Warnings: Minor alcohol reference

Pasta Dinners and Promises

I do not own Pokémon

Zoelle sat awkwardly at her desk as the officers began searching the room. It was not like she was a criminal or anything, so it seems unnecessary. Mr. Oda assured her everything would be alright while Ms. Norton stood beside her.

"These pictures are nice Ms. Morris. It's good to see the kids staying in the lines mostly," Officer one stated.

"Indeed. However, let's cut to the chase. What happened today is not your fault. That doesn't mean I still have questions about the school's safety," Officer two added. "We have been having multiple incidents of pets and other small pokemon disappearing from the area. Apparently from the same flock you followed today. The police department is going to be working with some Rangers to help us figure out the cause."

"If I may interject," Oda started, "it seems something has changed the migration pattern of the spearows. Climate change perhaps? Either way it is worrisome to know that we have a problem going on."

"Director Oda, again I suggest you shut down the whole school for the rest of the week and maybe next week until we can find out what's going on."

"What about the kid's education? It's a little last minute to try to set up online courses."

"I suggest you figure it out." Officer Two sneered as he and the other cop left the room.

Sighing, Oda turned to look at the two teachers. He instructed them both to go home to get some rest. Once they left, he made sure all staff members were gone for the day before he locked up. He began walking to his private office just to have peace of mind.

On his way he saw Zoelle coming out of the local mart with a small single paper bag in tote. Looking ashamed she tried to hide her bag behind her back. By her reaction Oda guessed it something a bit stronger than your average soda.

"Did you at least buy two?" He asked.

"No, sorry. But if it's any consolation it's just hard lemonade. You can barely taste the alcohol." Zoelle replied sheepishly.

"I prefer something stronger than that. But as an educator and a young person I think its fine as long as you're not drinking on the job."

"Mr. Oda I'm sorry about what happened today! I…"

Oda cut her off before Zoelle could finish. He once again assured her that it was not her fault and that things happened. Oda did have to admit that a wild fearow scooping up a child is a little unusual within towns. The middle-aged man offered to walk the young woman home. Luckily, she accepted it. After all he was paying for the place.

When they reached the apartment Zoelle invited Mr. Oda in for at least a bottle of water. He graciously took the offer as he looked around the place. It was still decorated quite simply, although his wife felt it should have more flair. Chuckling at the thought he was glad that his wife knew how important it is to try to reconnect with Zoelle.

Looking back, he should have been there more for her and Honor, yet he was always busy trying to live out his own dreams and take care of Honor's other siblings as well. He wished that all of them grew up in the same house. But he was grateful that despite everything, the kids got along, mostly. It was the mothers that could not stand each other. It was Oda's fault he admits that trying to have more than one girlfriend at a time was a bit too much to handle for a young lad.

"Mr. Oda would you like something to drink? I need to go to the store to buy some more water." Zoelle informed, knocking him out of his thoughts.

"Milk if you have any," he replied.

"Milk?"

"Yes, preferably two percent if you have it. I find it rather calming when I try to stay away from the stronger stuff," He chuckled.

"I do have some. I tend to drink it myself sometimes willingly. My grandmother said I got that trait from my biological grandfather."

"Does she ever talk about him?"

"Hmm last time she talked about him, she said he was a good for nothing playboy that she fell in love with." Zoelle said as she poured the older man a glass. "Apparently, he was he two other girlfriends while they were dating. And she wouldn't have cared to be in a polygamist relationship if it wasn't for some 'dark haired psychic psycho'. But I have not really talked to her much over the past years. When we do talk it becomes an argument…. well, more like her disapproval of me."

"Was it always like that?" Mr. Oda curiously asked.

"No. It slowly started to happen when my parents died. Then after my grandfather died it went into full force." With that, Zoelle took a huge gulp of her lemonade.

Before the director could ask another question there was a knock on the door. The young woman excused herself while he took a sip of his drink. Deep in his thoughts, he did not pay attention to who was at the door. He just kept reflecting on how much time he missed. He had ample opportunities to connect with Zoelle. It was his own cowardice that kept him from her.

"Mr. Oda? Hello earth to bossman." A familiar accent voiced concern.

"Oh, my apologies...Mr. Garcia!?" he asked, obviously shocked.

"Yeah. Ms. Zo and I occasionally hang out with each other, being neighbors and all. Don't worry we are not dating," Garcia assured. However, as a man, Oda could tell when there was something more to it. Sure, his mouth said one thing, but his body language said another. His fatherly instincts slowly begin to creep in.

"Do you intend to date her?" the older man inquired raising an eyebrow.

"I do intend to battle her one day," Garcia replied mustering up a straight face. He couldn't deny his attraction to Zoelle, and he knew she was attracted to him. Although she just saw him as a friend for the moment and he was okay with that.

Just like Ms. Norton he also noticed the change with Mr. Oda around Zoelle. And their similar features. They both had almond shaped eyes. Except their boss was green while hers was a light brownish color. Oda constantly carried a protective yet sad aura around him whenever he was close to her. Was he Zoelle's father? Could she be a result of lovechild?

"Well, you're both adults so I guess it doesn't really matter. Keep in mind that you guys are co-workers." He sighed, relaxing himself again. "You work on opposite sides of the school anyway."

"It's nothing like that Mr. Oda. "We're just friends," Zoelle explained as she let out Rogue to walk out. "You guys are free to let out your pokemon if you want. I'm going to make dinner."

"What are you making?" Garcia asked.

"Pork and spinach pasta. My dad used to make it anytime he had to cook. I finally made enough money to buy meat!"

Chuckling at her enthusiasm Mr. Oda let out his raichu and Garcia let out Diablo. Noticing the electric mouse pokemon, Rogue scoffed. He still felt some type of way of losing to her in such an embarrassing way. Yet that was his and Zoelle's overconfidence thinking they could beat the older team.

Smiling, Raichu gave him a pat on his, causing him to bite her paw. Not even the slightest bit angry the older pokemon smacked him with her tail. Slightly amused, Diablo watched to see what the electric fox was going to do next. To his disappointment, it was nothing.

"You youngins keep me energized that's for sure," Raichu smiled. "You should be proud of yourself Jolteon you almost took me down."

"My name is Rogue. Don't worry I'll defeat you next time." Rouge smirked.

Smiling back Raichu began conversing with the canine pokemon while the humans talked. Oda chatted about the situation with the school. Garcia suggested instead of closing the school just attend school half of the day so they would not miss out on any education. For now, he decided to close the school for the rest of the week. He concluded that he will email all staff and parents about what he will do next week.

"Alright everyone food is ready!" Zoelle called out. She first served Mr. Oda and poured him another glass of milk. She gave a serving to Garcia while also feeding berries to the pokemon.

"Wow this is amazing!" Oda exclaimed. "I should have hired you as an extra lunch lady instead."

"Si, this is the best meal we had yet," Garcia agreed.

"How often do you guys have dinner together?"

"At least twice a week if we're not too busy lesson planning."

Oda raised an eyebrow as once again his fatherly instincts begin to kick in again. He was tempted to ask if they sleep at each other's place. He noticed that she was on a first name basis with him and was quite comfortable. Comfortable enough that even Garcia's houndoom nuzzled around Zoelle's leg while she ate. Hoping for a crumb to drop. However, he was glad Zoelle is making true friends.

While making lesson plans for next week Zoelle still could not shake that today's events were her fault. Had she watched the kids better maybe that fearow wouldn't have taken Aoki. Having Mr. Oda and Dario did make her feel better for a while, but it began to wear off. Maybe this teaching thing wasn't a good idea.

Hearing a knock on the door, got the brown skinned woman out of her thoughts.

"Who is it?" she asked, wondering who it could be at this hour. She peeped out through the door. It was a young man, well teenager with black hair and bluish eyes like Aoki's. Cautiously she opened the door.

"Thank you for saving my sister," he bowed. "I just came home not too long ago when I heard the news. She said she was being brave like I taught her. She also said that Rebel and Rogue helped rescue her as well. Though I do not know who they are."

"They're my charizard and jolteon respectively. I'm guessing you're Aoki's brother. She's always talking about you. How did you know where I live?" Zoelle asked cautiously as Rogue appeared at her heel ready to attack at any moment.

"A man at the hospital told me." The boy answered.

"What man?"

"Well, he was a little bit older than you. Quite tall, and he has red eyes like shining rubies and midnight black hair. He said he was an old friend of yours."

Hearing this information Zoelle began to breathe heavily. How did HE know she was here? Was she even safe anymore? Did her grandmother and great aunt send him after her again? Does that mean he knows where she works? The only comforting thought she had been that he would not harm the children. But would he harm her in front of the children?

Rogue lowered his ears and began to shake in fear. And it takes a lot for him to be scared. Regal said HE was close but didn't think this close. Like Zoelle he began to worry about him showing up at the school with the human cubs. HE was the only obstacle they cannot overcome no matter how hard they tried.

Calming herself down. Zoelle instructed the boy to go home. Once he left, she locked the door and turned off her lights. For extra security she released Regal and Romeo. Rogue informed them of the situation. The humanoid stood by the door while his four-legged friends guarded the windows. No way they were not letting that man come close to their trainer.

Since the school was closed for the rest of the week, Zoelle decided to head to the store to pick up more groceries. At her heel Regal watched everything cautiously. Knowing HE was closer than they realized the team started to act more seriously. He stayed on patrol longer than usual just to make sure that man was nowhere near their home. It was stressful to know that he knew where they were staying.

Arriving at the store Regal was left outside due to him a little above size limit allowed. Zoelle, however, despite knowing what she knows, shopped casually. She went towards the pasta aisle for she had a craving for spaghetti for dinner. She also needed to pick up more cleaning supplies and food for her team while she was there. Reaching to get the ingredients she needed, the young woman heard a familiar voice.

"Ms. Zo what you doin here?" asked the purple-haired girl. Guess her injuries were not too serious.

"Getting things for my house Aoki. What are you doing here?" Zoelle asked.

"You don't live at the school? Oh yeah let me show you something cool!" Aoki exclaimed, showing her knee. It was jigglypuff band-aid. "The doctors gave it to me when they finished the explanations."

"Examination, "Zoelle gently corrected.

"Exclamation?"

" Ig-zam-uh-ney-shuhn." The young teacher sounded it out to help the young girl say the right word. As a teacher of young kids barely out of their toddler hood, she could decipher what they were trying to say. It was also hard for them to understand what she was saying because she mostly used Hoenn dialect and dictation when she spoke. The only one who kind of understood her was Spinda and that was because his dad was also from Hoenn.

"Geesh it's a day off. Can you turn off teacher mode?" Aoki's mother jokes coming behind the young girl. Like her daughter she acted as if nothing happened yesterday. "I heard the pokemon rangers are going to do some investigation. Once again, I cannot thank you enough. Things could've turned out much differently if you hadn't been there, Ms. Zo.

Zoelle looked away in embarrassment not knowing what to say. Seeing this the older lady gave her a reassuring smile. She informed the teacher that physically Aoki just had a small cut on her leg that wasn't deep. And she also informed her that her daughter wanted to go catch the wild fearow as revenge.

Feeling better about the situation, Zoelle finished her shopping with her student and mother. When it was time to check out Aoki's mother insisted to pay for the brown skin woman stuff as well. Trying to refuse the older lady still paid anyway. The combined total was way too much and Zoelle was calculating on how much her stuff cost.

"Don't worry about trying to pay me back Ms. Zo," Aoki's mother said as she released a machoke. She was wondering how the lady was going to carry all the groceries between her and her child. "You saved my child's life. You can't put a price on that."

With that said both parties went their separate ways. Regal was slightly disappointed that Aoki didn't pet him, just kept at his trainer's side. He could sense a huge shift in Zoelle's attitude. She was smiling again.

"I'm glad you're feeling better Zo," Dario said as he slurped up the spaghetti noodles. Today he let out Sugar to keep Regal company as they also became good friends. Both were eating and Zoelle snuck a couple of meatballs into their food.

"Yeah, I usually try to avoid students on my day off but seeing Aoki not seriously hurt eased my heart. I do have lesson plans sorted out for next week though. Using this time off to get ahead really helps. I'm thinking about going over basic safety again and working more on language skills," Zoelle explained.

"I'm incorporating more reading and math skills in my lessons. Along with battle strategies. In Orre our main method of battling is doubles. So strategizing is my strength. So, for my kids that plan on becoming coordinators appreciate it more than my kids going the gym route isn't that something," The Orre native laughed at the irony.

As the teachers talked the two feline pokemon licked their paws after they finished eating. Regal figured he would take a quick nap before he patrolled for the night. However, with Sugar there he doubts that would happen. She was good company albeit a bit annoying at times. She was more willing to play than anything else where he likes to think of himself as more refined. The prim feline had the ability to bring out his more playful side better than his teammates. It was quite strange really.

He yawned and began to lay in his favorite spot on the floor next to couch to take a nap. Sugar made herself comfortable to cuddle next to him. If it was someone else and to some degree, his teammates, he would have hissed at them to go away. Not her. She was safe, not a threat at all. Too safe for his own comfort yet welcomed it.

Noticing this, Zoelle took a picture with her phone debating about uploading it onto her social media pages. She didn't have many followers to begin with but who cares. Dario prefers to keep the moment to himself wondering why Zoelle's pokemon constantly keep their guard up. The first time he came to her unit he noticed the barely visible scar on back due to her semi-reveling clothes.

He wanted to ask but felt like it was too personal to ask. Dario felt like they knew each other well enough yet was still cautious to ask her. A scar that big must have come from some type of situation. Did someone do that to her? It would explain why Regal was in defense mode when he came over the first time.

"Hey Zoelle," Dario began, "is there something you're afraid of?"

"I used to be terrified of psychic pokemon until I had an espeon. But when it comes to abra and drowzee line I'm more cautious. Not really a big fan of heights even though I stay flying on pokemon. And thunderstorms to a degree. Why?" Zoelle replied confused as she started on the dishes.

"Did someone hurt you with psychic pokemon? Specifically, those you mentioned."

Stopping, she realized she said too much without thought. What should say? Should she tell him the whole truth about her fear? Should she say that she's in possible real danger? Could she trust him with such information.

Noticing her getting quiet, Dario helped her with the dishes as usual. Assuring her she doesn't have to tell him if she isn't comfortable. Appreciating the kind words, they both finished cleaning the kitchen and decided to find a movie to watch. The two felines were still asleep. Usually, Regal would have managed to sneak out of the apartment by now. Instead, he slept.

"Hey Dario, before we watch a movie, I do have a request," Zoelle mumbled. "My pokemon are exhausted and I was wondering if I can borrow one of your pokemon to keep watch for tonight. I promise I will tell you everything one day, but I just need this one favor."

"Amiga I'm here for you. Whoever or whatever has you scared I'll protect you. I've noticed when we first began to hang out that your pokemon are ultra protective of you. If you have any extra blankets I can stay overnight."

"Wouldn't that be suspicious for you to spend the night?" the young woman asked worried.

The Orre native grabbed Zoelle's hand and looked her in the eyes. He gave her a pinky promise to protect her. For the first time in her life, she felt the comfort of a friend. Sure, she became acquainted with people, she just never really befriended anyone during her journeys. Zoelle also had another strange feeling towards the man. His golden eyes seemed to shine in the light and his hair was in a low ponytail this evening. She never denied his attractiveness, yet this was something different. Something new.

"Ms. Zo so me and Igglybuff going to capture fearow and use it in the contest coming up. Make it pay for kidnapping me!" Aoki exclaimed loudly. It was too early in the morning for this. But the teacher was glad she wasn't too traumatized.

Speaking of the contest it was happening on Friday and she wasn't sure if they were still going after the incident.

"Ms. Zo are you going to enter the contest?" Jace asked sweetly.

"Who's gonna keep you kids out of trouble?" Zoelle rebutted.

"My mommy said she's going to come with us. She said there's no reason to trust a dirty ugly mutt who can't speak the language properly on a field trip," Nora repeated unknowing what she said was offensive.

Now Zoelle figured out why Nora's parents were the only ones who didn't like her. And it's not that she couldn't speak the language, she just said her words differently. She cannot help but her mother's tongue is different than the Kanto and/or Johto dialect. Zoelle just feared that poor little Nora would grow up with her mother's sentiments. She was already partially bullied in Hoenn for a bit because of her heritage from her dad side. But the one time she spoke her dad's native tongue everyone wanted to be her friend.

Heck even her time in Kalos in her younger years she didn't make a friend as a child either because her dad was famous there. The real pain came from her mother's family. Her great aunt, her grandmother's sister, always talked about her in disgust. Always calling her a mutt. Making Zoelle feel unwanted. Luckily for the young woman, her mother always came to her defense and never brought her around much. But once her grandmother took custody, it was a different story.

" Did my mommy say something bad?" Nora asked innocently. "She said it very mean when I heard her talking about it."

"Well, what your mother said is very mean. It can hurt people like me and can put us in very weird situations. Like how pokemon are different people are different too. Sometimes two different people come together to make something new." Zoelle explained as best she could.

"Well Ms. Zo I think you're very pretty. I like how fluffy your hair is. I wish mine was fluffy too." Nora smiled. "You should put on a princess dress and enter the contest."

"Why a princess dress and what pokemon should I use?"

"Use Romeo in the appeal round and use Ravage in the battle round!" Sammy interjected.

"I think she should use Roscoe for both," Lily said.

"No way Rebel cuz he's cool!" Jace added.

Before the kids began to argue even more Zoelle intervened, "Alright kids I promise to enter the contest if you guys behave well this week."

"Will you battle the gym leader too?" Jackson asked surprisingly. "You did contest and gyms right?"

"Jeez you kids won't let me catch a break, will ya?" the young teacher laughed. "If I can get permission to challenge the gym leader, you guys can come."

"Really?" The kids asked with stars in their eyes.

"I promise."

I decided to rewrite this chapter because I didn't like how I wrote the other one. And I'm inconsisitent with updates as well lol