TITUS
He could tell Otis was up before him for one reason, and one reason only;
The smell.
He could smell some kind of breakfast meat, and he could've sword he smelt fresh bread.
Careful not to wake his starter, but stopping to kiss her forehead, he throws a shirt on and heads downstairs.
"Hey T!" Otis gestures for him to head on outside, where Aunt Flo is sitting, enjoying her morning coffee as the sun rises over the trees.
He heads out, hugging his Aunt and sitting down.
"Ham and celery?" Otis calls from the kitchen.
He knew Titus' favourite off by heart, but always double checked.
"Of course!" He calls back, to a grunt of understanding while Otis tasted something.
"I don't know why this kid doesn't become a famous pokemon chef!" Flo chuckles, shaking her head gently, and Titus nods.
"Me either, Aunty. Me either." He smiles as Terra gently places a mug of hot cocoa on the table in front of him.
"Thanks sweetheart." Flo gently pets Ters' hat, and Ter giggles and kisses her hand before running off again.
Otis comes out, plates lined on his arm like a professional waiter, and he slides them with ease onto the table.
"Aunty... T... Ter..." He names them off as he places them, and everyone thanks him generously.
Titus smiles down at his plate; a larger omelette for himself, and a smaller one for Gabby, who just so happens to walk out at that precise moment.
He sets her on his lap, and watches with an amused expression as she goes straight for his, but he doesn't stop her.
Flo chuckles, shaking her head.
"You two are so good with pokemon, I never could understand how you all got along so well. Dragons are supposed to be one of the hardest types to train." She laughs, and Gabby smiles.
"It helps when my partner is so strong!" He picks up a small piece of egg on his fork, but Gabby snatches it before it reaches his mouth, and they all laugh.
Otis drops a plate of buttered toast on the table as well, and Greh and Ter thank him. They don't eat meat or meat byproducts, but Otis has only ever taken that as a challenge. He never forgets to make something to appeal to them.
He surveys the table once more, then sits, a satisfied smile on his lips.
"Aren't you eating? Also, is that FRESH bread?" Flo asks, and Otis chuckles.
"I eat as I cook, and yeah! I couldn't sleep, so I thought; why not stock you up before I leave! Arceus knows you can't make bread..." He trails off, and Flo scoffs, gently smacking him across the back of the head, causing us all to laugh.
"How much did you make?" She asks, and he smirks.
"Fourteen loaves." She chokes on her bacon.
"Don't worry, I'll replace the flour!" He laughs, but she just shakes her head.
"You two are to good to me..." She chuckles.
"Hello there!"
They all turn to see someone approaching from the yard.
"Mis..." Wen appears out of Otis' shadow, freaking everyone out a little and growling, but he gently shushes her, playing with her hair, and she calms instantly.
The newcomer has short, orange and black hair, and shes wearing cargo shorts, with a dark green cloak over her shoulders. There is also a pokemon behind her, and Titus instantly recognizes it from his books as a Roserade.
"Sorry to interrupt! My name is Gardenia, and I'm the gym leader for Eterna City!" She bows, and both Titus and Otis quickly get up and bow as well.
"Nice to meet you!" They say in unison, and Gardenia laughs.
"I'm here to pick you two up and take you to the Trainer's school! Sorry, I forgot how early it was!" She says mareepishly, but Otis gestures for her to come up.
"Are you two hungry? I made breakfast!" Before she can answer though, Roserades' stomach grumbles loudly at the smell wafting from the deck, and they all laugh.
Titus moves aside, grabbing Gabby so Gardenia can sit. She thanks them profusely and apologizes again for interrupting, but Otis won't have none of it.
"What do you like in your eggs?" He asks, and she smiles.
"Onions, and lots of them!" He nods, taking off into the kitchen.
Wen giggles, sinking into the shadow cast by the patio umbrella in the morning light.
"Ghost pokemon are awesome, but they give me the creeps." Gardenia announces and they all laugh.
"I was under the impression Roark was coming by? Not trying to say we didn't want you!" Titus laughs, and Gardenia nods.
"He got pulled into teaching a seminar about Rock types to the under grads this morning, so I volunteered to come down. I had to come see Rowan anyways." She explains, and they all nod.
"So, anyways! This is Titus, and the younger one is Otis." Flo introduces the boy's for them, and Titus blushes.
Gardenia shakes his hand, and gestures to Gabby, who is grinning toothily.
"And who is this little sweetheart?" She asks, scratching her head, and making her purr.
"This is my starter, Gabriella, but we just call her Gabby. And the Misdreavus from before is Rowena, or Wen for short, and she's Otis' starter." Titus explains, and Gardenia nods thoughtfully.
She then notices Terra, who is watering the plants in the back garden, and waves.
"Oh, a Grass type!" Terra comes bounding over to meet the new arrival, and bows respectfully.
"Bre! Breloom!" She smiles, and Gardenia laughs.
"Is that so? Well, I'm sure they'll love it!" She laughs, and both Titus and Flo look at her with confused expressions.
"Oh!" She taps a small device in her ear, and Titus recognizes it from a book he once read; a translator. They were quite expensive, and only in prototypes for the time being, but the concept was amazing; Anyone wearing one has the ability to understand pokemon.
"What did she say?" Flo asks, intrigued, and Gardenia looks to Terra for permission. Ter nods, and Gardenia smiles.
"She said she planted a 'pretty tree' in the backyard." Titus and Flo locked eyes, scanning the backyard, and sure enough, near the back of the property was a small sapling.
Titus was off before Flo could even stand.
OTIS
"Alright... and there!" He put the last pinch of pepper, folding the omelette in half and adding some breakfast meat, plus some toast for the grass type, and heading back out to the deck.
He quickly saw that everyone was gathered around something at the back of the yard, so he brings the plate with him while he goes to check.
"Hey guys'! Whats up?" But the look in Titus' eyes say it all. The last time he had that look was when...
When they visited the tree.
He almost dropped the plate as he pushed through, and found Ter, watering a beautiful young sapling, with gold and pink leaves, and orange streaks running up the sides.
He hands the plate to Gardenia, kneeling softly beside his brother and grabbing his hand.
"Now we can visit them." He said quietly, but Titus just nods.
"Should I..." Gardenia looks between the boys, and Flo gently leads her and her pokemon away, and back to the deck, explaining what it meant.
"I'm sorry." Gardenia says, but Flo just shakes her head.
"Don't be, now they can visit their parents whenever they want."
Back at the sapling, Titus finally stands, wiping his eyes and stalking off without another word.
Ter sits beside Otis, gently patting his back.
"Bre?" She looks extremely guilty, but Otis smiles through his tears.
"No no, baby girl. Thank you. This means... so much." He hugs her, and she sighs with relief.
She kisses his forehead, ruffles his hair, and takes off with her Wailmer-Can.
He chuckles, wiping his tears and standing.
"I'm going to do it, mom and dad. I'm going to make you proud."
He walked back to the deck, to find Gardenia scarfing the food he made.
"THIS... IS... HEAVEN... PLEASE tell me you'll come work in the kitchens at the school? I'll pay you!" She groans, having finished her eggs and moved to the meat, while Roserade munches happily on the toast.
"Why thank you! And I would love to!" He chuckles, grabbing the now empty dishes and taking them all inside.
"That kid... how old is he? I know grown chefs that couldn't hold a LITWICK to that kids cooking!"
"He turns ten in a few days." Flo chuckles, and Gardenia's eyes go wide.
"TEN? Like, one zero? Holy!" She laughs, shaking her head in amazement.
"Here!" He comes back out, handing her a shopping bag of stuff.
"Whats this? For me?" Gardenia gives Otis a confused look, but opens the bag.
Three loaves of bread and a large container of what smells like eggs.
"Otis, I cant-"
"You can and you will. You came all this way to get us, it's the least I can do. The bread is fresh from this morning!" He takes off again before she can reply, and she just sits there, stunned.
"Yeah, they're too nice for their own good." Flo chuckles.
Otis, back inside, starts cleaning up the kitchen.
"Showering!" Titus calls down.
"One sec!" Otis fills the sinks with water, then calls back up; "Okay! Your good!"
The shower upstairs starts, and Wen pops out of his shadow.
She lifts one of the plates with her hair, gently scrubbing it and rinsing it.
Together, they get the kitchen and dishes clean in no time, and the shower soon stops.
Otis runs upstairs, careful not to slip on the wet hardwood, and leans out his window.
"Just showering, be right down!" Gardenia waves to signal she heard, and he heads to the bathroom.
"Ready to go?" Flo asks, and both boys nod, their faces set in hard grins, both with three bags apiece.
She sighs, hugging them both, but it's obvious that all three are holding back their tears.
"No crying, don't show weakness at your new school!" She chokes out, and they all laugh.
"Love you, Aunty Flo. We'll come back soon to visit! I can show you all the cool pokemon I caught!"
"I'm going to miss you boys... but! Do good in school, don't make me have to come beat you!" She half-jokes, and both boys sniffle but laugh.
They wave as they head out, Gardenia leading them to their new home-away-from-home.