Leaf

  —

  "Is there a decent reason we're going to Lavender Town? There's no Gym there!" Erin smirked at me… which, of course, turned into a pout an instant later as she was poked.

  "I thought we were following the path you took… before?" Alex was just as confused as me. Why would we need to go to Saffron City tomorrow? I thought that came later?

  Erin just shrugged as we sat in our Center room. We were taking a nice day to do nothing, which… We'd had a few of those, I guess, but Ride Basket's, Leto, and Rock Polish made distance and travel time not a huge issue. Hope was coming back tonight as well, so we would wait.

  "Well, I'm not following it exactly. I certainly didn't get onto a cruise ship, steal everything in sight, beat everyone up, and then get off before it even left the dock. I also refuse to enter Diglett's Tunnel, and the only reason to do that would be… stuff that doesn't exist. Rock Tunnel is where we should be going… Personally, though?" She looked a little pale. "I'll go into one if I have to, sure, but I'd rather not go back into a cave if I have any choice…"

  I winced as she said that. Yeah… I was perfectly fine with that, myself, now that I thought about it… I'd do it, but not if I had the option…

  Alex sounded so confused, though.

  "Diglett's Tunnel?" Yeah, actually! Erin looked confused, too.

  "Yeah? There was a path that took you basically from Vermilion to Route 2 made by wild Diglett and Dugtrio… Now that I think about it, yeah, that probably doesn't exist in reality…" I would hope not! That sounded very long and unstable!

  "So if I'm going to skip some areas, I might as well skip those, or just Rock Tunnel I guess, and Saffron isn't closed off, so yeah. Route Eight to Lavender Town…" She began to frown and I sighed.

  "What is it now, sis? What grand revelation have you had?" She glared- I loved Dexter! He turns everything into a pout!

  "Nothing! I mean… I'm not sure what we're going to do there, but we have time. In the game there was a ghost, not a ghost type… there were Team Rocket at the top, but I highly doubt they'll be there now… I guess we're just sightseeing? Maybe pay some respects? Not like I know any of the Pokemon there, but…" She trailed off and I smiled.

  "We can do that! Even with the delays we are doing fine for time, and I get the feeling we might walk there, but we're going to be riding back." Erin smiled and nodded, even as Alex looked resigned.

  "We're going to Celadon afterwards, by the way."

  Celadon, the opposite way that we were planning on traveling…

  We both glared at her.

  I could order her to change her mind… Nah. We were going to follow her path anyway… I was supposed to be leading though… but I had agreed to this before we even left the Ranch…

  "Maybe we… skip Lavender Town?"

  She sighed. Heavily. She didn't glare, though.

  She didn't nod, either…

  —

  Patricia Greenwood

  —

  Life at the Ranch had changed, that was for sure. Oh, I still got up before the sunrise, and I still watched it with Maddy, Alfred and Lucy… I also watched it with a Dragonite. Not Lance's, and a bit smaller, but he was happy for the change of scenery, and our quick access to the ocean, not that speed was something any Dragonite lacked. His Dragonair partner was still in the pond, along with Gyarados, Kingdra, and five Dratini that had also come here from the Aerie! Why Dratini, when they were supposed to be helping me guard the place? Who knows? Probably just so they had their kids with them, I assumed.

  I also enjoyed the sunrise with the two Meowstic from Looker.

  Alakazam had not been lying about them. Not in the least! They were quite professional, from what I could tell, but they were fiercely independent, and the female? She was intensely demanding of me… Or she had been until Alfred glared at her. Him and Maddy, Wukong, the Dragonite…

  They weren't necessarily less intense now, but they had certainly adjusted to life here. They had crafted their own little den in the backyard with supplies I bought them, and generally just… lazed around. They were always scanning for new minds that came close, apparently, but they certainly looked lazy. They were big fans of coffee, though, along with the occasional sweet, and they sat on the table together sipping from tiny mugs.

  I also enjoyed the sunrise with the small murder of Murkrow and the flock of Zubat who had just come back from our forest. They liked to stand and hang on the fence, roof, everywhere for a while, until the sun fully came up. They couldn't hunt anything but insects, of course, but I wasn't going to deny them some exploration and flight! They were allowed to go beyond our walls, but most preferred not to, reasonably, even if the Ranch was decently large. I had actually reached out to the same construction crew as before, and soon the perimeter wall would be expanded, almost doubling the amount of private forest we had.

  Occasionally Maddy would take them on a long morning or evening flight, sometimes with Dragonite- this Dragonite (I need to name him! Lance needs to name his Dragonite!), but in general they were fine with just… not being in Team Rocket anymore, and enjoying the freedom, as much as I could allow the poor things.

  My other sunrise-watchers couldn't agree more.

  Koffing, now named Honey, was joined by twenty three of her fellows, along with two very, very sad Weezing. Hopefully she could help lead them through their own issues with the help of the Indeedee, because once again, I found myself not caring what Erin did to Team Rocket after I had finally interviewed and bound all of them. Maybe she was too kind, just killing some of them…

  No, that wasn't me… Maybe she should poison her blades, so the ones she maims die for sure, too? I didn't want to torture them… I just thought that, alive, they were a waste of perfectly good oxygen. Let them come back, try to be a better person next time…

  In all honesty, I would need to add some fans or something to the backyard, just to keep the buildup of fumes from getting overwhelming… Honey didn't have a bad smell, but it wasn't a good one either, and this many Koffing? Not to mention the stronger smelling Weezing?

  I would be buying fans, actually… They could deal with the breeze…

  I felt horrible for the ten Grimer and one sad Muk, but they were in quarantine right now. Smell quarantine. They were being fed nothing but vegetables and fruits, and after another two weeks or so they could come out of the hastily constructed bunker I'd had to order made. They would still smell horribly, but they wouldn't make the rest of us vomit, either.

  Again.

  I actually really looked forward to it, because that Muk? Very sad, but very, very friendly, and Alfred had quite liked him… He would still reek, though, even worse than the Grimer…

  Maybe Erin could tell me how she turned her nose off?

  I spent that morning trying to relax before the day started… It was hard, though. I had no real reason to be stressed, not really, I just felt stressed. I had food for the rescues, had even ordered extra just to get through this little rough patch with no worries. Wukong and Maddy had been enthusiastic about hunting more, and apparently I was already well known to the Rangers. It would explain why they'd had a list of approved species to hunt, where to hunt them, and how many we could harvest a week already prepared and ready to send me when I contacted them about the increased hunting.

  Petals had been stressed out as she, and the rest of the rescues, had planted as many crops as possible before I had gotten back. It had surprised me to hear Mrs. Maple tell me that, but apparently when she had told Petals my instructions, the rescues had heard. Mrs. Maple wasn't their trainer, but they had enthusiastically helped dig the plots for Petals to plant at her instruction. Petals had been mildly upset with me for the entire thing, but when she had seen Gyarados and Kingdra she had forgiven me entirely.

  Apparently she was a gardener, not a waterer… She would water the crops not on the hill, and had, but she didn't like doing it. Fair enough, she could just use Growth on crops and I would have been happy.

  Wukong was, as usual, my signal to start the day. He woke up with a growl of pure rage most days, and it was loud enough to hear out here. That woke up the horde of Rattata clumped around the ten Raticate in Leto's old corner of the backyard, plus the huge pile of Ekans surrounding eight Arbok. I had offered to make them, and all of the species that had a lot of individuals, separate rooms, almost dorms. I had even found a lovely blueprint for a sort of 'house' designed specifically for the Rattata, with little tubes and wheels and everything, but no. None had wanted something like that, not yet, at least…

  They didn't like being 'penned in'...

  Wukongs greeting would also wake up the other two avians on my Ranch. They had made a large nest on my roof, and I planned to build them an alcove of some sort for the rain.

  Skarmory were intimidating Pokemon, no doubt about that. Both were quite relieved to be out of Team Rocket, but they had adjusted to this life the least out of all the rescues… I didn't blame them, not really. There were only two of them, but they were a mated pair now, so possibly not for long? The Indeedee tried to get to them at least once a day, because Skarmory were predators, even more than most of the rescues. They didn't like being fed all the time…

  I was considering letting Maddy and Dragonite take them on hunts, since I could allow them to hunt at my direct order… I would think about it, though. We had never tested the binding like that before, and even if it should have been fine… I wanted to be there for the first time. I still worried…

  The twelve Meowth were more than happy to laze around the yard, the Ranch, the house, and while it would take longer to get to that point, they had seemed enthusiastic about possibly being House Pokemon. They had almost fought with the Meowstic, well, threat displayed since they couldn't fight. That had been easily staved off, however.

  The female Meowstic had telepathically asked if I needed every tree in our forest, and when I had given her a confused shake of my head, she had turned around, unfolded her ears, ripped a tree right out of the ground, and shredded it with the help of her mate. In midair. Still holding it mostly in shape as she did. She then let the 'tree' drop. Most of it had floated away in the breeze, however.

  The Meowth barely looked at them anymore. I had certainly been happy to see the demonstration of power. A little startled, sure, but much more enthusiastic. Lets see Team Rocket try to sneak into my Ranch…

  The sun would see the Oddish, Gloom and three Vileplume retreat to the forest to bury themselves in shade, and I was honestly grateful. They didn't smell nearly as bad as Petals had as a Gloom, mainly because they weren't trying to be as smelly as possible, or stressing themselves out in the sunlight all day, but they still had an odor. It was getting better and better as they relaxed here, however, so I wasn't worried about the smell in the long term.

  The Grimer and Muk would be more than enough to worry about by themselves.

  The Bellsprout, Weepinbell, and two very happy Victreebel would more or less switch places with the Oddish line as they woke up, and they were enthusiastic about being pest control for all of the crops. They still had to be fed, though, because between them and the Zubat, there weren't that many insects that survived long in the Ranch. The Victreebel were ecstatic about being freed, and seemed to simply enjoy the safety and calmness of the Ranch. They didn't mind not 'hunting' prey as long as they were fed, either. I actually had to watch out for them, not because they would, or could, hurt me, but because they were simply enthusiastic in their affection. Also five feet tall, even if they weren't heavy at all!

  The Poochyena pack led by three Mightyena, and the Houndour pack led by seven Houndoom were already up by now, and probably hanging out by the pond, waiting for the Dratini to come out and play. Well, the younger members. The older and Evolved ones just watched, but I would have to be happy with that for now. It had been barely more than a week! The fact that anyone wanted to play was a good thing.

  This particular morning was the first time I hadn't enjoyed the sunrise with Hope in a week, and I found myself missing the wonderful little horror. 'Demon' she may be, she was also so caring! Contracts weren't the only thing she wanted to help with, oh no! She had spent most days simply talking to the rescues, often with an Indeedee. She just wanted to spread some… hope to them.

  I had worried about Fate more than a few times, thanks to Erin and her disturbing worries, and Hope was the biggest evidence that Fate might play a hand in things, and at the same time, almost proof that Fate either didn't exist, or wasn't impossible to escape from. Hope was unique. Hope followed no rules to interact with this reality, no more than the ones built into her very being, and Erin was convinced that if nothing else, that was a stab in Fate's eye. Her words, not a poke… I wasn't truly aware of what that meant, to be a fae free of rules, but I knew it would have been a disaster if it was a bad fae that was unchained…

  This particular morning, as I finished my coffee, the scent of cinnamon rolls rising in my packed oven, I had one final group of Pokemon that I was forced to take notice of. I felt badly for how I viewed them, but… I couldn't help it.

  Hypno were creepy, and Drowzee weren't much better. At all.

  Their contracts stipulated that they couldn't eat anyone's dreams unless they had permission, which they were not happy about. At all! I… actually understood. I really did. They survived primarily off of food, of course, but apparently most foods weren't bland, they were just unsatisfying and not filling… They required dreams to survive, however, and they could get malnourished while constantly stuffed with physical food. Eating someone's dream didn't hurt the victim, but it generally made them irritable for an hour or so when they woke up the next day.

  This morning the entire group of them, six Hypno and thirteen Drowzee marched into the backyard. Nobody stopped them, or even bristled or glared, of course. They were bound, not a danger at all. One stepped to the front, an older, scarred individual. He bowed to me before looking up at me, which I had not required, but the rescues were picking it up from the Indeedee… Dragonite- this Dragonite seemed to get a kick out of doing it, too…

  ""We require good dreams. Please?"" It was an old man's voice, more or less, and he sounded pleading.

  I looked at him in confusion.

  "Are you going hungry? I thought the Rattata and Ekans were taking shifts?" They had selflessly volunteered, and considering the amount of them, I hadn't refused. They wanted to help the Drowzee and Hypno, too.

  He shook his head, sadly, I thought.

  ""Only bad dreams. Makes us sick eventually. Need good dreams. Please?""

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  Now I felt horrible… I knew they preferred good dreams, but I didn't know only bad dreams did that. There was no way they were allowed to take any good dreams from the rescues, though. Not when they got so few as it was…

  "I will do my best to find a solution, okay? You understand why I don't want you eating the other rescues good dreams, correct?" They all sadly nodded. Creepy, yes. Empathetic? Also yes, at least these ones were.

  "I will… make some calls, okay? I don't want you all to suffer, obviously, I want you to be as happy as you can be. I can't promise you anything today, or possibly even tomorrow, but I will find a solution. Will you be okay for… five more days at the longest?" I truly didn't want them to suffer. They hadn't chosen to be Drowzee and Hypno… Right? I hoped not, because that meant Gulpin and such chose to be that…

  ""Acceptable. Eight days, roughly, before we are too sick. Thank you, Matriarch."" He sounded relieved, grateful, and then amused. I frowned at him, but he just grinned at me.

  They all bowed and walked back to the Barn. They were the only species who had chosen to live there, claiming one of the back rooms for their own. They spent most of their time watching TV, actually. They really seemed to enjoy cooking shows for some reason. Even though they had no desire to cook, or even to eat delicious food. As long as it wasn't bad they just didn't care all that much… They also liked PokeDramas, but I didn't judge them for that. Maddy and Honey judged them for their taste in PokeDramas, however.

  I frowned at their backs, though. It was bad enough I'd had to hear that from Erin while Leaf and Alex watched on, but it hadn't surprised me too much that she had picked up on something. She may not have had good relationships, according to her, but she was smart enough to know what to look for, and had been in love before.

  Not that I was in love!

  I mean, we had talked a few times, that was basically it! He might be Lance, but I was a sympathetic ear to listen to his troubles in Saffron, and one of the few who knew Erin's secrets, not to mention who the leader of Team Rocket was. It was natural for him to call me to complain, and I'd had plenty of things to complain about, myself! I loved my newest daughter dearly, but she was… chaos incarnate.

  And sure, Lance was handsome! He was also built without being a Machoke, and that face! I mean, he wasn't some fresh-faced young man, thankfully, and that jaw was chiseled! I'd always liked red hair, too… He was also kind to others, even if he liked to poke fun at them. To be honest? So did I these days… Especially poking fun at him. He didn't seem to… mind?

  I hated to think about it, but my daughter may have been right about the flick…

  So overall? I wasn't opposed to getting to know him better, hell, maybe even date, sure! He was attractive, kind, and a good person… Erin had also been right that it just made me feel good to talk to him…

  However!

  We hadn't even had a date yet! So why am I suddenly getting matched up with Lance by (his!) Dragonite, with the approval of the entire Aerie? Well, their main lines that I had met. The other species from different regions were sparser, and hadn't cared to descend to the pool for one human. Not just that, but also the approval of the Clan Leader of Clan Blackthorn? The ruler of Blackthorn City?

  Why was I 'The Matriarch'?!

  A huge eruption of water startled me out of my frown and thoughts, and I turned a wide smile towards the source. Gyarados waved to me with his fins as he took off into the air, off to hunt in the ocean, and Kingdra winked at me from his back. Those two had been a pleasant surprise, to be sure.

  They were actually expanding the pond underground, very carefully, but they knew how to. The bottomless-looking pool at the Aerie had been constructed by the dragons there, and it was much easier to work here, close to the ocean, rather than boring straight down into mountains. In the meantime, they brought back plenty of seafood for themselves and the rescues.

  Dragonite, this Drag-! No! I can't do this!

  I looked over at the male Dragonite as he sat in a creaky chair, sipping a cup of tea. He hated coffee for some reason, but loved tea… He noticed my look and raised an… eyebrow antennae?

  "So, you're not my Dragonite, obviously, but Lance apparently can't name anything, and I'm confusing you two in my head. Would you like a name? If I'm allowed to, obviously." He laughed when I mentioned Lance, because yeah… They all adored Lance, but they knew he wasn't truly a Dragon Master, not in the same way that Erin or Raihan were.

  He gave me a look for a long moment before pointing at Maddy and shaking his head, then Wukong and nodding. Why was Maddy a no, but Wuk-

  I playfully scowled at him, even as Wukong smirked at me and Maddy glared at him.

  "You don't want me to name you, but you'll accept a name, is that it?" He smirked at me and I couldn't stop the laugh.

  I had kind of accepted that I was bad at naming Pokemon… Maybe humans, too? Leaf was a pretty name, though… Plus, I was a Greenwood! It was… on theme?

  "I mean… Who would you like to name-" His smile just grew and I sighed.

  "Fine… Honestly, this is just driving me too insane! It would be one thing if Dragonite, Champion of Indigo and Dragon Master, had a name, but that hasn't happened yet…" He burst into roaring laughter, and most of the Pokemon in the backyard did as well as I pulled my PokeNav out.

  —

  Erin

  —

  "You know, I honestly didn't expect to see a Dragonite peering over your shoulder, or at least one not Dragonite…" My mother blushed hard, even as the Dragonite winked at me.

  I hadn't been expecting an early-morning call, not at all, and I was still curled up with Cerberus, in some very light sleeping clothes. Cerberus radiated heat, which would be great during the winter… Leaf and Alex wandered over, still waking up as well. Well, they wandered close, and then I stood up from Cerberus so they could see into Dexter's screen…

  It was hard to understand Cerberus right now, but his… old self? That head was not happy that he couldn't cuddle and lick his other favorite people anymore without his other head getting all 'murdery'. I was thinking about possibly letting them fight it out every now and then, kind of… If he could dominate the instinctive head, it might help?

  I'd done a lot of research on Zweilous in this world, but the information I found wasn't happy information. Most couldn't control a Zweilous, and wild ones killed themselves more than half the time. One head would 'win' and rip the other head off… They could technically survive with one head? They usually just bled out, and the one recorded instance of a rescue working, the Zweilous had been… broken. Almost like it'd had a massive stroke, which made sense to me…

  I highly doubted I would let them fight, though. That was one of the recommended methods, sure. It was the top method, in fact, as long as you could stop them after one won, which I easily could, but… I just couldn't do that to my big happy guy, even if he was half-insane these days…

  "So, what's up, mom? You never call this early in the morning." She smiled at me, and I saw Honey float by behind her… followed by a procession of Koffing and two very sad looking Weezing. She noticed my look and smiled, even as Hope floated over with her own wide smile at mom.

  "Well, before I get to that, why don't I show you all a few things real quick?" We all smiled and gave out some yes's, so she stood up and began to pan the camera around, narrating as she did.

  "Well, as you can see, the backyard is packed, as usual. The Ekans and Rattata lines prefer it out here, still." She walked through the fence and panned the camera around. "As you can also see, we have a lot more fields on the flat ground now, and Petals worked up a storm to get it all ready in time. Some of my newest defenders water them for her, which she is very grateful for." I opened my mouth to ask what she was talking about, me and Leaf, but Alex was smiling as mom kept right on going.

  "The Murkrow and Zubat got back earlier, and they're in the Barn for now. They don't like it in there much, but for now, it's the best place to spend the daylight. There's also the… Drowzee and Hypno in there." She winced, and I didn't blame her. I felt horrible for them, and for my instinctive dislike of them, but I couldn't stop it, either. She spoke up in a worried tone of voice.

  "They actually asked me for good dreams to eat this morning, because they are getting… sick from all the bad dreams the refugees have. They aren't allowed to take good dreams from the refugees, obviously… I feel horrible, honestly. I have around a week to figure something out…" Shit… Now I feel bad for them. Worse, I guess…

  She panned the camera to show the pond, and the two large packs of Houndour, Poochyena, and their Evolved counterparts near it. They all seemed to be waiting for something, but I couldn't tell what.

  "The canines have been… adjusting. Lily and the original Poochyena have been very instrumental in getting them to loosen up a bit. They prefer to sleep outdoors, for now, but the Barn is always open to them. There's more than enough entrances for those without hands."

  She panned the camera towards the woods, and I could see a Vileplume slowly walking deeper in.

  "The Oddish, Gloom, and Vileplume are doing much better already. They don't smell nearly as bad anymore, thankfully. They're starting to relax, so eventually they may even smell good!" They could, yes, but… I doubted they would ever smell good. Not bad, though? I think they could manage that.

  Two Victreebel were leading a procession of Weepinbell and Bellsprout out of the forest, passing the Vileplume on their way.

  "The Bellsprout line has eagerly taken over as pest control here! I still have to feed them, of course, but Petals is quite happy to have such good pest control! After she got them to stop eating some pollinators, that is." The two Victreebel waved happily at her with their giant leaf-trap things and she smiled. "They are quite happy to be here, in fact!"

  She panned over to a rough stone construction set against the perimeter wall and I winced before she even spoke.

  "I feel truly horrible for this, but the Grimer and that poor Muk are in smell quarantine for a long while. Eventually I'll release them, but… not until they get as non-smelly as possible. I tried to let them roam, but…" Her face turned green and we all winced in sympathy.

  "Speaking of, Erin, can you teach me to turn off my nose?" I burst into laughter at the question. She looked so hopeful! I didn't blame her, either. That poor Muk was very friendly! I smiled sadly at her, however.

  "Mom, I didn't turn it off… it died in the Lowlands. Nowadays? I just… ignore it. Petals was hard, to be fair, but… it's just willpower? Eventually your brain realizes that you aren't going to get away from what's causing your nose distress and you adjust. Somewhat. It never stops entirely, because your brain still wants you away from the smell…" She sighed.

  "Well, I kind of figured so… Well, that's about it, other than our Meowth and two Skarmory. They aren't happy, they want to hunt… I'm considering sending them out with Maddy for protection, give them an order to hunt, but I'm still unsure..." I spoke up before she could move on.

  "Personally, I'd say go for it. Only with Maddy to start with, but let them work some of that aggression out. I don't blame them, either, Skarmory are intimidating predators, they don't even like to be fed by their trainers too often." I'd looked them up, because if I'd had to make a team from just Indigo species? Skarmory would absolutely have been on there. Steel blade bird? Hell yes!

  "That was my thought, I just worry for them… Anyway, that's it for the rescues, not that many are up and about right now." She began to walk back towards the house, smiling down into the camera.

  "So, really, I called for your help with a problem I'm having with…" I smiled as she trailed off. Then I gasped, me and Leaf both. Alex looked highly amused, however, at the Gyarados and Kingdra hovering behind mom now, a very dead Wailmer in the Gyarados' mouth! Mom looked back and smiled at the pair, waving at them.

  "Oh, that's Gyarados and Kingdra! Obviously, but they came from the Aerie with me." She frowned. It wasn't a mad frown, but it was frustrated.

  "There's also Dragonite, Dragonair, and five Dratini!" Alex burst into laughter, and I had something of an idea of why. Moms eyes narrowed a little at Alex and she smiled at mom.

  "Well, it's a little small, but that's generally how Dragonite colonize a new location. They send a single family unit with a Dragonair and their children to get used to the new environment, establish a territory, and to start a new generation born there. I know that Dragonair has to be female, because they produce far more Eggs than Dragonites. The Gyarados and Kingdra are more of a Blackthorn thing, since Kingdra and Dragonite fight in the wild, not to mention Gyarados, but for us? They are the strong defenders that tame the surrounding locations. If they still like it there in a year? There will be many more of all three lines." I began to laugh at the exasperated, done look on moms face. We all did, actually.

  She shook her head as she re-entered the backyard, sitting down again. Alfred brought her a glass of water and I smiled at the sight of her personal valet.

  I was so glad he had accepted that name! He was too, obviously. I didn't mind any of the Indeedee knowing my secret, him even less now that he was moms personal Pokemon… I think I might have corrupted him, though. I had told him that Alfred wasn't really a fighter, but he didn't care after he had seen a few scenes from the comics. Patricia might not be the Dark Knight, but Alfred wanted to be dangerous, too… He didn't want to fight, not really, but he wanted the option of… deadly force to defend the Ranch.

  It was pretty funny, actually. Maybe I should get him a sawed off? A custom one for his little hands? A little pistol? He'd have to get training first, though…

  Mom spoke up with a grin into the camera.

  "Anyway, I have this little issue these days called Dragonite and Dragonite. Which one am I talking about? Who knows, because Lance probably hasn't named anything in his life, not even his stuffed toys!" The Dragonite behind her laughed even as we did. Oh, I love it! She's never going to stop giving him shit, even if they do get together!

  I was surprisingly okay- Wait, not surprisingly. I liked to give Lance grief, for sure, but he was a good guy, and he had been checking her out. He had also been a little distracted, but I had eyes, and I had experience. Well, experience enough to know what that look meant.

  His position and all that aside, if he made my new mom happy, fuck yeah, go Lance! If he ever hurt her? Somehow? He wouldn't, and not because I would kill him. Dragonite was a lot faster than me.

  If they ever got married, though, that would make him my-

  Nope! No idea what I was just thinking about. Blank mind! Like a monk! Ohm…

  I gave her a warm smile as I answered.

  "Well, I mean, you could call Lance and tell him to name her?" I enjoyed her light glare.

  "No, I don't think I will, actually. I called you because I asked him if he wanted a name, and he said yes… but he does not want to be named by me…" Her face was so red! He was smirking behind her too, but he gave me a serious nod. I waved him closer to the camera, and he leaned in over moms shoulder.

  "Okay, I don't know you, so first off, let's go through some multiple choice questions, okay?" He nodded at me with a wide smile, and I could see Wukong in the background snarling at me in happiness. Raging happiness! Arceus, I loved Primeape…

  "Okay then, first big question for you. This isn't to pressure you or anything, but are you going to be a Blackthorn dragon or a Greenwood dragon? Unless Lance actually marries her, and you go right back to being a Blackthorn? Up for Blackthorn, down for Greenwood."

  I ignored moms squawks of embarrassed anger, not to mention the grossed-out faces of the two children next to me. He eventually pointed down and I grinned. He perked up at my expression, for good reason.

  "Okay, nice. So, you're establishing a colony there, and you're the primary defender of your line, your nest, correct? Gyarados and Kingdra are more the first line of defense out in the wilds?" He nodded at me.

  "How's your temper? I know Dragonite can rage, but you're generally a calmer line. Up for 'I can get a little peeved sometimes', down for 'I chill out for the most part'." He pointed down, not that I was very surprised.

  "So, the name I'm thinking of is from a video game where I'm from, mom can tell you where I'm from at some point, I don't care. This dragon was raised by the Gods themselves to be a defender against the darkness of the Abyss, a defender against evil itself. He may not perfectly embody you, but he has a badas- awesome name." He was nodding with a smile, but I shook my head.

  "Nope, I never give only one option. I may pull a little fae trickery and give you a worse option, but I have another idea for you, as well." He looked confused, but nodded.

  "The other name was from an old mythology. He guarded the garden of… err, lets just say demigods? He was actually slain by a great hero as part of an epic quest…" He was shaking his head and I smirked at him. Then I jerked! From the poke!

  Fucking Dexter!

  I was getting very tired of this shit! I mean, I don't want to be mean, sure, and it is working, so I wasn't entirely upset about it… I kind of liked the clothes Alex picked out, and my hair, too, if I was being completely honest with myself…

  Still! Let me smirk and glare! Instead I end up pouting! What the fuck! Why do I pout? I never pouted before! I have killed dozens! I am The Savage Trainer! I shouldn't pout!

  I didn't smirk at him, and I managed not to pout… barely. I just gave him a wide regular smile.

  "Well, I did say it might be a fae choice, didn't I?" He grinned at me.

  "Okay, technically he had a title, too? Like Champion Lance, even if it's really Champion Dragonite. Would you like the title as well, even if it's rarely ever used?" He nodded wildly and I couldn't help the huge smile on my face. It didn't exactly fit him, but I wasn't about to call him Smaug or something…

  "How would you like to be named Midir, known as the Darkeater for his tireless defense against evil?" His eyes got huge and he rapidly nodded. He actually slapped mom with his antennae, he was nodding so hard!

  She gave me an amused look through the camera.

  "Thank you, dear. Midir is a very nice name." Wukong actually gave him a high five, as Maddy glared at the two of them. Maddy wasn't… bad, honestly…

  Then I saw a cat as the camera panned a little to the side. I may have gone 'aww'... a little.

  The pair of Meowstic that turned to glare at me were so adorable! Wait, what?

  "Where the fu- How do you have a pair of Meowstic at the Ranch?" She laughed even as the female glared at me. I glared right back, nudging Dexter with my aura as I did. I had agreed to allow Dexter to do his shit, but I had my limits, too, and this was one of them. They couldn't feel my aura over the camera, but the female certainly jerked a little.

  "I have to assume they're from Looker, now that I give it real thought. He was probably strapped for time and choice, and chose them. It's a shame, honestly." They were hissing at me now, and I let my glare intensify.

  "Meowstic are powerful, capable, and adorable. The females are also selfish little tyrants." I focused my aura in my eyes, making them blaze, and I watched the female jerk in surprise.

  "Thankfully, she's smart enough to know not to mess with the family of tyrants that calls that Ranch home. Isn't she?" She nodded rapidly and I let my aura go, giving her a wide, real smile.

  "Great, then! Meowstic are awesome! Have you obliterated anything yet? Can I watch?" She perked up and gave me an eager nod, smiling. There, dominance was established, now I can just fawn over their adorableness and power!

  Mom was glaring at me, though.

  "Erin, that was not necessary…" I grew very nervous for a moment before she turned the glare into a wide, amused smile.

  "Alfred, Maddy, Wukong, and Midir already did that!" We burst into laughter even as the Meowstic glared at her.

  They didn't glare harshly, though, that was for sure…