mini-skirts and thigh-high leggings that almost make me blush
We both walk downstairs to the dining room to be greeted by the sight of a dinner table covered with food and a tired Milla sitting at it while giving us a small, real smile. We both took a seat across from her, and Milla and Violet started to converse. Before long, Alice comes over with a pitcher of lemonade and a tray with cups. Milla gets up and takes the tray from Alice, who gives her a grateful smile, before distributing cups to all of us.
"Alishia, honey, I made a care package for you! I got you some clothes that are better suited for travel and a bag for holding things!" Alice says as she gives a small kiss to Milla before sitting down.
"Thank you," I say as I observe the food in front of me. I'm amazed that Alice coughed up money for fake meat. The only real meat in the world is from Pokemon, and while some may be okay with eating them, I SURE AS HELL AREN'T. Others, of course, think like this and people have made ways to recreate the taste of meat such as chicken, beef, and even crab with plants like soybean, but they cost ten times more than regular meat, which is already expensive.
Alice and Milla probably shelled out the same amount of money that a trainer earns while beating every single member of the Elite Four, which is to say 280 dollars, because right in front of me, there are plates Alice's delicious chicken that is baked and covered with butter and then with a sweet brown sauce, a couple burgers that we usually ate once every two years that were great as well, and my favorite, crab meat which could be covered in butter.
I'm trying so hard to not eat all of it in ten seconds...
"I can see you drooling, you know. You can start eating," Milla says jokingly.
"Yeah... I'm a gonna eat everything," I say as I grab all the food I can, the others at the table laughing.
"Goodbye, sweetie. I hope you have fun, any if you ever decide going on a journey isn't your thing, you always have college!" Milla says to me as she stands next to Alice, the both of them saying goodbye to meanwhile Violet stands next to me and Aria was floating around us.
"Yeah... I know, don't worry-"
"Oh, and make sure to call us at least once a week and that we pick up or we'll cut off your funding!" Alice cuts me off. Okay then...
"Okay, I will, Don't worr-"
"Oh, and I almost forgot! I'll get you leftovers from last night you can have for food!" Alice cuts me off again as she dashes inside the house.
"Ahah, it almost feels like a regular day. your mom is in her Pokemon Center outfit for work and I'm here crying over papers that have to be sent in tomorrow that aren't even half done, to the point where I almost regret becoming Chief of Staff. Yet my little girl is going out into the wilderness, maybe to never be seen again," Milla says teasingly, obviously stressed from work.
"Yeah... I guess so mom," I say, a little put off by Milla's chipper attitude so early in the morning since she would usually be a zombie. Suddenly, I see Milla's face contort for a few seconds before they go back to normal.
"Look... I'm sorry for..." Milla trails off.
"What?" I ask. She said I'm sorry, what the hell happened?
"..."
"Mom?" I ask, starting to get worried from her silence.
"..."
"Mom?"
"...I... ...I've never been the best parent, I know that..."she trails off, she voice shaking. Wait, what the hell is happening?
"I... I have a confession. I overheard you guys last night and... and some other times... I've been controlling my whole life, and I guess it hasn't escaped my child rearing either... sn," Milla says, the ending sounding like a sniffle. Why the hell is she breaking down? What did I do?!
"I... I have my reasons for why I don't want you to go on this journey, and I'll be honest, they're selfish and embarrassing, so I'll spare you from them, but... I just want you to be happy, and if this is what make you happy, then that's fine, just... What I want to say is... I'm sorry. There are points in life were I've been unreasonable... and pushy, and I feel awful that it's effecting you too, and, and," Milla whispers, her voice breaking as she looks away from us.
And it's at this moment I spot a wild Alice looking through the window.
"And I... I want you to know that I'll always be there for you and I'll never be gone. I'll always support you and... I just want to say I love you unconditionally, even if you aren't my child by birth, I love you," she says between voice cracks as she wipes what is probably tears from her face.
"It's okay, I know, mom!" I say with my best, "I'm a child so feel better!" voice and smile.
"You've never called me mom before today, you've never said it to your mom either... That's all," she says as she goes back to her regular attitude.
"I got you your food and some other things, here!" Alice says as she hands me a backpack the size of my torso to me, and it weights quite a bit too.
"Thanks!" I chirp as I give Alice a hug, which she happily returns.
"Anyway, I put a Xtranciver in the bag with our numbers in it, so never hesitate to call us if you need to!" Alice say as she lets go of me and pushes me to Violet, who has been silently observing the whole time with her characteristic small smile.
"Yeah, bye!" I say as I start to walk off with Violet before I stop, turn around, and hug Milla as well, who happily returns it, her eyes still mildly puffy from her break down.
"Goodbye, Alishia," Milla says as she lets go of me. And just like that, I say goodbye to two of the people who love me the most, Violet following me to the town edge with Aria floating behind us
"Here, you'll be better off with this than me," Violet says as she hands me a Pokeball and clips a bag to my belt while I'm still reflecting on the fact my mom just had a break down in front of me.
"Are you... giving me Alicia?" I ask as Violet hugs me.
"Yeah... She likes you far more than me, so it would be cruel for her to stay with me, and if you ever need more food for her, just call me at the Pokemon Center!" Violet says happily.
"Thank you... I don't know what to say," I say flabbergasted.
"Don't think about it too much. I'm not really a fan for goodbyes either, so, bye!" Violet says as she lets go of me and runs away.
How abrupt.
Now to the second gym.
Little do I know, the person who loves me the most in the world just ran away from me crying.
You've broken me down and I am left alone here to cry
Next chapter, the Nacrene City Gym!