"Mum… Dad… don't wanna go…" Allister dug in his heels at the thought of getting into the unfamiliar looking vehicle. His family was on vacation in Galar, and his parents were trying to convince him to go on a sightseeing tour of the wild area.

"C'mon squirt. It will be fun!" Allister's father scooped him up and climbed into the corviknight taxi, trying to show the boy that it wasn't all that bad. However, it had the opposite effect as Allister began crying and escaped the cab, running into his mother's arms.

"It's okay, baby. Why don't we walk around for a bit and we'll try again in a few minutes?" Allister nodded and rested his head on his mother's shoulder, smiling when his forehead was kissed. His father emerged from the cab and joined the two.

"Allister, come take a look over here. It's part of a Galarian Corsola shell. These usually pop right off when they evolve into Cursola." Allister's father picked up the object from the lakeshore, rinsed it off, and handed it to his son. "Looks about as big as your head. You could probably wear that as a mask and it would be a perfect fit." Allister did just that, giggling when he could see perfectly out of it.

"Goofy little chap, aren't you? Let's go see if we can find some to fit me and your mother." Allister nodded and ran off, finding several more corsola shells before presenting them to his parents.

"Thank you sweetheart. These are lovely." Allister's mother picked him up once more and hugged him tightly.

"Allister, do you think you can try to get in the cab now? I promise we'll only be in the air for ten minutes."

"O-okay… w-want Mum…"

"We weren't going to leave without her. I promise." Allister's father reassured him, and Allister handed the extra shells to his mother, who slid them in the bag they carried around for any needs that Allister might have throughout the day. The boy took a seat in the middle of the cab, feeling much safer now that he had a parent to cling to on either side. Being an 'Allister sandwich' always made him feel better. "Great job Allister. When did you get to be such a big boy?"

"L-last week… I turned four…" Allister seemed to be proud of this fact.

"That's right! I know your grandparents and cousins are going to be excited to see you when we go visit next week. Do you remember where they live?"

"Kitikami… that's where you're from Dad… and Mum is from Galar… and we're visiting there now…" Allister clung to his father's arm as the cab began to rise into the sky. After the initial fear wore off and curiosity took over, he took a look out of the window and stared out in wonder. A sudden rumble in the distance made his stomach drop as he scrambled to get to his mother.

"It's just thunder, sweetheart. The pilot is going to start descending now so we won't get stuck in a storm. But it's rather odd since the forecast said today was going to be bright and sunny." Allister shuddered. He didn't like storms when they were far away in the sky while he was on the ground, so the proximity wasn't helping with his nerves. A sudden gust of wind made the cabin shake, which caused Allister to tremble.

"Mum… Dad… I'm scared…" Dark clouds were rolling in quickly, and lightning was starting to jump around the sky. A flash came particularly close to the cab and a scream was heard from both the Corviknight and the pilot, and the cab quickly began to plummet. Allister shut his eyes and clung to his parents as the cabin rapidly descended. He felt both parents hug him tightly, protecting him from every angle, and heard a loud crash.

"We love you Allister. You're going to be okay."

"Mummy? Daddy?" Allister got up and wandered around. He was… well he didn't know where he was. His surroundings were dark with a purple haze, and aside from not knowing where his parents were, he wasn't all that afraid. It was almost comforting as the chilly purple haze enveloped him, almost like it was giving him a hug.

"Allister, it's Mum. You're going to wake up soon. We won't be by your side, but I promise you'll be safe and you'll have someone to take care of you. We'll make sure of it. We love you dearly and we're very sorry for what happened."

The awakening back to reality was rather rude in the boy's opinion. Allister found himself in a brightly lit room, surrounded by strangers who were cutting off his clothes, sticking him with all sorts of medical instruments, and placing tubes all over his body. He realized that his head hurt horribly, and he started screaming while clutching it tightly.

"He's actually pulling through!"

"Don't celebrate yet. We still need to stabilize him." Trying to regain his senses, Allister looked around. He saw his parents standing nearby with sorrowful smiles on their faces, but for some reason they were floating around and slightly see through. There was too much going on in the room for him to process it all at once, but he caught a few snippets.

"-CPR-multiple rib fractures-skull fracture, no internal injury on scan- midline scar- likely heart surgery- healed- two adults dead on scene- pressure up- fluids-" Allister began to cry more and tried to escape the confines of the bed he was being wheeled around in. His parents were right there, and he believed they could save him from all these strangers that were torturing him in his eyes. After all, they said if he was ever being taken away by strangers, they told him all manners went out the window and to create the biggest scene possible.

"No. You're badly hurt and need to stay still." One of the nurses firmly stated.

"I w-want Daddy and Mummy…" The hospital staff exchanged nervous glances and said nothing as they continued doing their , Allister gave up on trying to escape and shut his eyes as the intensely bright lights were making his headache even worse. Gradually, the staff members left the room after they were done torturing him with a few more members entering the room.

"Do we have any information on this child at all? He's listed in the system as 'Unknown Onion' and it says his age is 123 years old."

"First responders found a bag among the wreckage. It was partially submerged so I don't know if there's going to be anything legible left in there." Allister reopened his eyes and became very distressed when his belongings were dumped out on a nearby table.

"There are some training pants and a sippy cup in here, so I'm guessing two or three years old. There's a nametag in here that says Allister, but the rest is too smudged to make out." After he saw his Chandelure plush and favorite blanket fall off the table and hit the floor, he started wailing and trying to get up again.

"No sweetie. You need to keep laying down so you don't hurt yourself even more. Your stuff is dirty from lake water and needs to be washed before you can have it." Not liking that answer, Allister began screaming at the top of his lungs and was even more adamant about wanting to get up.

"No. None of that. Can you tell me how old you are?" After being held down and realizing he wasn't going to win this battle, Allister shakily held up four fingers before covering his face with his arms.

"Alright. We'll try to go off of that information to see if you have any family in the region that is capable of caring for you."

Allister sat up in his hospital bed, his body aching and his heart heavy with sorrow. It had been nearly two weeks since the accident, and he still felt the physical and emotional pain. He quickly adjusted his mask, ensuring that no one could see him or the tears streaming down his face, before grabbing his blanket and making his way out into the hallway. As he walked, he overheard two nurses talking behind a rather tall counter.

"Did you hear about what caused the accident?"

"Yeah. It was two trainers having a battle in the wild area. One of them was using a Rain dance and Thunder combo. I can't imagine the amount of guilt those two trainers feel, not to mention the little boy that's all alone now. Any idea on what's going to happen to him?"

"They weren't able to locate any living relatives. There is a couple in Stow-on-Side that offered to take him in. They've been approved by Macro Cosmos child services. The only other choices would be orphanages or foster care, and he seems a bit too fragile for that."

"I don't know about that… Isn't that the couple that raised the current gym leader of Stow-on-Side? Bea doesn't exactly look like a happy child." Allister kept an eye on the employees from behind the counter, sneaking by when they weren't paying attention. He was bound and determined to get out of here and find out where his parents were and why they weren't coming to him when he needed them the most.

"Security alert. Patient elopement on the pediatric wing. Room 291." Allister jumped from the sudden noise and then took off running, confused how anyone spotted him, not aware of the cameras that were placed in the hospital hallways.

"Allister, come here sweetie. We need to clean you up and get you some breakfast so you're ready for your big day!"

After picking at his breakfast while eating none of it, Allister and his belongings were removed from the hospital room and he was loaded up onto a train. The hospital tried to arrange a Corviknight taxi ride as that would be the fastest route, but Allister put up a huge fuss given his recent trauma associated with them.

The walk from Hammerlocke to Stow-on-Side was agonizing for Allisters already hurting body, and he tried to hold back tears the best he could. What felt like hours later, the agent knocked on a townhouse door.

"Okay Allister, this is going to be your family. Make sure to be on your best behavior." Allister nodded, seeking refuge behind the man's leg as the door opened up to reveal a girl with short hair with a headband on. The stern looking expression sent a shiver down his spine and he retreated further. Allister had no idea what the agent was thinking, but his parents obviously weren't here and this was definitely not his family. Two taller figures approached from behind the girl and gave Allister a glimmer of false hope that was quickly dashed.

"Come here and introduce yourself." The loudness and depth of the man's voice scared Allister, and he began wailing. His crying only intensified as he was pried off of the semi familiar agent and placed in the entryway of the house. Even more panic set in when he saw a hand reaching towards his mask and he let out a shriek that would make the scariest banshee pokemon jealous. Allister had no idea why he didn't want anybody to look at him after the incident, but he was scared and the mask gave him a sense of security, and that's all that mattered to him. He heard the adults talk about him as he threw himself into the floor, face down, and continued to cry as his luggage was placed next to him. After he realized he had successfully driven everyone off, he quickly sought out a hiding spot where he could plot his escape. The gap under the couch would do nicely. Wiggling his way underneath, he spotted the girl again, and flinched when she knelt down to make eye contact.

Thankfully for him, the strange girl didn't try to grab him or drag him out from hiding like the hospital staff had during his stay there. Confusion overtook him as the girl in front of him sat down cross legged, closed her eyes, and started breathing deeply. Allister had never seen anyone do this. Was she trying to go to sleep? Surely she knew it would be much more comfortable to lay down. He made his way back out from under the couch and got as close as he dared. He leaned in when the girl suddenly opened her eyes. The unexpected eye contact caught him off guard and sent him scurrying to a new hiding spot, deciding under a different chair would be a good spot to simultaneously hide and observe his new surroundings. Eventually, the girl got up and left the house for seemingly no reason. Allister decided to come out of hiding and decided to grab his bag, taking his blanket out to rub against his face, its familiarity giving him a small amount of comfort.

"Allister. Blankets are meant to stay on the bed. They're not made to be toted around everywhere." Panic welled up in the boy's heart as his beloved blanket was snatched from him and disappeared down the hallway along with Bea's mother. His parents always told him he could take his blanket everywhere except for the outdoors or to the bathroom. Not wanting them to take anything else away, the boy grabbed his bag and hid away in a kitchen cabinet, moving aside various pots and pans to make space for himself deep in the cabinet where he hoped nobody would find him.

More than anything, he just wanted his parents to come get him, scoop him up in their arms, and tell him that things were okay and they were going back home. He instead hugged the Chandelure plush as closely as he could while closing his eyes, exhausted from how much crying he had done today.

"He couldn't have escaped the house. He's kind of puny so all of the locks are out of reach." Allister briefly lifted the mask to rub his eyes. He tensed up as he heard heavy, angry footsteps walk past the cabinets where he was hiding.

"There's a bag strap hanging out of the cabinet." The door opened and Allister tried to resist being forcefully dragged out. He flinched as he was squeezed around his ribcage and began to cry, not realizing his tears came through the mask as spectral matter. This startled Bea's father long enough for him to wiggle free and escape elsewhere.

"Allister, you need to come here right this second!" Allister, terrified and obviously not going to listen, ran into the bathroom and hid inside of a clothes basket, covering himself in the dirty laundry. Angry footsteps continued throughout the house, and Allister panicked as the basket was tipped over and he was grabbed by the arm. "You're being extremely troublesome. If you want to live in our house, then you need to respect us and listen to us." Allister tried to pull away and was surprised when he felt a slap to his back. His parents never hit him, even when he was misbehaving. Usually his parents would make him sit on a step or in a corner after explaining why what he did was wrong. If it came down to it, he would occasionally lose a toy or outside time. After being shocked by the sudden infliction of pain, Allister silently followed Bea's father.

"Get changed into this." Allister's mother practically threw a wad of cloth at him, and he looked confused. "That's your Gi. Be ready in ten minutes so you can get started with practice." He attempted to get dressed, and the clothes were way too big on his slender frame. He tried to return to the main area of the house, stopping every few steps to pull his pants back up. He was still nervous, and hid in the hallway as Bea's parents shuffled his hospital packet and talked.

"The adoption agency didn't tell us any of this. I wasn't expecting to have to raise a special needs child."

"They were probably desperate to get him placed. With enough discipline, we can raise him correctly and try to fix some of those issues." Allister got a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, but approached the two, not wanting to get smacked around again. "There you are. We'll get started outside."

Allister lay in his bed that was way too big for his liking, shivering. He was hurting even worse now that Bea's parents had forced him to run laps around the house and made him attempt to lift objects that were far too heavy for his small frame. He didn't even get a bath after becoming covered in dirt and his own sweat, instead they had turned the shower on and told him to clean himself up. The water was way too cold and he couldn't reach the soap anyways, so he just felt worse with being frigid, damp, and still quite filthy. As well as terrified since the room was pitch black, and he could see eerie ethereal figures floating around the house. None of them were pokemon or people that he recognized, so he just bundled himself in his blanket and tried his best to sleep.

It felt like hours of tossing and turning and he still wasn't able to relax enough for a good night's rest. He saw a faint light down the hallway and decided to go to it, making sure to bring his beloved blanket with him. This bedroom was a stark contrast to his own, feeling overall much cozier, with a bedside lamp emitting a warm light over a well cushioned bed, and there was a nearby desk with some fighting type pokemon figures on display. Even better, he could see an open bag of candy sticking out from under the bed, and he quickly ate a few handfuls, enjoying the sweet treat after refusing to eat his dinner.

"What are you doing?" Allister jumped, not expecting anyone to be right behind him. It was the girl with the headband. What was her name again? Was it Bean? Beep? Regardless of her name, she looked rather miffed about Allister's presence. He quickly scurried back off to his room and hid under the bed. The girl was the only one in the house yet to hurt him, but he wasn't taking a chance. His heart raced with fear as it was accompanied by his shallow breathing. The girl's footsteps were coming towards his room and she crouched down beside the bed, steely gray eyes meeting violet. He shut his eyes quickly, not liking how intensely he was being stared at and started to shake, expecting a slap like when he had sat down and cried during the middle of his training. When no pain came, he was surprised to see a few pieces of candy on his blanket that he left behind, and said blanket was being shoved under the bed. He looked at the girl's expression again. It still looked angry, but she was pressing one of her fingers against her lip.

"My parents don't let me have sugary treats either. If you promise not to tell them about this, I won't mention that you're up so late." Allister nodded, not planning on tattling when he was too scared to have a basic conversation. Still this experience scared him half to death as the girl left the room without another word. Allister thought it was odd how her expression had never changed from anger, even when she was doing what he would consider a kind thing. Still scared and confused, he curled up under the bed, sleep finally coming easily to him.

Days turned into weeks, and Allister felt more scared by the second. It was a cycle of being forced to do exercises that exceeded his physical and mental limitations, Bea's parents attempting to force feed him food he was disgusted by or even feared to some degree, getting smacked around by Bea's parents for no apparent reason, and crying his heart out, feeling all the more miserable with each passing day. Bea had been a bystander more than anything else and although he didn't quite fear her, Allister was still rather uncomfortable with the teen.

One day, Bea's parents decided they were going on a family outing, which was probably going to be an hours-long hike in disguise. Allister definitely didn't want to go and made his opinion known through a tantrum the second it was proposed. He felt weak and incredibly dizzy, certainly in no condition to walk. Regardless, he knew nobody in that household would carry him, even if he asked, and staying home alone was apparently not an option for the four year old, so there he stayed lagging behind everyone else.

The path down to Stow-on-Side was uneven due to several jagged rocks, and Allister felt worse the longer he continued on. He eventually stumbled and fell, and felt his leg get slashed open. Laying there crying, he wished that he wasn't with these people that didn't care about him the way his parents did. He eventually flinched as Bea walked over to him and offered him a hand.

"Allister, I'm not going to hurt you. We need to get you to the pokemon center to get this cleaned out and check if you broke anything. I need you to try to stand up, and if you can't, I can carry you. Come on." Allister shook his head and lifted his arms up, but flinched when Bea touched him, not used to friendly contact after getting hurt so many times between the rigorous training sessions and what Bea's parents considered discipline. "You do want to be carried, right? I don't want to upset you and I can tell you didn't like that just now."

Allister nodded and laid his head on Bea's shoulder, exhausted. Now that he thought about it, this was the closest thing to a hug that he had ever since the day his parents disappeared. He heard Bea talking with her parents, but he was almost dozing and didn't process a single thing that was said to him or about him. That changed when familiar fluorescent lights came into view, and Allister started trembling and trying to escape. There was no way he was going to allow himself to get poked and prodded beyond his limits again.

The whining began as soon as he felt a stinging sensation on his leg, escalating into screams as he felt his wounds getting sewn up while Bea held him in place. Angered and afraid, he refused to acknowledge the fact he'd been given a lollipop for his forced cooperation. He felt a gentle hand on his head and saw the ghostly figures of his parents smiling down at him as Bea and Nurse Joy continued to chat.

"We found someone to take care of you, Allister."

"Be good for your big sister, okay?" Allister's lip wobbled as his parents faded away again, and a few tears slid out, but he wrapped his arms around Bea's shoulders. He panicked a bit when Bea set him down on the floor of the pokemon center, and tried his best to keep up as she exited the building. She took a seat on a nearby crate in an alley and lifted him next to her once he caught up.

"Allister, I think I need to have a talk with you. You aren't in trouble, but I need to tell you a few things. I have no idea how to start this, so I'm going to cut to the chase. I'm sorry that I've either been mean or ignoring you when you've been upset for the past several weeks and I want to be a better sibling to you now. But I'm clueless when it comes to these things, so I'll need you to at least give me hints on if you want or need something. I want to be a good sister as opposed to one you just have to live with." Bea offered him a handshake, and Allister crawled onto her lap for a hug instead.

"Th-thanks…."