Iris held her belly while small laughs escaped her mouth. She was laughing because her idiot friend had just made one of the worst attempts at a joke she had ever seen him do. Hell, she wasn't even laughing at the joke, but more the older male's inability to not begin laughing at his attempt at comedy. Oh, she needed that! Being so stressed about the cost of the Pokemon food that she absolutely couldn't afford and being reminded about the disaster of her battle against Clair had made the young girl more on edge than she realized.

The laughing girl eventually looked over to the sigh of a concerned Pikachu who thought that the duo had finally gone insane and the smiling woman standing beside the dining room table finally reminded the girl that they still had to eat dinner. Turning back to the boy who was currently whipping his eyes with his fingers to stop the tears falling while shaking his head, she simply reached up to give him a flick on the forehead while grinning.

"Oh, I am SO going to tell Brock what you said about him. We'll see who's laughing then." Iris said with a confident smile before turning to make her way toward the dining room just as Delia had finished setting up the table. Ash just groaned from the background before lifting the pot to take it into the dining room and its proper spot at the center of the table.

"I didn't say anything though! I wasn't the one who called him 'completely clueless' like you did." Ash said with a grin and a snicker down to his shorter friend who merely put her hands on her hips and got on her tiptoes in response. Pikachu jumped off the table to get away from the two before they started going at it again while Delia silently straightened the chopsticks.

"I was calling you, the clueless one, Ash! Way to prove my point. Geez, you're as gullible as a little kid, sometimes, you know that?" Iris yelled into her friend's face while hers was getting red. It had been a while since the two had had a good spat over nothing. Iris seemingly looked baffled as her friend, instead of responding, just looked over to his mother.

"Hey Mom, didn't you have that written on the ceiling?" Ash asked with a genuine tone of voice towards the woman, causing his mother to let out a little giggle. Iris just looked back and forth between the two in confusion from her friend's sudden change of attention.

"No dear. Why would 'gullible' be written on the ceiling in our dining room?" Delia asked while using her hand in front of her face to mask the smile that was forming.

"Okay, then who wrote it there…?" Ash said with confusion while folding his arms and closing his eyes in deep contemplation while Iris just stood there baffled. Why would…? Huh? What is he talking about? She asked herself before looking up at the ceiling to see if her friend had finally gone insane. Giving a puzzled look as all that the girl saw was simply a regular ceiling before giving a surprised gasp.

It was only after she had been ensnared by the trap had she realized what it was. Her eyes widened and her fist clenched as she slowly looked back over to Ash who merely stood there with his arms behind his head and a big, stupid smile on his little-kid face. The sight of his happiness that his plan worked just enraged the child even more!

"So… who's gullible agai- ah!" Ash tried to say with his sarcasm-drenched tone of voice before being interrupted by Iris grabbing one of the chopsticks off the table and trying to shove it down the boy's nose, causing him to yell out 'Ahhh! Aghhh!' as he tries to pull it out. Iris finally relents with an annoyed 'Hmph' as she turns away with her arms crossed.

"Well… we know which set of chopsticks Ash is using now…" Delia said while standing on the other side of the table with her head tilted to the side and a sweatdrop falling down her forehead with the same smile she had still plastered onto her face. Ash merely rubbed his nose with a slight groan while Iris turned her head to stitch his tongue out at him, causing Ash to return in kind.

"Alright, you two, enough fighting. The Nabe is getting cold so come and sit with me." Delia said while taking a seat at the table while Iris glared at the older boy. They would finish this later. Taking a seat at the table while turning to Delia.

"Thank you for the food. It smells so good!" Iris said with a big smile to the woman. She wasn't lying in the slightest! She was practically melting in her seat from just how good the food in front of her smelled. Ash truly wasn't lying when he said that her cooking put Brocks to shame, though that thought may have just been due to her not having Brocks cooking in so long… Microwave meals and foraged berries are absolutely nothing compared to meals made with actual love and care specifically for her. Thinking of Brock…

"Oh yeah!" Iris said, looking over to Ash as he sat down while Delia ladled the Nabe out for her bowl. "How is Brock? You said that his final is in the morning. So that's like… his total final… thing? He'll really be a Pokemon doctor then?" Iris asked with an excited smile on her face, wanting to know exactly how one of the few, human friends that she had was doing.

Her smile faded a little when she saw Ash shake his head with a solemn expression on his face. "No, he won't be a doctor just yet. He will be getting an Undergraduate Degree if he passes-"

"Which he will!" Delia interrupted cheerfully

"-Which he will!" Ash agreed with his mother, trying to explain everything to the confused-looking twelve-year-old. "Then he will have to go to medical school… which you can't do on the road and online like we have been…" Ash said the last part a little quieter while rubbing the back of his head. Iris just frowning a bit.

"So… he finishes school… just to go to another school where he can't go see the world like we do? That doesn't make any sense! Why would anyone want to do that?" Iris said with a baffled look on her face up at her friend in shock. The reality of her being separated from Ash and Brock was hard enough, but the idea of Ash and Brock being separated hurt even more for some reason that Iris didn't know or understand. They're practically inseparable, why in the world would they ever be apart?

"He's doing it because he loves Pokemon. It may not be as whimsical or adventurous as what you and Ash may do… but it's his dream nonetheless, and we will support him in any way that we can." Delia said gently while placing the nearly overflowing bowl of Nabe in front of the confused girl. Iris just looked over at the woman and stared into her kind, yet strong eyes.

"Yeah! And the adventures aren't over just yet! He's going to stick with me until the end of the Sinnoh League, I know, so it's still a bit far off. But that may just be because he wants the chance to try and win over Cynthia if you ask me." The young man said with a smile at the girl. She knew that the duo were just trying to make her feel better but it just… didn't feel right. She tried to push the thought out of her mind as she took a bite of Nabe, nearly dropping her chopsticks.

It was so freaking good!


Delia steeled herself silently and gave a smile to the duo as they entered the living room to sit by the fire. The duo going to sit on the couch opposite the one that Delia was currently sitting on after finally having finished their argument over which sound a person makes when throwing up.

Delia crossed one leg over the other and rested her hands on her knee as she leaned forward with a smile. It seemed that Iris had calmed down now due to the help of her son, whom she felt nothing but pride because of that.

"So Iris, how are you liking Pallet Town so far? I take it that Ash showed you the square?" The woman asked with a kind smile on her face, only breaking eye contact with the young girl to look down at Pikachu as the little mouse hopped up to sit on the woman's lap as that was where the mouse probably assumed that that was where he would get the most attention and scritches.

"Oh, it's great! When Ash described it to me back when we were traveling through Unova, I thought that it was just going to be a bunch of houses and farms, but the square was really nice! I didn't expect this place to be even bigger than the Dragon Village. You guys even had a bakery! He never mentioned that." Iris said with a wide smile as she elbowed Ash in the arm.

"Hey! Ow… That place wasn't there before, give me a break." Ash whined while rubbing his arm a little and lightly glaring at the girl who just smiled with her hands on her hips. Delia just smiled at the duo while shaking her head.

"Actually, dear. That bakery has been there the entire time. You just never noticed it, I'm guessing." Delia corrected her son while bringing her hand up to hide the giggle that escaped her lungs. Iris turned to the boy to give a big 'Ha!' while Ash sheepishly rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. Lightly petting Pikachu as she watches the duo for a moment before speaking up again. Iris had given her the perfect opportunity after all.

"Yes, I've been meaning to ask about that! What's the Village of Dragons? I've never heard of that place before!" The woman asked with a cheerful, inquisitive tone of voice. Being just oh so curious about the place where Iris grew up. She took a glance at her son who was merely casually smiling like he usually does when surrounded by family, friends, or his Pokemon. No reaction from him was interesting.

"The Village of Dragons is awesome!" Iris excitedly yelled out before her face quickly flushed with redness at the volume and the excitement that was in her voice. The girl seemingly was embarrassed but soon went back to normal as Delia kept smiling at the girl calmly instead of looking annoyed or fed up with the girl's outbursts.

"Uh, yeah. The Village of Dragons is where I grew up. It is full of all sorts of friendly Pokemon that love to play and has awesome trees to climb. The weather is always nice and there are these really awesome statues of Reshiram and Zekrom right in front of the elder's house." Iris tried to explain the best she could with a smile on her lips.

"And what about the people there? Who's this 'Elder' you just said?" Delia questioned while rubbing Pikachu's cheeks.

"Oh." The smile on the girl's face faltered a bit before going back to normal. "She's like the mayor or gym leader of the town. She guides everyone on how to live and make the village better and stuff. She's really smart too!" Iris said with a big smile on her face.

"She's old, too. Don't forget that…" Delia's son interjected with a casual smile, causing Iris to let out a small giggle and nod.

"The people are pretty cool. Everyone there is trying to become a great Dragon Master like Drayden or Lance! I have a friend, Shannon, there who is trying to be a Pokemon Breeder for dragon types too!" Iris said with clear pride in her voice.

Delia raised an eyebrow at that last remark. Everyone was trying to be a Dragon Master? That's quite the claim, indeed. However, what struck Delia the most was the lack of information that the girls divulged. Lack of information on two people in particular that most certainly should have entered the conversation by now. Steeling herself one last time and hoping that she was merely overreacting, the woman opened her mouth to speak once again.

"And what about your parents? They must be quite proud of you for traveling all alone, so far from home like how you are." Delia questioned the girl with the same, soft smile but carefully watching the girl's expression and body language.

"Oh yeah, we never got to meet them with all the chaos of Shannon and her Hydreigons, did we…?" Ash remarked while rubbing his chin with a frown. "That's a shame. I would have liked to meet them."

Though Iris didn't say anything, the girl's face was more than enough for Delia to conclude the theory that she had had. Trying to not show any emotion except her usual kindness, she nodded and waited for the girl to respond, waiting to see if the girl would admit it to the mother and son or try and lie.

The girl in question was merely staring at Delia's kind smile for a few moments in complete silence as her expression still held a smile, but one that was less relaxed than before. Delia felt the same sting in her chest that she felt whenever she was compelled to check up on either her son's or Gary's wellbeing. About to open her mouth to call out to the girl but stopped herself when the girl spoke up.

"I'm sure they are! I haven't seen them in a while though. They uh… travel the world, so I haven't seen them in a long time." Iris said with a very noticeable pause before telling her what they do for a living. "And that's why we never saw them at the village. Gosh… I haven't even talked to them since before I started my journey…" Iris said as she turned to Ash.

"Oh okay, yeah. That makes sense." The oblivious boy said with a nod, causing Delia to want to smack him upside the head with a frying pan. Heavens above, she loved that child with all her heart but god was he dense sometimes!

"I understand, dear." Delia gave a nod at the two, just playing along for now. "What do they do? Are they traveling to become Dragon Masters like how you said the rest of the village is?"

"Yeah!" Iris exclaimed, back to her regular tone of voice as she probably believed her lie worked. "They couldn't really take care of me and be great at the same time so they had to leave me at the village."

That response got even Ash to raise an eyebrow and glance at his mother, who shot him a look of recognition in return. Parents don't leave their children behind because they're 'dead weight' like Iris had implied. Even if one parent travels, one usually stays to care for the little one.

"Both of them? What about you, Iris?" Delia interrogated the girl while staring directly into the girl's red eyes. "Who took care of you while they were gone? The way that you made it sound was that they left before you left on your journey. That must have been lonely for you, dear."

"What? No! It was fine, really." The young girl responded cheerfully, shaking her head with her arms up in front of her chest in the same manner that Delia did before with the Cloyster incident. "I mostly take care of myself, anyway. I played with the Pokemon in and around the village every day. Whenever I got hurt or stuff, The Elder was there to help! She even taught me how to read!"

"So instead of staying inside to spend time with actual people or attending school to learn how to read there, you played with Pokemon?" Delia prodded as gently as she could as the hand resting on her knee clenched down harshly. "No adult signed you up for school or registered a digital banking account for you since it's clear that you don't have one."

Ash had completely turned his body from his relaxed position against the cushion of the couch to resting against the armrest with his knee resting on the cushion as his full attention was directed at Iris, though his face wasn't smiling like the boy's mother was, instead seeming to be deep in thought while staring at the girl.

"Y… yeah? The Village doesn't have a school or electricity so there isn't a need for those things. Besides, it's more fun to play with Pokemon than worry about stupid things like that!" Iris said with a more defensive tone this time. Breaking eye contact with Delia and crossing her arms as she turned her head.

"But shouldn't you worry about it now? You ate real Pokemon meat because you didn't have a bank account. Why don't you call them right now and ask them to set one up for you right now? We have a VPS upstairs for you to use, dear." Delia said in the most coaxing tone that she could.

It gave the woman no pleasure to have to corner the little girl like this. Only wanting what was best for her son's friend, even if Delia's heart was begging her to stop at the sight of her guest gradually getting more and more desperate to come up with lies and excuses. The woman's breathing became a tad heavier as the girl's excuses began to topple.

"I… don't want to bother them. They're probably tired." Iris mumbled after turning her face back to Delia but refusing to look the woman or Ash in the eyes. "It's late for them, after all. What if they're sleeping?"

"What if they're in a region where it's daytime right now? You said that they travel the world and time zones exist?" Delia challenged the girl, not tearing her eyes away from her.

"They're over in Hoenn right now." Iris stumbled out in a hurry. "They wished me goodnight and ever-"

"I thought you said that you hadn't talked to them since before you got Axew and left?" Ash interrupted the girl while staring at the girl with an almost horrified expression as he stared the girl down.

Delia had never seen such a look on Ash's face before. She had always known her son to be caring and gentle with his friends, so seeing him so… stern was quite a change. Reliable, of course, but never so immovable as his stiff posture and intense eyes portrayed at this moment. Such a stark contrast between when Ash was with Gary after the latter child's parents' death and now.

"I… w-well…" Iris eventually stammered out while focusing on the carpet near Delia's feet. Opening her mouth to try and vocalize another lie or excuse before eventually just going quiet. The young girl blinked irregularly with her hands clasped in her lap while her foot bounced up and down on the carpet quickly.

There was a long, empty, almost impossibly silent moment as the three sat in the warm living room of the Ketchum house. The only sounds around them were the crackling of the fading fire in the fireplace and the nearly silent shuffling of the 12-year-old's foot as it bounced quickly as if she was desperate to try and run away from this situation that she had found herself in. Even Pikachu had gone completely still and silent. It was a standoff. Someone had to move first. Someone had to address the Wailord in the room. To break the silence before they sat there for eternity.

"Why…" Ash was the first one to break the silence. Adjusting his position on the couch so that he could fully turn to look at the girl in the eyes and give her his full attention. "I mean… Why didn't you tell me and Brock? Were you afraid that we would judge you or something? We… would be angry at you?"

The young man's voice was devoid of its usual soft and carefree tone, instead leaving a dry, almost raspy voice that was drenched in concern and hurt. The tone that her son spoke in made the woman's heart drop. Hearing her son be so cautious and trepid with his tone was always concerning.

"Why what, Ash?" Iris said dryly before clearing her throat with a small cough as she sat up fully and turned to smile at her friend. "I don't underst-"

"Iris. It's okay." Delia just couldn't take it anymore. Her son's clear hurt and the young girl's failure to admit that anything was wrong finally broke her. "You can be honest with us, Iris. It's okay. Please…" Delia pleaded with the young girl while tearing her hands away from absentmindedly resting them on Pikachu's head and bringing them to her chest.

The woman's voice holds nothing but empathy and understanding as she stares into the young girl's eyes. Finding that she was physically fighting herself to not get up and go lay a hand on the girl's shoulder, embrace her hands, hold the girl against her chest, to do something, anything to comfort the troubled child that her son had brought into her home. She needed to let the girl feel that there were people here that cared about her. That she was safe in this home. Oh Arceus above, did she even have a home…?

"Please, Iris. It'll be alright." Ash reassured the girl while reaffirming his mother's words. Leaning in and placing a hand on the girl's shoulder as he looks into her eyes with a soft expression. "We will understand."

"I…" The young girl gave a long pause while staring into the older boy's eyes, only to turn and look at the pleading mother on the other side of the room. "I'm sorry… I've been lying to you…" Iris said as her hands pulled apart and moved to rest on her knees.

The mother and son remain silent as they try to let Iris find the proper words and arrange her thoughts. Delia just glances at Ash and feels relieved that he is being so supportive of his friend. He had certainly grown into being a good person that Delia is proud of. Just uses the moment to admire her son's empathy and matureness before bringing her attention back to Iris.

"I haven't ever really… admitted this to anyone before but um…" The girl took a small breath, seemingly preparing herself for the point of no return as Delia got up and went to sit on the coffee table between the two couches so that she could be closer to the girl. "I wasn't born in Dragon Village. I was abandoned there."

There was a small pause as the girl probably couldn't find the correct words to say. She seemingly almost jumped out of her seat when Delia gently placed her hand on Iris' knee while Ash gave the girl's shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

"Take your time, dear. Don't worry about anything. Just let it all flow out. He and Ash aren't going anywhere and neither are you. I promise." Delia tried to comfort the girl while looking into her eyes, showing nothing but patience.

"Okay…" The girl said with a nervous expression before sighing and sitting up again as Pikachu jumped up onto her lap, allowing Iris to wrap her arms around him almost instinctively like she does Axew. "Yeah. I was abandoned there when I was about… two, I think? I could say my name apparently but that was it. I was taken in by the Elder but her health started to get bad when I was around 5 or something so I just got told to go play outside more and more… and more…"

The girl takes a shaky breath as she squeezes Pikachu to her chest, pausing the kind Pokemon to look up at her with a confused 'Pika?', causing Delia to reach out and pet his head to try and keep the Pokemon calm.

"Well… she got more and more weak. I eventually just stopped spending as much time with her. She was still kind to me and stuff, but I just spent less and less time in her house, I guess. Then it just started sleeping or taking reading lessons at the house… then only sleeping… then I just stopped going there to sleep and she didn't say anything. I just figured that it would be less trouble for her. She didn't say anything about it so I thought it was fine. I usually just went over to her house when it was raining or snowing and helped her make a fire or sit with her until I could go again."

The girl stopped for a moment to give a smile at them, a genuine one, this time, or so Delia hoped.

"But I spent so much time with all the Pokemon in and around the village! There were Deerlings, Swablu and Altaria, Minchino, and all sorts of others! It's how I met Excadrill too! Though he was just a Drilbur by then. I made so many friends and we had a lot of fun every day!"

There was a small pause as Iris thought about what to say next, though was interrupted by Delia speaking up first. Gently squeezing the girl's knee and speaking back with her usual smile and tone of voice, even if her chest felt like exploding on the inside. "And… what about human friends, dear? Were there any adults other than the Elder who helped take care of you or taught you things?"

"Hm… no, not really." Iris mumbled out eventually after thinking for a bit. "There was Shannon, of course, but nah… the other adults were too busy trying to become Dragon Masters and stuff. I get it, though. Trying to become a Dragon Master is hard! They were all too focused on their stuff or raising Pokemon to really notice me, which was fine."

Ash seemed to merely give a resolute nod at that before looking at his mother for some sort of guidance on what to say next. Delia just stared into her son's eyes in response as she thought. Surely the ENTIRE village couldn't all be trying to be Dragon Masters… that's not how a community works. Could it be that Iris is mistaken or simply not seeing the truth that the adults likely didn't care for her not because they were busy, but instead didn't care for the girl because they just didn't care about her? She will have to think about this later.

"So if you didn't really have any adult friends to help take care of you, where did you sleep when you didn't sleep at the Elders house? Delia asked cautiously, turning her attention back to the girl in front of her.

"Hm?" The girl looked at the woman like she had just made an incredibly puzzling remark before giving a big smile once again. "I slept outside! I really like to sleep up in trees but I sometimes went with Pokemon into a cave when it got really cold outside and I didn't want to bother the Elder. It felt so warm and nice to cuddle with all the Pokemon there at night." Iris said with a genuine smile on her lips as she was likely remembering what it felt like to be surrounded by the friendly Pokemon.

Delia wasn't smiling. Seeing the girl talk so nonchalantly about sleeping in a tree or outside in the cold not only made Delia feel empathy for the young girl, it made her furious. Feeling the hand that wasn't resting on Iris' knee clench so tight that her nails might have just pierced the palm of her hand. Looking over at Ash, he seemed to be still at that information. Perfectly still. Too still. Delia could only imagine what was running through her son's mind at that moment.

"Iris, dear." Delia prodded gently, trying to pull Iris away from her memories. "So…" She paused again, trying to ask this as delicately as she could while trying to be respectful of the girl and the people the girl seems to think highly of.

"They let you sleep outside in winter, right? Nobody came looking for you or told you to come back… and you slept outside… alone?" Delia tried to sound as gentle as she could, not letting her emotions take control of her or raise her voice at the person who was clearly the victim in the situation.

"Yeah. It was really cool. Sometimes I would go to sleep and wake up cuddled next to an entirely different Pokemon in the morning because some wake up earlier and some go to bed later than others. So I was never really alone, I woul-"

"But no human came to get you. That's what Mom is asking." Ash interrupted the girl, who just turned her head and cautiously shook it in response. She looked much more tense than she did a moment ago.

"Well, I was always safe with the Pokemon and they knew that I could handle myself. I had blankets and everything. I always came back to the village in the morning." Iris tried to reassure the concerned duo with a smile but quickly faltered as their expressions didn't change.

"Iris, it doesn't matter if you come back safe or not. What if you weren't safe? What if you had gotten hurt or lost or… or…"

"Snowed in." Ash followed up on his mother curtly with a serious look in his eyes that screamed past experiences. Delia would have to talk with him about that later…

"Yes, snowed in." Delia continued. "How old were you at this time, Iris?"

"I… I don't know," Iris stammered for a moment, her arms wrapping tightly around Pikachu as her head shrunk into her shoulders slightly. "Seven, I think. But-"

"A seven-year-old shouldn't be outside in the snow all alone, Iris. No 'buts'. It's cruel and it isn't right!" Iris pleaded with the little girl who's eyes widened in response to the woman's outburst. Even Ash looks over at her in seeming shock at her uncharacteristic outburst.

Delia just pulled her hand away from Iris' knee to adjust her hair which had come down some time ago. She tucked the loose strands of hair behind her ear and slowly got up to merely take a single stem over to the girl and get onto her knees in front of her. Gently reaching out and grabbing the girls' hands, pulling them so that her arms weren't wrapped around Pikachu anymore. She held the girls' hands together with her own hands draping over the orphan girl's while looking up into her red eyes.

"Iris. I need you to answer and answer me honestly. Do you have a home?" Delia spoke calmly while holding the girl's hands firmly with a concerned expression on her face.

"I… Of course, I do." Iris said while almost looking like she was trying to retreat from Delia's grasp. She looked to Ash for support but saw that he had the same, concerned expression as his mother. "I've been telling you about it this whole time. I'm from the Village of Dragons." Iris explained with an exasperated tone of voice.

"No, Iris. That isn't what I asked. I asked if you had a home, not where you are from." Delia corrected the girl gently. She tried to keep the girl calm by maintaining constant eye contact and trying to smile, though even Delia could feel her smile wavering by this point.

"Well, what the heck is the difference?!" Iris turned back to look at Delia with her brow furrowed and teeth clenched. The girl was getting stressed, and starting to feel cornered and confused.

"A home is a place where you are always welcomed." Delia began, her voice rising for emphasis as she squeezed Iris' hands tightly. "Where you can walk in and feel safe and warm. Where… Where you look forward to getting to after being away after a long time."

The woman leaned back a little bit with a small breath to try and calm down. She had gotten a bit heated there when she hadn't meant to. She closed her eyes and took a small breath before opening them again to look the girl in the eyes again. The poor girl seemed to be stunned as she quietly stared at the woman.

"Now, I ask again, Iris." Delia started calmly with a gentle expression. "Do you have a home?"

"Well… there's the Pokemon Center-" Iris started but stopped as Ash squeezed the girl's shoulder.

"Iris…" The older boy pleaded with his younger friend, causing the girl to look down at the ground with shame and shake her head.

"No… No, I don't. And I don't need one either! A Dragon is always on the move! And… is strong enough to feel safe anywhere. And… one day, I'm going to be as strong as a dragon… So I…" Iris stammered off a little, just looking into Delia's eyes again before her lip began to quiver slightly. "I don't have a home. Are you happy? N… now can I please go to bed? Please? I… don't want to keep talking about this anymore." The young girl pleaded quietly as her head fell to the floor.

Seeing the girl finally admit it made an icy chill run down the mother's spine. The girl's quiet, exhausted, almost defeated-sounding tone seemingly finally broke the mother. She just didn't know what to do anymore. Her mind was yelling- no- screaming at her to do something for the girl. Anything. Looked into the girl's red eyes to find the words to say, but just saw an exhausted girl who was desperate for the day to finally be over and longed for sleep. Finally, she let go of the girl's hands, only for the girl to immediately wrap her arms around the Pikachu sitting in her lap like the friendly Pokemon was some kind of stuffed animal after a bad dream or a life preserver in a storm.

"Okay…" Was all that escaped the mother's lips.