#also obviously carmine is worried about kieran

[wildflowercryptid]

does kieran know how many people were concerned for them? do they know how many people loved and cared for them and wanted the best for them? do they? DO THEY???? 😭😭😭

[aliceramblez]

Dating The BB League Elite Four + Kieran 💕

Tags: GN! Reader, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Teal Mask & Indigo Disk Spoilers!

A/N: After finally getting dragged into the Pokémon rabbit hole, I honestly couldn't resist in doing one of these for my babies! Scarlet/Violet is my very first Pokémon experience, so hopefully I did these characters justice ^^

Feel free to follow my main @taruchinator & leave a request for future HCs!

Crispin 🔥

He's such a dork and incredibly quirky but don't you worry, he'll definitely be the one to ask you out first, no matter how many attempts it takes. Not like you'd say no to begin with.

As a partner, he's the kind of guy who would always try to cheer you up and have you in a happy mood, because when you're happy, he's happy! Anything from compliments, to jokes, to just giving you lots of affection.

Which brings us to the fact that he's huge on PDA. And the funny thing is he doesn't even realize he's doing it—he'll lean on you when you're showing him something in your Rotom Phone, rubbing circles on your palm when you're talking about your day, placing his chin on your shoulder while talking to the other club members—this man is all over you.

During your stay at Blueberry Academy, don't you dare spend your precious money on the cafeteria, he's got you covered. He'll ask you and learn about your tastes, creating new recipes and concoctions just for you, hoping to surprise you with something better and nutritious every day!

If you had a long day of training and doing BBQs, Crispin always comes by and makes sure you had a meal. And you better not be lying to him.

“Man, you've been out all day! Did you even have lunch?”

“.... I had a granola bar.”

“HOW ARE YOU STILL STANDING?”

It's safe to say that Koraidon/Miraidon adores him, and even makes you question whether it's you or your Pokémon who's dating him.

After you started going out, Crispin now makes sure to carry sandwiches with him at all times. Mostly for your oversized lizard boy, but also for you in case you need a quick snack to recharge. The legendary Pokémon is quick to thank him with licks and constant slobbering which always leaves the red-head a mess, but he tries to not let it bother him for your sake.

Whenever you guys aren't training, you'll be in your dorm rooms cooking and having laughs with your Pokémon over how clumsy they can be in the kitchen.

Overall, a sweet and supportive goofball who'll make sure you're always smiling and never have an empty stomach!

Amarys 👓

Obviously Amarys isn't the best at conveying her emotions. It doesn't mean she doesn't care, she just has a hard time figuring them out sometimes! Which is why it's incredibly strange to her when she starts having these weird sensations whenever she's around you.

She feels happier, her stomach gets all jumbled when you compliment her, and her minds always finds a way to drift back to you no matter what she's doing.

She ends up asking Carmine about it, who immediately gets all giddy and explains to her that she might have a crush. Amarys is surprised, but not against the idea. It makes sense in retrospect—cue bestie Carmine giving her pointers and ideas to try and confess to you.

Unfortunately it's all a bit too convoluted or cheesy for the Steel-Type user's liking, so she ends up doing it her own way.

One day after club activities are over, she asks if you can stay a bit longer to talk. “After much deliberation, it would seem that I have caught romantic feelings for you. I propose a casual outing so we can discuss these in further detail. Do you agree?”

It doesn't take long for you two to start going out.

Amarys shows affection through small gestures that may not seem like a lot to others, but you know they're huge steps for her. Sharing her food when you're hungry, giving you advice on how to raise your Pokémon properly, helping you study subjects you aren't that good at—the list goes on.

PDA isn't her strong suit at all. Physical affection in general isn't something she's used to, and she's forever grateful that you don't push her to do things out of her comfort zone. She tries though, and will do things like brush her hand against yours or even give you a hug whenever she's feeling bold.

To an outsider you're both an unconventional couple, but manage to make it work with trust and constant communication. Give her some time and she'll warm up to you.

Lacey 🧚‍♀️

A sweet cutie who doesn't really change her attitude towards you even after you start dating, since she's always loved having you around. The two of you also confess at the same time, which leaves you as a pair of giggling messes at the irony of it.

Is your number one cheerleader when it comes to school academics. You may not be an official Blueberry student, but that doesn't mean you should be slacking in your classes! If you don't understand the material, don't you worry, she's already prepared a slideshow presentation going over it point by point. Will also reward you with kisses if you pay attention!

Lacey isn't huge on PDA either since she thinks it's unnecessary, but when it's just the two of you, she will never let go. You have successfully replaced Granbull as her favorite pillow of choice, since whenever you two have time off and she's tired, you'll probably take a snooze under a tree in the Coastal Biome.

When you get to meet her father, she's actually a bit nervous since she's never thought of dating before finishing school, but you try and be brave and reassure her that you'll try your best to give a good impression. He thinks you're alright, but gives you the good old father talk to make sure you won't hurt his little girl.

Will find ways to dot your Legendary lizard ride with gifts and affection since she thinks he's just too darn stinking cute, but don't worry, she still thinks you're the cutest!

Since Lacey's constantly worrying about things getting done around the League Club, it's your duty as her partner to get her to relax from time to time. You'll do your best by offering to share responsibilities and reminding her that breaks are very much needed.

“Sweetie it's nighttime, you can finish in the morning. I'm tired and need cuddleeeess.”

“Just one more page and I'll be done—”

“Please Ms. Lacey! I need your cuteness to have a good night's sleep!”

“F-Fine, I'm coming! Flattering me to get what you want is just not right, ya know?”

Truly an iconic duo.

Drayton 🐉

Let's get one thing straight: this man doesn't confess—heck, he doesn't even ask you out! One day he just has his arms around you and plants a kiss on your cheek claiming that he'll follow your every command, all with a cheeky grin on his face. You're more than welcome to punch him for it and he'll still come crawling back.

Like most things in his life, Drayton takes your relationship slow and steady, not really wanting to push your boundaries (unless he wants to tease you) and having no rush to progress things. He's just a chill guy who wants to claim you before anyone else does.

Don't be mistaken though, this doesn't mean he doesn't care. You'd be surprised how much he looks out for you, almost borderline overprotective in some cases. After everything that happened with Terapagos in Area Zero, he's constantly making sure you have strong Pokémon, supplies, and good company to survive the crazy adventures you get mixed up in.

You guys' ideal date is spending time together in the dorms after school hours, kicking back and relaxing with a movie or just talking about stuff that happened during the day. He's surprisingly a very good listener.

It's from these laid back conversations that he gets ideas for random gifts to get you. Did you need a new pair of gloves cause the old ones ripped? Some are waiting in the club room. You're running low on potions? A box full of them appears on your doorstep. Want to visit your friends in Paldea but can't find the time? Turns out Drayton took over your assignments for the day so you're free to go!

You're also the only person he'll allow himself to be tutored by. Will literally not listen to anyone unless it's you. Which is why you try to make sure the material is easy for him to digest + it's not boring typical schoolwork, but something he'll actually enjoy.

“Okay! Today we're going over math! Let's have a battle in the Polar Biome so you can see how probability applies in critical hits and such.”

“Aww, my honey is catering to my needs? Aren't you the sweetest thing?”

“No kisses until we're done, Drayton.”

“Alright, aye aye boss!”

He's an idiot, but he's your idiot.

Kieran 🍎

This boy has had a crush on you ever since you first met in Kitakami, but never had the courage to say anything since he was so shy. Now however, he doesn't say anything because he feels like he doesn't have the right to.

After everything he's put you through—from accusing you of stealing Ogerpon, to fighting you in an all out battle, to straight up putting you and everyone else in danger just because he wanted a chance at getting a Legendary Pokémon—Kieran doesn't think he deserves to be your friend, let alone your partner.

Carmine is there as his wingwoman though, cheering him on and telling him how much you appreciate him and clearly return his feelings.

And so, mustering as much courage as he can, he asks if you'll trade Pokémon with him. When you agree, he brings out an Applin, which immediately leaves you blushing but also spreads a huge smile on your face. The two of you officially start dating.

Kieran does is absolute best to try and be the boyfriend you deserve, even though it's his first relationship and he has no idea what he's doing half the time. The members of the League Club are surprised at first, but ultimately support you guys all the way!

You spend time together sharing battle strategies and having your Pokémon playing to try and get along. Turns out Ogerpon and Hydrapple become fast friends by the end of a particular play date, much to your delight.

He's not good at PDA, like, at all. He's still that shy and timid kid from Kitakami underneath it all, so he struggles with initiating affection even when it's just the two of you. You're the one who has to start the hugs and kisses, leaving him like a puddle of goo under your grasp.

Nightmares still plague him occasionally, mostly revolving the journey to Area Zero and how it all could've turned out for the worst if by some chance Terapagos decided to attack someone else. Maybe even you. If you're with him when they happen, you'll hold him tight and whisper sweet nothings into his ear until he calms down, or if he calls you to make sure you're okay, you'll stay on the phone with him until he falls asleep again.

“I'm sorry... I'm so sorry...”

“It's okay Kieran. We're both okay, and that's all that matters.”

You two are the power couple that Blueberry Academy never expected, but deep down, you're just a pair of dorks who fawn over each other on a daily basis.

[wardencommanderrodimiss]

I have been deeply overthinking the timeline of events for Pkmn Scarlet and I've tentatively settled on the events of the base game taking place across one school year, ending with the gym assessments and academy tournament in May/June; then Teal Mask is a shorter summer study abroad session; Indigo Disk is then during the spring semester of the next school year. I have more in-depth thoughts about how this works, but this post isn't about that. This post is about Scarlett and her team.

By the time I started the gym assessments, my team was in the 72-76 range, which is why I ran bizarre teams of 3 Pokemon for the assessments and the tournament to maintain a challenge. Then that's also why I didn't bring any of my 9 most-used Pokemon to Kitakami.

So, "canonically", I'm not sure if Scarlett does any of those shenanigans for the assessments/tournament. But she does let her main team have a rest when she travels to Kitakami, so that she can catch and train new Pokemon in a new land instead.

Then, by the time I reached the end of Teal Mask, my new team were about the same level as my old team, so I rolled straight into Indigo Disk with a pool of 15 Pokemon in the 70-77 range I could pick from for each battle, and I was at-level because the level curve is continuous from Teal Mask to Indigo Disk.

But that's. yknow. Game mechanics. There's an implied timeskip that I have to work into my narrative. With my timeline, Scarlett knew Kieran and Carmine for about two weeks in July in Kitakami, and then she next sees them in January at Blueberry. Carmine has been traveling doing research with Briar, and Kieran has been obsessively working his way up the BB League Club ladder and making the club an un-fun place to be. And Scarlett... well, if we translate my in-game levels to the narrative, Scarlett hasn't gotten any stronger. She's got 15 Pokemon to juggle caring for, and that's a handful, but given the rate that she and they have progressed in the past, surely in 5 months she'd make some improvement. Enough that Lacey's team of three Pokemon wouldn't curbstomp her in the first battle.

But...she doesn't.

She catches the Loyal Three and that's the last serious challenge she takes on until she goes to Blueberry.

I will allow myself to be haunted by the implications for why that is.

Obvious first answer: she's still incredibly depressed about what happened at Kitakami. She didn't get to say goodbye to Kieran, and while she's hardly the most emotionally intelligent kid out there, she can kinda gather that when Carmine says he's not feeling well before they leave, that's probably like, emotionally not feeling well, not actually sick-sick - unless he made himself sick-sick being so upset. Which really just makes Scarlett feel awful! That's her friend, and she hurt him really, really badly by lying!

And it's kind of hard to miss the way he obviously took each loss worse and worse, and I think that starts eating at Scarlett, too. Like hey, remember in the Academy Tournament when Arven's like "You've got to be kidding me. Up against my little Champion buddy right from the first round?" Scarlett remembers that now too. And there's one conversation with Nemona you have around the academy:

And I think I had Scarlet respond "Yeah, you can" because I have really come to enjoy a good battle that's down to the wire, one way or another. But now she's second-guessing everything. Do people find it discouraging to see her winning all the time, like this guy feels about Nemona? Are they just being nice about her winning so as not to be a sore loser? Is it arrogant to worry about being too strong and crushing other people's spirits? She gets deep in her own head about it, and I think that really takes a lot of the joy out of battling.

I'm imagining that Naranja hosts another Academy Tournament at the start of the term in September - and Scarlett backs out of it. She already won the first, inaugural tournament. She doesn't need to go ruining the second one for everyone else. Her friends find it concerning that she's withdrawn, Nemona most of all - I think Scarlett still can enjoy battling with Nemona, because she knows that Nemona is cool with losing. But she probably doesn't battle much besides whenever Nemona asks her - which would become more and more frequent as Nemona tries to break her out of the funk she's been in since she came home from Kitakami. And then she trains her Pokemon less, because it's just not as much fun to train alone. She wants to keep her Pokemon healthy and happy, and that means finding opponents for them, but she's burned out hard, and her team would pick up on her mood, and that would probably be discouraging for them, too. Scarlett's spiraling and now her Pokemon are. She's miserable, her friends and family are worried, and Scarlett finally understands just why Nemona was so happy to find her as a friend and rival - it really is lonely at the top.

She gets a little bit of a spark back when she finds out she's been recommended for the exchange program with Blueberry Academy - maybe she can really, properly apologize to Kieran this time, and maybe that can make things right. And maybe since Blueberry Academy is focused mainly on Pokemon battles, and the League is such a bigger cultural thing in Unova, then maybe Scarlett can find some new opponents and have fun again. That's like, a distant second thought - it's probably more Nemona who's thinking about that and gets Scarlett to think about that.

Come January, she's packed off to Blueberry Academy for a semester there - and then she immediately loses the first battle, her six Pokemon barely taking down one of her opponent's three. It's a hell of a shock to her system. She manages to pull it together when Carmine challenges her to a battle, but she's very suddenly realizing that she's got a lot of work to do if she wants to keep her head above water, forget climbing the BB League rankings like Drayton is pushing her to do. She's not really convinced of his big plan, that her beating Kieran yet again is gonna help Kieran at all, but she goes with it because it's not like she has any goal in mind.

So she's got to knuckle down and shake off five months' worth of dust. I think she has a rough time of it, I've talked about that before, so while she beats Crispin and Amarys pretty quickly, it takes some work for her to get up to a level where she feels confident challenging Lacey, and then Drayton. And then she does more training and procrastinates a bit before she sets up her Championship match with Kieran. She's afraid to lose. She's afraid to win. She wins and is still miserable. Kieran is also still miserable, and angry.

I think when they get down to the Area Zero Underdepths, and Kieran catches Terapagos and immediately challenges Scarlett, she tries really hard to talk him out of it. They don't know if Terapagos wants to do this. Scarlett doesn't want to battle him again. Kieran, of course, probably sees this as Scarlett saying that the conclusion is forgone, she's saying of course she'll still win, even against Area Zero's Treasure, even after everything she heard Kieran say, and he gets more and more insistent that they battle. Briar is also insistent because she wants to see what Terapagos can do. Carmine is witnessing a trainwreck before her very eyes.

Also since Scarlett caught the other Koraidon before the group came down here, she's just really freaked out because everything she's been repressing about her prior trip to Area Zero has caught up to her - and Terapagos going berserk really, really doesn't help her! She's down to her second-to-last Pokemon before Kieran steps in to help, and I think she really, really is panicking. She has a bad time. She has a really bad time. Everybody has a really bad time.

And then she goes back to Blueberry and everyone's like "hey, girl who's traumatized and burnt out, can you fix our club and make battling fun for all of us again" and Scarlett's like "I don't know how to make it fun for me again."

[comandersprings]

Welcome Back

Note: Happy New Year! Here it is, my first fic of 2024. As usual, you can also find it both in AO3 and SquidgeWorld. I hope everyone had a good start to the year ^^

Warnings: References to death

Word Count: 2,349

Summary: In the middle of the night, Kieran receives a worrying call from his grandmother about Furret's wellbeing. With no time to waste, he takes a flight to Kitakami with the hope that it won't be too late to fix things.

• • • • • • •

The call came in around two o’clock in the morning. The ringtone startled Kieran and although he was just waking up, the boy took hold of his SmartRotom without a second thought. He wasn’t at all surprised to see that the one calling was his grandmother, Hideko. Ever since he and Carmine left for Blueberry Academy, their grandparents have struggled with the time zone difference.

Kieran picked up the phone. “Hi, grandma.”

Hideko noticed the sleepiness in her grandson’s voice right away. “Hi, dear. Seems I caught you sleeping again. I’m sorry about that, but…I’m calling over something important.”

“Something important?” Kieran perked up, his heart skipping a beat. “Did something happen to you or Grandpa?”

“No, we’re both fine.” The woman made a pause and sighed. “It’s about Furret.”

“Furret?”

Furret had been on Kieran’s mind a lot lately. He had apologized to everyone he mistreated while his grudge against Juliana lasted: from Juliana herself to Drayton, including Carmine and every single classmate he had talked down to. He also apologized to his Pokémon and promised he would no longer make them push themselves so hard. However, he still needed to make amends with the Pokémon he left back at Kitakami and Furret was the main one he wanted to reconcile with.

“Yes. You’ll see,” Hideko said, her voice threatening to break, “when you left last time, Furret became really sad. We were able to cheer him up for some time, but…he has stopped eating.”

“He stopped eating? When? How long ago?” Kieran’s heart seemed to pound on his throat as he awaited an answer.

“It’s been three days. He hasn't been drinking or moving much either. Grandpa and I are worried that if things continue like this, he—” the woman’s voice choked. She paused to regain her composure. “He might not last much longer, Kieran.”

His stomach sank at those terrible words. “No!” Kieran sniffled. He got up and began pacing around the room, tears blurring his vision. “That’s impossible… I thought he’d do fine without me.”

“You’re his Trainer, he misses you,” Hideko replied.

“Do you think the tutor will understand if I tell him I need to leave? I can’t stay there and let Furret…” he refused to finish that sentence.

“Please, do ask him. We think Furret might perk up once he sees you.” Hideko sighed. “I’m so sorry I had to tell you this.”

Kieran wiped off his tears with his pajama’s sleeve. “Don’t be sorry, Grandma. You did the right thing.”

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kieran didn’t want to waste a second. The first thing he did was walk over to Carmine’s room. She was obviously sleeping and being awoken in the middle of the night didn’t make her happy, but her grumbling was cut dry as soon as her little brother told her why he was there. Carmine comforted Kieran and asked him if he wanted her to go with him. To her surprise, Kieran said no. In his own words, the situation was his fault and he had to solve it himself.

The next person Kieran woke up was his tutor. The man was confused as to why a distraught-looking student wanted to talk to him in the wee hours of the day. When Kieran explained what was going on and voiced his intention to leave for a day or two, he feared that his tutor wouldn’t understand, forcing him to stay. Luckily for him, his teacher was moved by the lengths he was willing to go to help his Pokémon, especially after seeing the way he treated the ones he had on him before and after becoming the Champion.

With everything sorted out and nothing but the most essential as baggage, Kieran headed to the airport and caught the first flight to Kitakami available. For most of the ten hours the plane trip lasted, Kieran tried to get some sleep but failed miserably. As for the rest of the flight, all he did was make sure people didn’t notice he was crying. He also kept replaying in his mind the moment he left Furret behind, beating himself up over the cruelty of that act.

Although the bus ride was much shorter, Kieran didn’t have a better time. He spent the whole trip looking out the window with a heavy feeling on his chest. The boy bounced his foot and nibbled on his thumb in an attempt to calm down, but it was useless. Regardless, he was grateful there was no one else in the bus—it was the same time it was in Unova when his grandmother called—otherwise, he would have received more than one glance.

When the bus was three stops away from Kitakami Road, Kieran texted his grandmother to let her know he was close and to ask how Furret was doing. His message was answered shortly after. Hideko asked him to be careful and informed that Furret was sleeping, adding in a different message that he had been sleeping for most of the day. That doesn’t sound good, Kieran told himself, his mouth going dry.

Less than ten minutes later, the boy finally got off the bus and set forth on his way home. With the sole wish to make it to his house and see Furret, Kieran ignored the curious wild Pokémon who peered out to see who was the human traversing the area so late at night. Kieran felt like his feet had wings; he had never walked so fast in his life, not even all the times he made his way up Oni Mountain in hopes of seeing Ogerpon.

Kieran made it to Mossui Town and continued on his way with the same haste he walked Kitakami Road with. He couldn’t help but think of the worst case scenario, with countless variations of it—each more tragic than the last—playing in his mind over and over. Despite the dread oppressing his chest, he had to see the situation for himself and apologize to Furret no matter what.

It wasn’t long until he spotted his house, its lights turned on. That meant his grandparents were still awake and waiting for him. He lowered his gaze at the thought and hoped they wouldn’t be too tired. It was in moments like this that Kieran saw how much of a negative impact his selfish actions had. He would never forgive himself if they ended up causing the loss of his Pokémon partner or if they costed his grandparents their health.

Finally, the boy reached his house. Although he didn’t want to wait any longer, Kieran had to spend a few seconds catching his breath as he was panting from the sprint. He then went ahead and knocked on the door. Not even half a minute later Yukito, his grandfather, came and opened it.

“Son, are you okay? You must be exhausted from the trip.” the man eyed his grandson with concern.

“Yes, I’m fine. I’m just a bit agitated because I’ve been walking very fast,” Kieran reassured him. His expression then became somber. “Where’s Furret? Can I go see him?”

At that moment Hideko crossed the archway that connected the foyer and the living room. “Kieran,” she said with a relieved smile. “Thank goodness you made it safely.”

Yukito cleared his throat. “He wants to see Furret.”

“Of course, he’s in your bedroom. I’ll take you there.”

Kieran walked into the house and Hideko placed a comforting hand on his back as she accompanied him to his bedroom. A feeling of emptiness grew on the pit of the boy’s stomach the more he and his grandmother approached the room. Why was she going with him? Could it be that it happened already? No. That wasn’t possible. They would have said something beforehand. His grandparents would never leave him to discover something so horrible by himself.

Soon, Kieran and his grandmother stood before the door to the boy’s bedroom. “Do you want me to go in with you?” the woman asked.

“No, thanks. I’ll go in alone,” Kieran answered, his tearful eyes failing to hide his worry.

“Alright. If you need anything, Grandpa and I will be in the living room.”

The boy thanked his grandmother once again and Hideko walked away. Kieran wiped off his tears and took a deep breath. He didn’t want Furret to see him so distraught, it wouldn’t be of any help.

He slid the door open and walked into the darkened room. Kieran turned on the lights and his eyes seeked Furret, spotting him shortly after in a corner of the room, all curled up. His Trainer strode towards him.

“Furret!” Kieran called the Pokémon, crouching in front of him and taking a trembling hand to his body.

It was true. He could feel his ribs. While Furret was now far more slender than when he was a Sentret, his ribs had never been noticeable upon touching him. While that was concerning on his own, Kieran didn’t like the lack of response from his Pokémon now that he was petting him.

“Furret, it’s me. I’m Kieran, your Trainer.” He shook him gently, but there still was no reaction. “I’ve come back for you. Please, wake up.”

Kieran shook Furret a little harder, but that didn’t wake him up either. The boy punched the floor next to him as tears streamed down his face. This can’t be happening, he told himself. Refusing to fully fall into despair, Kieran looked at Furret closely to see if he was breathing. After a few seconds where the boy held his own breath, he finally saw how the Pokémon’s chest area rose and fell rhythmically with each breath.

Taking a deep sigh of relief, Kieran decided to change his strategy. He looked around the room for Furret’s food and water bowls. They were on the opposite side of the bedroom. It was clear both the food and water were fresh and untouched. Kieran walked over to the bowls and put them in front of Furret. He sat beside him and petted his soft fur once again.

“I brought you food and water. It’s still good to eat and drink, you don’t need to worry.”

Seconds dragged along without change. The boy nudged both bowls a bit closer to his Pokémon, but Furret kept sleeping. Kieran ran a hand over his face and looked down. The heavy feeling on his chest didn’t go away even now that he got to see that Furret was, at least, still alive.

He swallowed hard. “Furret, I now see that what I did to you was awful. I shouldn’t have taken you out of the team, much less over the reason I did so.

“I’m so mad at myself for having acted that way… Trust me, I’ll understand if you’re mad at me, too. I won’t blame you if you never forgive me but please,” his voice broke as he began crying once again, “try to eat at least a little. Carmine, Grandpa, and Grandma are worried too. Please…”

Kieran hugged his knees and sobbed into them, already fearing that he’d go back to Unova without Furret. It didn’t feel like his crying would let up any time soon, but something startled him. The feeling of something nuzzling the side of his head. He looked over to that side and came face to face with Furret, whose eyes seemed to regain their spark upon seeing his Trainer.

“Furret!” the boy held his Pokémon tightly and began bawling as Furret licked and nuzzled his face all over. “I’m so, so sorry for having abandoned you like that. I’ll never do something like that again.”

Alerted by their grandson’s cries, Yukito and Hideko headed for his room as fast as their old age allowed them to. Both fearing the worst, Yukito opened the door only to find Kieran and his Furret snuggled to each other, the boy petting his Pokémon head as Furret wagged his tail.

“It took a little, but he finally woke up,” Kieran told his grandparents, the tears on his eyes being now tears of joy.

“That’s amazing news,” Yukito said with a grin that made his laugh lines more prominent.

“Oh my, thank goodness,” Hideko let out a relieved sigh and took a hand to her chest.

“Has he eaten anything yet?” Yukito asked as he walked into the room, his wife following him.

“No, I’m going to try and see if he does now.”

Kieran put Furret down in front of the bowls. The Pokémon sniffed the one containing his food and, in the blink of an eye, he leapt at it and began eating with the hunger and crave expected from someone who hadn’t eaten in three days. Kieran and his grandparents cheered at the sight, joy and relief washing over them. It got even better when Furret went and drank water too, his thirst also evident.

As the night continued, Yukito and Hideko went to sleep and left Kieran to watch over Furret, advising him to go to bed soon. The boy saw his Pokémon eat and drink until he was satisfied, curling up on his Trainer’s lap afterward. Kieran took out his phone and snapped a picture of the adorable scene to send to his sister. Since it was midday in Unova, Carmine answered soon after.

“Furret! Is he okay? Did he eat anything?”

A conversation between the siblings started.

“Yes to both. I was very scared because I tried waking him up, but he wouldn’t react.”

“That’s normal, you know? He hasn’t eaten in a while, he must have lacked energy.”

Carmine was right. The heavy stress and anxiety made Kieran forget about such an obvious fact. Not that it made those uncertain moments any less scary.

“I was so scared I completely forgot.”

“No worries, I understand.” Following that message, Carmine sent another one. “So, what will you do? Will you bring Furret back to the Academy?”

Kieran looked at Furret, watching him sleep peacefully on his lap for a few seconds before typing and sending a new message. “Of course I will!”