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Chapter 6

"Miss Spiritclaw"

It was a rather sunny morning, the sun just cresting the horizon, shining down on a rather large mansion. Up in the hills overlooking the city, a Goodra walked through the halls of this mansion. She was wearing a very elegant purple dress that barely hung behind her. Having just finished breakfast and ready to start her day, you'd expect her to be rather cheerful. But her face would tell you otherwise. An almost permanent frown adorned her face, as bags hung under her eyes and she all but trudged up the grand steps. Passing by many assistants that worked in her manor, they would all smile and wish her a good morning, but she would rarely respond with more than a small smile and nod.

She walked up and passed her bedroom, to the left wing of the mansion. Arriving at the end of the hallway, was when a very cheerful Mienshao greeted her from behind a desk. "Good morning Miss Spiritclaw! How was your vacation?"

The Goodra nodded slowly, glancing at the desk before she entered her office, "Yes Sarai. What's on my plate today?" She said brushing off her greeting and going straight to business.

Her secretary grimaced a bit at her mood and nodded, bringing out a piece of paper. "Well ma'am, today it looks like you've got a report from some city in Kalos. And of course you've got the regular business investors and contracts."

She nodded, pushing the double door to her office open, and entering. It was a large office with three large paneled windows at the back behind the desk. Her desk was large, made of dark oak. On top was a computer, and a large stack of papers. The sight made the Goodra sigh in annoyance, then acceptingly she walked over and sat in the large office chair. Once sitting, she glanced at the stack of papers as she turned the computer on. Pulling off the top one from the stack, it was more of the same she was used to. Her recent vacation had relieved the stress, but she was hoping that it would keep it at bay as well. But it seemed to all come flooding back the moment she looked at these papers.

She noticed a large folder to the left of the stack, which looked a bit more important. She grabbed it and read the title, 'Santalune City HRR report.' and flipped it open. She read through it leisurely, skimming the information until the very end which caught her attention finally, "-which would in turn make this one of the first HRR offices to no longer be looking for any lost children. At which, we hereby request further instruction on our actions and course to be made-"

She stopped for a moment, as she thought. Every child from Santalune city was found. That was wonderful news. But there was something about that name… it was the city that her partner used to live in… The Goodra's eyes widened almost immediately, as her hands began to shake with anticipation. She quickly opened her computer and went to the administration website, typing in 'Santalune City' as the registry popped up. She almost lost her breath in surprise as she saw the last index entry, 'Avery, age 11, found - 2 weeks ago' She stared at the screen for what felt like forever. Finally she yelled for her secretary almost immediately once she got her wits back, "Sarai!"

She burst through the door in surprise, "Y-Yes ma'am?"

"Get me on the phone with Santalune City HRR right away please!" She asked as she stood up from her desk, not knowing what to do with herself. They'd finally found him, she was in shock and disbelief. And they hadn't even told her!

The Mienshao quickly ran to the phone, as she walked out to follow her. Waiting eagerly at the phone, next to her secretary like it she was about to jump for joy. Once patched through to the chief Sarai quickly passed the phone over, "Hello. Is this Santalune City?" She blurted out quickly.

"Y-Yes! This is Chief Zane of the Santalune City HRR."

"Well I just read a report on my desk that says that you've recently found a child named Avery? Eleven years old as well? Why am I getting this report on my desk two weeks after the fact?"

"Yes Ma'am. I apologize." She listened to the frantic officer on the other side.

"That's my trainer that you've found. How in the world is it that I wasn't contacted immediately on his arrival? I've been holding my breath for months! I was completely terrified!" She said slightly angrily, though it wouldn't overcome the joy she was feeling now. The Mienshao next to her gasped and grew overjoyed by that information.

"Is your database even working?" She scolded, "One of the first things you should've seen on my boy's database once you found him was that I am to be contacted immediately!"

"So sorry ma'am. Our database has been completely wiped by a cyber attack the past month…"

"This is ridiculous!" The Goodra continued on her worried tirade, "My boy has been sitting there alone in a Rehabilitation Center while I've been on vacation! You need to figure out what's going on right now."

"Right away yes, yes. Just give me one second."

The Goodra lowered the phone in a huff as she looked at her secretary, sharing a worried glance. Before she made her way down the hallway, standing in the doorway of an unused room. A room that was styled to look like a little boy's room. She had spent countless days designing it to have everything she knew the boy liked. And countless nights staring into this room in despair, or crying on the bed, wondering if he'd ever be found. Cursing herself for being worthless and unable to find him, telling herself that he might already be gone. Yet, now her wishes were finally coming to fruition. The room couldn't be empty for much longer, they had actually found him. The emotions caught up to her and she began releasing a few tears. Before pulling her phone back up to her ear, "I've changed my mind, I don't care what's going on over there frankly!" She said, trying not to choke on her tears.

"Yes! Yes of course we are so sorry! I could let you speak to my head of research here right now if you'd like!"

A sigh escaped her, "No, that's fine. You better have every little bit of paperwork ready, I will be there as soon as I possibly can." She warned.

"Yes I'm sending somebody over there right now! I promise, no more delays!" She sighed as she finally hung up the phone.

Walking back to her secretary and handing the phone over to her, Sarai couldn't help but smile in delight. "They finally found him, Luna? That's wonderful news dear!"

Luna took a deep shuddery breath as she nodded slowly, glancing back at her office then again at Sarai with a tearful smile. "Y-Yes I can't believe it… I'm sorry but I'm going to need to postpone my work a bit more it seems."

Sarai nodded understandingly as the Mienshao immediately started dialing another number, "Of course dear! I know how long you've waited for this, I'll get you a flight back to Kalos before the day is up! Your little boy is going to be home soon." She reassured her boss.

Luna now seemed much more cheery than she was before, almost whimpering at her words as she thanked her. Deciding to go share with the rest of her assistants what was going on, she no longer trudged through the house, but cheerily walked through it. Many of the staff were overjoyed by the news, with how happy it made her. They knew the weight of his absence weighed heavily on her, Goodras were not known for handling separation with their trainers well. And it was especially prevalent for her when she knew she was the only family he had left. She organized the staff, calling for them to make sure everything would be prepared for her return home afterwards. The staff happily obliged.

It wasn't long before Sarai found her again, instructing the kitchen staff on what the boy's favorite foods are and how he likes things cooked as they eagerly took notes. Luna noticed her secretary and quickly regarded her as she handed her a small note, "Here's the address for the Center he's in. Your ride should be here any minute, make sure you're ready!"

Luna nodded, "Thank you so much. All of you. I'll be home soon!" She said gathering her things and rushing to the door to wait in the gardens out front. Sarai shook her head with a laugh as the kitchen staff continued to write things down in their books for later.

Sarai was very happy for her friend. She had been growing very distant and almost rude sometimes, the longer the days stretched along the worse it got. Lots of people just assumed she was being a snob because of her wealth and fame. Often wondering why not a single one of her staff members had quit already. It was always hard to explain to others, they knew Luna had a heart of gold, it was just that it had been shattered for so long now that she almost became someone different.

From out in the garden, by a large fountain set before the mansion, Luna brought her phone out and quickly dialed a number. The only one that had been able to keep her level headed until now, "Ares! Oh my gosh you won't believe what just happened!"

Avery and Finn were hanging out like normal, however this time they were drawing together, as Avery was curious how he did it so well. They were connected by Lea's link as he tried to explain, "You see it's mostly about composition. The framework you make is twenty times more important than the rest of it. And-"

"Avery!" Lea called out, "Someone is at the door for you sweetie!" Avery's eyes widened as he and Finn shared a raised eyebrow.

Stopping his art for now he walked carefully out and down the stairs. Once he reached the bottom he could see the familiar officer Sceptile again, and he wondered how he kept finding himself interacting with him. Lea smiled at him and gestured for him to come over to the door as she pulled Kairo into the connection. She butted Finn out in the process, which came with a resounding "Hey!" from upstairs that Lea giggled at.

"Hello there today Avery," The officer greeted with a nod of his head.

"Hi officer… Kairo?" Avery asked unsure.

"The one and only," Kairo joked, than he cleared his throat, "I've actually got some pretty great news that I have to give."

Avery crossed his arms, wondering what exactly it was, but his questions were answered quickly, "Your partner, Luna right? Well, we've found her."

Avery's eyes widened as did his grin as he looked hopefully up at the officer, he nearly choked on the air as he asked, "No way. Really?" he felt tears brimming his eyes. Lea bent down and pulled Avery into a hug, as she was overjoyed for the child.

Kairo laughed and nodded, "Yes it's real. Well, it was more like she kind of… found you more than we found her."

"Well then where is she?" Avery said excitedly, leaning out the door as if she was already here.

Kairo wasn't sure how to relay the info, but decided just to bite the bullet, "I've come to inform you preemptively, she isn't outside just yet. Your partner is the one and only Lunalae Spiritclaw,, and she's apparently already on her way."

Lea gasped at that info as she stared wide eyed, looking down at the child then back up with unsureness, "Are you serious?"

Avery looked questioningly at both of them as he chimed in nervously, "I don't know any Lunalae. It was supposed to just be Luna, or it should be. Isn't Spiritclaw the name of the owner of the HRR?"

Kairo shook his head vigorously, "Yes you're correct. She is adamant that you are her friend, and she's also a Goodra which fits your description. I'm sure everything will be clear once she shows up. Maybe she just changed her name a bit?" Kairo added with a shrug.

"Nevermind that," Lea said, still trying to get over the shock and looking down at the child, "How in the world did Avery not get picked up immediately by her? She's been grief stricken over her missing child ever since day one!"

Kairo laughed nervously, hand on his neck, "A bit of miscommunication, she was extremely unhappy with us. But she seemed ten times more excited about coming to get Avery, I'm even supposed to stay here until she signs all the necessary papers for his adoption."

Avery laughed a bit, "That does sound like her…"

Lea waved the officer in, "Well no use in sitting outside the whole time, come in." She cut Kairo out of the connection.

Finn finally headed down the stairs, "Oh hey what's up Kairo," Finn said with a wave.

Kairo waved back as Lea knelt in front of Avery, staring deep into his face and caressing his cheek. "Alright honey I need you to go pack for me. I don't want you to forget a single thing when you go home!"

Avery didn't want to admit he did feel sad leaving, and he could see that in Lea's face, she was saddened as well. "Oh Avery," she said softly, bringing him into a hug, "Yes I am sad, but I'm also soooo happy for you. It's always one of my best days when one of my kids finds a home. Now go get packed, and maybe we can get you some sweets before you leave, alright?" She said, booping his nose.

Bringing Finn into the connection again, as she walked away with Kairo in tow, she called to him, "Help Avery pack, Finn. If you wouldn't mind please."

Finn widened his eyes, "Oh they found her Ave's? What did I tell you about those window beds huh?" He gestured to Avery to follow, "Let's make a game out of it!" He suggested as they ran upstairs and packed him up.

Lea chose to ignore the connection for now, as to give them privacy. Leading Kairo into a large living room, with a fireplace roaring in the corner. A pack of children rushed by, causing Lea to shake her head with a sigh. "Would you like anything? Cocoa, tea, coffee?"

Kairo situated himself on the couch, and smiled, "Coffee if you've got any please."

Lea nodded, "Got some brewing already,"

The kitchen wasn't very far away, as they held a conversation. Starting with a concerned Lea, "Does she know that Avery is… hearing impaired?"

Kairo shook his head as he sighed, "She will soon. I hope we don't get even more flak for that. You know what they say, hell hath no fury like a dragon mother scorned…"

Lea laughed, "Who says that, just you?" She teased.

He shook his head, "Anybody unfortunate enough to be in the line of fire."

Suddenly a buzz hit Lea's ear as she listened back into the children only to hear, "Miss Spiritclaw!?" from Finn's inner mind. She lightly giggled to herself before blocking herself out again.

Lea went quiet for a little while, "I'm just worried about Avery.."

Kairo hummed as she returned and handed him the cup of coffee, urging her to continue, she sighed to herself, "It's just… That boy is very smart, but he really likes to keep to himself. And I assume it's only gotten worse since he lost his hearing…"

Kairo nodded, following along with her judgment, "Kid's brave too,"

Lea nodded, "It's just… I don't know how well he'll do with a non-psychic caretaker. He doesn't know ASL… And sometimes I have to use my psychic connection, because Avery will sometimes have panic attacks and other things resurface, but he never runs to others for help…"

"I understand," Kairo said, reaching out a hand and resting it on her own, "But those two are presumably long time friends, that might be all he needs." He said taking another sip, "Plus, she's Miss Spiritclaw of all people, she can arrange something with just a small bit of her wealth."

Lea hummed unsure at that, "I don't want this Spiritclaw to be taking him in just as a publicity stunt or to treat him like some novel toy. He's a child and he deserves love, not… that."

Kairo shrugged, "If something's fishy once she shows up I have the right to deny her the rights to sign his papers. Hope it doesn't come to that but it's a possibility."

Lea shook her head, smiling once again, "No you're right. I need to be positive unless proven otherwise."

Kairo smirked, "It's not a crime to feel worried for those you love Miss Lea. But it's also healthy to let them blossom and spread their wings."

Lea stared at him with wide eyes, eventually covering her mouth as she lightly giggled to herself, "What?" Kairo questioned, confused on if he said something wrong.

She shook her head, "It's just I didn't know you could articulate like that."

He blushed in embarrassment, "I used to be into poetry y'know. My old trainer used to be amazing at it, I picked up a few things from that old man before he passed." He reminisced.

Lea nodded, "I cannot relate very much to picking up after your trainer. Mine was in a heavy metal band."

"Seriously?" They both laughed together at that.

The sound of feet rattling down the staircase made Kairo glance over, as Finn and Avery emerged from the staircase, and Avery set his packed bag by the doorway. A few young children saw his bag by the door, and looked up worriedly at Avery before running over to Lea, "Lea Lea! Is Avery leaving?" They expressed worry.

Lea bent down in front of the three little girls, "Afraid so little ones. I'm sure he'll come and visit once in a while."

They both gave sad looks, but ran over to Avery as the boy was sitting down across from Kairo. Spouting goodbyes and hugging his torso, Avery looked at Lea in confusion and she giggled, "They're sad you're leaving. They're saying they love you."

Avery laughed out loud, hugging the three girls, "I'll miss y-you guys too. I'll try and come back sometimes."

Kairo smiled at the display, as he watched the little girls nod, before they ran away and went back to playing their games. "Can I talk to Kairo?" Finn sat on Avery's left, throwing an arm on the couch top behind him.

"Sure," Lea replied, pulling him in.

Kairo chimed, "How are you boys doing?"

Finn shrugged, "Same as always."

Avery looked down, "Nervous."

Kairo smiled, "What're ya nervous about kiddo. Maybe I can help out?"

Avery looked up at him and nodded, expressing his worries. "So Luna… Or I guess, Miss Spirtclaw? How different is she going to be from who I knew… She sounds really important…"

Kairo put a hand to his chin, "Well firstly, I doubt she'll make you call her Miss Spiritclaw." He said chuckling, "But yes she is mighty important. She founded the HRR as we know it today, specifically to look for you actually."

Avery's eyes widened in shock, "All of that for me!? She probably did it for other reasons too…"

He nodded, "Well you were her main goal in the end, I know that. I'm sure she wanted to help the other children out as well…"

Finn bumped his shoulder against me, "You're basically going to be a prince Aves. She's one of the most wealthy pokemon known today."

Avery blushed at that and looked downward, "I don't want to be a prince…"

Lea giggled as she continued to clean the kitchen up, "Avery you won't have to do anything actually princely. I'm sure it'll be just like living here is, except with much fewer kids."

He nodded in understanding, as his leg continued to bob up and down nervously, then he suddenly asked, "I'm kind of a waste of space though. Am I really good enough for someone like her?"

Kairo's eyes widened, and whatever Lea had been holding in the kitchen dropped to the floor with a clang. Lea entered immediately, and sat in front of Avery, grabbing his hands in her own. "Child," she started softly, "I don't ever want to hear you call yourself that ever again."

Avery averted his gaze, "But…"

She guided his face back towards hers, "You're worth so much more than you give yourself credit for. And if Luna can't see that, then she is the one who isn't good enough for you. Got it?" Lea wouldn't be satisfied until she saw Avery nod. She wiped away a couple of his tears as he finally nodded, and she pulled him into another hug.

A knock at the front door made everyone freeze, Avery's stomach dropped and Lea rubbed his hand gently, before standing and walking carefully over to the door and willing it open with her powers. Instead of who she was expecting however, it was a couple pokemon holding cameras with the logo "News 9" Lea grimaced and rolled her eyes as she shut the door on the pokemon who were begging for interviews and such. And walked back over to the group who looked confused. She sighed, "Somebody must've spilled the beans, the news reporters are ready and waiting it seems." Everyone laughed at that.

Kairo rubbed the back of his neck in annoyance, "Eh, could be anyone from our office. Could be anyone from the Spiritclaw's manor. Who knows?"

Lea smiled, "Well, lunch is soon. Would you care to join us, Kairo?"

Kairo chuckled, "Are you kidding me? Getting paid to eat and hangout with kids? How could I say no."

Lea shared a glance with him and a raised eyebrow, "You'd be surprised."

A while later, Avery watched as Lea levitated all the dishes and silverware into neat rows along the large cafeteria table. Then shortly afterwards she had him and Finn and even Kairo help to distribute the food across each plate. When it was done, they all sat down to eat as Lea called everyone in. Kairo's jaw almost dropped, as he was stunned by the amount of children. "You deal with this many kids by yourself every day?"

She laughed, "Yep. You guys should see about getting them adopted already. A few of them have been here for a couple months, they are honestly so sweet and they deserve homes…"

Kairo looked around sadly at the assortment of children. Whatever situation they had been in hadn't put a damper on their pure childlike wonder and attitude. They were laughing and hugging friends, it put a smile on his face, as well as a small desire. But he shook the idea from his head for now, "You're right. Well, I thank you for the meal."

Lea stood up at the end of the table, and shushed the children who all looked at her. "Children, I know it's a bit sudden, but today is Avery here's last day. So I want everyone to be kind, and if you wish to give Avery any letters or otherwise, you might want to do so after lunch. Okay?"

A few children whined sadly, most smiled at the news. They all nodded, "Yes Miss Lea."

Finn translated for Avery in his head out of courtesy, so he wouldn't be lost in it all. But everything she said had put an idea in Avery's head, and he began to think on it to himself as they all ate.

Luna gazed out the window on her right, the vast expanse of ocean as she crossed between regions. She was in a large taxi, consisting of a cab being pulled by four Corviknights. There wasn't much weight to bear when there were this many, but of course it was expensive. Most people would take an ocean liner, or even a train depending on how close the regions were. However, Luna had refused to wait another day.

She sighed nervously, wondering how her boy was doing. It was foolish to think everything would be the same, she had no idea what horrors Avery had seen after she was forced away from him. She had let the ideas of those haunt her for ages. Being one of the later children to be found, she concluded something must've happened. She would have panic attacks about his well being, she couldn't help it. Thinking of her little boy out there in the wilderness for almost eight months, he must've been so scared when they found him!

She couldn't help but let her fears get to her. Surely by now he knew about her, and everything she had come to be. Would he dislike that? Would he be angry at her? It must feel like she has abandoned him, surely that's how he felt. She felt herself shake a bit as someone gently rested a hand on her lap. She turned to see the love of her life, her boyfriend Ares. He was a shiny Delphox, she could never get over staring at his purple and gray coat of fur, and his beautiful red ear fuzz. And the way he dressed, wearing a red kimono with white flowers, and red glasses. "Are you alright honey?" He asked gently, worry apparent in his scarlet eyes.

She snapped out of it and widened her eyes, "O-Oh… I don't know…"

He tilted his head and gently rubbed her leg soothingly, "What is it that bothers you? I imagined you'd barely be able to contain your excitement."

"Well," She huffed, "Everything. Everything is bothering me. How could I possibly disappear for eight months and show up like… like…"

He sighed, "Like nothing happened?"

She whimpered, "Like nothing happened… Like I didn't just abandon him. He's going to hate me." she said, hiding her face.

"Nonsense," He replied, "Yes it's true, he stayed in the same area around the same town. So if you had gone looking for him there you could've found him."

She whimpered even more as he leaned in, wrapping his arm around her, "But you also were so worried of where he might go, that you made a whole organization dedicated around finding him and similar children."

She shrugged, "And it failed…"

Ares chuckled, "If that's failure, my dear. I do not wish to find out what could possibly be worse."

She huffed, "He's going to have changed…"

He raised a brow, "So have you. Honey, I don't think he expected his old partner to be wearing a lavish dress, living in a mansion, and be essentially a celebrity."

She giggled at that, "I guess so." She hummed curiously at him, "What do you think… about all this?"

He tilted his head, as he brought a finger up below his chin, "I know how much you've missed him, so I'm excited as well. Anybody worth being so excited over has to be a wonderful person, I would think."

"You know, I think you and him would get along really well." She added.

"How so?"

"Well, for starters, you're both bookworms." She smiled.

He raised a brow, "Oh? Good to know."

She continued, "He's very much into stories of all kinds. I remember he used to parade around town in a cape with a wooden sword. Sometimes I would act as the evil monster he had to slay, sometimes I was the fair maiden. It was always something new."

Ares chuckled at that, "He sounds to have an active imagination, I love when children aren't afraid to express that."

He wasn't expecting to see her release a few tears at that, as she explained herself before he would ask, "I just hope that he still has it. I hope he hasn't become too hardened and cold to the world."

He pulled her closer to him, and she laid her head on his shoulder. She watched with worry and relief as she could see the Kalos region in the distance. She would be there soon, hopefully her fears were to be washed away.

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END