OTIS
Otis slams on the front door.
"Hello! Is anyone home!" He shouts, and the door is flung open.
A young girl, with long, navy blue hair and a white touque opens the door.
"Excuse me!" She says in a huff, crossing her arms.
"H-hi! I was t-told to come and say... that Aunty... Flo sent me!" Otis struggles to catch his breath, but the girls eyes go wide.
"MOM!" A middle aged woman, with short bobbed hair of the same colour as the girls appears beside her in an instant.
"What happened?" She asks, grabbing a coat as they jog back, the girl behind them as she locks the front door.
"Three... Staraptor... small..." She waves him off, having got more than enough information.
He notices she has a small backpack on her hip.
They get to the house, the door still open from where he had thrown it, and Yanna leads them to the kitchen, where Flo is busy boiling water to sterilize her instruments.
"Flo!"
"Johanna!"
They quickly embrace, and then they kick the younger kids out.
"Dawn, take Otis here and go wait upstairs, or go back home. You don't need to be here for this." The girl nods obediently, but Otis shrugs her arm off.
"Wen is my STARTER. I'm not leaving!" He insists, and his Aunt gives him a sad look, before sighing and shaking her head.
"Fine, just dont get in our way!" Otis nods, stepping into the dining room to watch, and Dawn looks to her mom, who gives her a curt nod, before sitting with him.
"... Budew, by the looks of it."
"...stitches, damn."
Otis can't hear them clearly, but he picks up a couple words and sentences here and there, which makes him all the more worried.
"Hey." The girl takes his hand, but he wrenches it back violently.
"S-sorry... just... Wen..." He stops, his voice breaking, but she nods.
"It's okay. My starter is Piplup, and I couldn't imagine if he..." She stops, her eyes wide, but he waves her off.
"She'll be fine." Johanna says from the kitchen, bringing the ghost over.
She has a few stitches in her forehead, and one of her locks of hair has been abruptly cut off, but she seems peaceful.
"A few stitches and a sedative to help her sleep, make sure she doesn't strain herself in the next few days." She offers him a smile, and he gratefully smiles back, tears streaming freely down his cheeks.
"Thank you. What about..."
"We are doing our best, just be glad both of us have basic medical training." She pats bot of the kids' heads, before turning and heading back.
Otis gently lifts Wen, kissing her hair, and takes her upstairs. Dawn follows, for no reason other than no where else to go, but he doesn't mind.
He notices a small, blue penguin pokemon behind her, he hadn't noticed it before.
They get up to his room, and he sets the ghost gently on his pillow, wrapping his blanket around her for warmth, then he sits on the floor, head in his hands.
"What happened?" Dawn asks quietly, her dark blue eyes wide.
Otis explains the situation, and Dawn, for her own credit, takes it pretty well.
"How does your mom know my Aunt?" He says finally, trying to change the subject.
"They've been friends for years, way back since they first went to the academy." She explains, and Otis laughs.
"What? Thats so cool!" She smiles to, nodding. She absentmindedly strokes Piplup's head, causing him to murmur and fall asleep.
"So, how old are you?" He asks her, and her eyes go wide.
"You NEVER ask a lady her age!" She gasps, and he laughs.
"I mean, are you going to the school?" He corrects himself, and she laughs.
"Oh... yeah! Just turned ten a few weeks ago, I start on the 18th." She explains, and he laughs.
"Me too! I got all set up in the dorms yesterday!" She smiles.
"I get set up tomorrow, we leave in the morning."
"I'll come with you! It'll be fun!" She nods, and they laugh.
"Missss..." Otis is up like a shot, leaning over his injured pokemon.
"Wen? Rowena? I'm so sorry!" He begins to sob, but she kisses his cheek.
"Miss..."
"I should never have sent you into that battle!"
"Misss..."
"I'm a terrible trainer!"
"MIS!"
With that, she floats up, an angry look in her eye.
"Mis! MisdreAVUS! DRE! MIS!" She growls, and he steps back.
The door opens behind them, and Otis looks to see Greh enter. He flinches as he notices the scratches and bruises over his barrier.
"I'll translate." He informs them, and Otis nods.
"She said that if you ever consider yourself a terrible trainer again, she will..." His eyes go wide, and she looks at him expectantly, as if mentally forcing him to go on, and he sighs.
"She will leave. She wants you to realize how brave you were, jumping into that battle, and says she refuses to fight for a trainer who can't believe in themselves. She wants you to know shes proud of you, and she believes in you." He finishes, and Otis turns to Wen, who floats back down to the pillow, looking weak.
"Are... Is that true?" He asks quietly, and she nods, her face set in determination.
He hugs her, kissing her hair, and she giggles.
"I love you, Wen."
"Mis."
He didnt need a translator for that.
"Good news and bad news." Flo explains, standing in the doorway.
"Bad news first." Otis decides, and she nods.
"The bad news is that I'm still mad at you for doing something so STUPID." She sighs, pressing the bridge of her nose.
"Oh... um... the good news?"
"The Budew will survive, albeit with a few scars." Dawn and Otis both give a whoop of celebration, and Flo laughs.
"Can we see it?"
"Her, and yes. We gave her enough medicine to knock out a Mamoswine, but she's still awake and wont calm down." She explains, leading them downstairs.
It had been a few hours since the battle, and Wen was already feeling better, but Otis still didn't want her floating around while she was recovering, so he made a makeshift baby sling out of an old long sleeved shirt to carry her around in.
Of course, as soon as that happened, Piplup decided he wanted one to.
So now, both kids walk downstairs, pokemon on their chest and asleep.
They enter the kitchen, and Otis cant help but to notice the scarlet stains on the table and floor.
The Budew is in a basket with a blanket, on the table, but shes fussing and kicking.
Otis stands over the basket, eyes wide, when the Buduew catches sight of him.
Something clicks in her eyes, and she instantly calms down, murmuring as he gently strokes her cheek.
"How are you feeling?" He asks gently, and she smiles, kissing his hand.
"Looks like you made a new friend!" Johanna laughs, finishing up washing everything.
"What are you guys up to tonight?" Flo asks, and Dawn and Johanna look at each other.
"Dinner then bed, probably." Dawn says, and Flo laughs.
"Come here for dinner! I made lasagna!" Otis moans at that, Aunty Flo's lasagna is more legendary than any pokemon ever discovered.
After assuring her they would be over, both Dawn and Johanna head home to change and make something to bring over, and Flo sits Otis down at the table, his hand still caressing the small grass type, who has quickly fallen asleep.
"Otis..." She starts with a sigh, and he sighs back.
"I know, it was stupid of me. I'm sorry." She shakes her head.
"I realize now that I'm not mad that you helped. In fact, I'm PROUD that you jumped in when you did, you probably saved this little girls life. I'm mad that you didnt even think twice about jumping in. You could have gotten your self seriously injured." She says, and he nods.
"On another note, you may have just gotten your second pokemon." She says, and his eyes go wide, causing her to laugh.
"What do you mean?" He asks, and she gestures to where the little pokemon has curled around his hand, and is murmuring in her sleep.
"She's imprinted on you, you are now her person." She explains, and he gasps.
"So... she's... mine?"
"Not officially, we'll ask her when she gets up what she wants to do." He nods, gently taking his hand back and replacing it with a small pillow.
"Thats... Amazing." He says, at a loss for words.
Dawn and Johanna show up again, bringing a tray of fresh garlic bread, and they all get ready to eat.
TITUS
"Are you sure?" Gardenia asks, and Titus nods.
"She's so close, she just needs that little push!" He explains, and she nods.
"Well, I'm here to help. I'll use Roserade, but don't go easy on me!" She points menacingly at Gabby, who giggles and shakes her head, assuring Gardenia that she wont.
They walk to their separate ends of the field, which is draped in the evening sun, the light filtering through the trees around them and causing the earth to look like its waving.
She sends out her pokemon, and Gabby excitedly jumps out on to the field.
She gestures for Titus to go first, and he shrugs.
"Gabby, Dragon Breath!"
"Magical Leaf!"
Gabby takes a deep breath, inhaling to her lungs capacity, and letting out a torrent of draconic flames, which burn away the psychic leafs as if they're paper, and slams Roserade to the ground.
He stands back up, flicking charred leaves off his bouqets, and growls.
"I underestimated you, Gabby!" Gardenia calls from her side, and Gabby flashes her a toothy grin.
"Crunch!"
"Dodge it, and use-" She doesn't finish, as Gabby flits with super speed and lands a devastating hit on Roserades arm.
He screams, trying to shake the small dragon type off, but to no avail.
"EMBER!"
Before anyone has time to react to the newest order, Roserade screams in pain, dropping unconscious moments after, as Gabby keeps latched onto his arm, but peppers him with flames.
Roserade drops, and Gabby is enveloped in a bright, white light.
"YES!" Titus laughs, cheering as Gabby appears finally in her new form.
"S-shel?" She says quietly, trying to look around but only being able to see out of the small hole in front of her, her shell now tough as diamonds and encompassing her entire body save her legs.
She looks around frantically, starting to breathe quicker and stumble.
"Hey! Gabby! Hey!" Titus sits, putting his face near her front shell opening, and she whimpers.
"Baby girl! Whats wrong?" Gardenia returns Roserade, taking off, promising to come back.
"S-s-shel!" She says, her voice shaky as she holds back tears, and Titus kisses her shell.
"You're okay, you're okay..." He hears footsteps behind him, and he sees the green hair in his peripheral.
"Is everything okay?" Cheryl asks, her voice gentle and soothing, and Gabby turns to her, shaking and moaning.
I see a flash of light, signifying that a pokemon has been let out, and I see a Blissey gently soothe the terrified dragon pokemon.
"What happened?" Cheryl asks, and Titus stutters.
"S-she... evolved... and..." He starts to hyperventilate, but she puts his hands on his lap.
"Count to ten. Let's go find a Psychic so we can get to the bottom of this."
Gabby is almost hysterical at this point, kicking and trying to jump and run, so Titus returns her.
They head inside, to the infirmary, where a nurse is doing her evening rounds.
"Nurse Joy!"
"Ah, headmistress Cheryl! What brings the pleasure of your arrival?" She bows, and Titus hands her the pokeball.
"This young mans Bagon just evolved into Shelgon, but she is extremely distressed. Do you have a Psychic on hand?" The nurse nods at once, leading them into a back room.
She grabs a pokeball out of her purse, releasing a Kadabra.
It bows to everyone separately, before turning to the Joy.
"Honey, I'm going to release a pokemon. Try to figure out whats wrong." The pokemon nods, sitting with its spoon in the air, and Titus can feel the psychic energy radiating off of it. This is one strong pokemon.
She releases Gabby, who instantly goes into whimpering and shouting, but the Kadabra uses its psychic abilities to calm her down into a coherent state.
They converse for a few minutes, the Kadabra cool, calm, and collected, while Gabby shifts from foot to foot, still quietly whimpering, and Titus can feel his heart break. There's nothing he can do to make her feel better, not until he knows what the issue is.
Finally, the Kadabra nods twice, turning to the Nurse, and she sighs.
"Okay, so its nothing life threatening." Everyone sighs in relief.
"Shes upset that she doesn't have arms anymore, to read." Nurse Joy explains, and Titus gasps, having not realized.
"Wait!" Gardenia rips out of the room, appearing a few minutes later with a small box, and Cheryl nods, smiling.
She puts the bow down in front of Gabby, who regards it with interest.
"What is it?" Titus asks, and Cheryl smiles.
"It's one of the libraries mobile units." She explains, but Titus still gives her a weird look, and she laughs.
"It comes pre loaded with every book available in the library. It's a book that doesn't need to have its pages flipped." Gabby's eyes go wide and she gasps, and even Titus is taken aback.
"How much for it?" He asks quietly, and Cheryl laughs again.
"For you? Free. If it means Gabby still being able to read, then I'd be happy to give it to you, free of charge." Titus tears up, and he hugs the woman tightly.
"Oh!" She chuckles, hugging him back.
"Now, if you two want anything to eat, now's the time! The cafeteria is closing in half an hour!" Titus and Gabby run off together, mobile unit in hand and laughing as they play and joke around.
"He taught his Bagon how to read?" The nurse asks incredulously, and Gardenia nods.
"He's going to be a phenomenal Professor, one day." She says, and all three women nod.