#if this ends up in main pk.m.n tags bc of tumblrs incomprehensable search system. sorry. welcome to my cringe house

[maitaitiu]

and yes, the sun will set. and then rise again OCxCanon week 2024 Day 3: out in nature Pairing type: familial Canon Character: Professor Laventon OC: Maitiu (trainersona) Fandom: pokemon Wordcount: 1401

AO3 link

CWS: none

Synopsis: Laventon visits the Obsidian Fieldlands in search of both fresh air and the boy he considers to be something like a son.

Kunal Laventon stretched his arms out as wide as they could go, feeling a satisfying pull in his shoulders as he breathed in the fresh air and looked out across the Fieldlands from the top of Aspiration Hill.

It was really a lovely day. And it had been far too long since he’d left the village; he’d been spending so long cooped up inside his study, tweaking drawings, and text for the pokedex, so it was nice to get out for a change.

He’d meant to be out here with both his kids, but Akari had been called away to help Mai of the Diamond Clan with something or other, and Maitiu had gone on ahead.

Judging by how the boy’s luxray, Clementine, was sitting just a few meters down the hill, boredly cleaning her front paw, he likely wasn’t too far away. Clementine was very protective, after all.

Laventon hurried down the hill to meet the feline, who purred upon seeing him, and rubbed her massive face into his torso in greeting. He was still a bit nervous at such a huge- and sharp-toothed- pokemon being so close, but Clementine was so friendly and sweet he didn’t mind too much.

“Is he around, then?” Laventon asked the cat, and a little chirrup was the given answer, “I trust that’s a yes.”

With a swoosh of her ropelike tail, Clementine turned and bounded down the hill, stopping every few paces to give Laventon a chance to catch up. She led him around the right of the hill, baring her teeth at any wild pokemon that even considered attacking as she guided Laventon through the fields.

There, after a rather winding path, Maitiu was sitting at the edge of a field of gracidea flowers, dangling a bit of string just out of reach of his sylveon, Sunny. Since she was so small, Maitiu didn’t have to hold the string too high for her to be leaping up at it energetically, clearly having a blast.

Clementine meowed to alert Maitiu of her- and Laventon’s- arrival, and the boy turned, giving Sunny the opportunity to snatch the string from his hands and shake it around in her jaws like it was a bit of prey.

“Hiya, Clemmy.” He said, reaching his hand up to pet her as she came closer, and then looked up, “Alright, Professor. Nice to see you outside.”

“It’s nice to be outside,” Laventon smiled, and carefully lowered himself to sit on the ground too; he’d pay for that with a sore back later, but his posture was so bad that his back was constantly aching, so what did it matter? “How are you faring, my boy?”

Maitiu hummed noncommittally, and, with some effort, managed to steal the string back from Sunny. She meowed loudly in indignation until he dangled it in front of her again.

“Alright...” He said eventually, “It’s nice ‘n quiet out here.”

“That it is,” Laventon agreed, appreciating the way the sunlight warmed his face through the trees, “I do feel like I’ve not seen you in a long while, though. When did you last return home?”

“Um…” Maitiu paused for a moment, moving his mouth slightly as he counted in a whisper, “…I don’t remember.”

Laventon sighed.

His boy had been more and more reclusive recently, spending practically all of his time out in the wilds, researching or just… avoiding the village. Laventon understood why, but it still was saddening.

He knew Maitiu had forgiven all the folks who’d used him as a scapegoat, knew the boy understood what had been going on- and was somehow far more accepting of his own fate than Laventon ever had been- but it was clear the experience had left him fearful and unsure of his position in the village.

The exile had lasted nearly three months- the seasons had shifted by the time the world had been returned to normal- and it seemed those three months, though they were over a year ago now, had let the wilderness claim Maitiu for its own.

As long as the boy was happy, Laventon couldn’t exactly complain. But he so clearly wasn’t. And on top of that, Laventon missed the boy he considered something of his son. And he knew Akari missed her surrogate brother. They were a ragtag little family of outsiders, and while they were accepted in the village, nobody really understood the isolation of being an Other like they did. They had to stick together.

“Why don’t you stop by tonight?” Laventon offered, trying to hide the hopefulness in his voice, “I think Adaman’s in town this evening, helping out at the Wallflower. We could ask him to sort us some supper, and Akari can tell us all about what she’s been up to today.”

“Maybe…” The boy pulled his knees up to his chest, and picked up Sunny, who happily squeezed her way inside his jacket, purring like a steam engine, “I haven’t seen Akari in a bit.”

“She misses you,” Laventon said, and held his tongue on the unspoken, but very much heard, As do I.

Guilt washed over Laventon as he watched Maitiu bury his face in his hands for a minute.

“I’m sorry,” the boy said, “I miss you both, too. Very much. It’s just…”

He sighed. Clearly struggling to find the words. Sunny reached one of her ribbon-feelers up and pressed it against his face. He leaned down and pressed a little kiss to her forehead.

“I don’t know.” He said quietly, “I do want to come. I’m just… nervous, I guess. I know I’m just imagining it, but I still feel like people are looking at me weirdly.”

His whole posture seemed to sink in defeat.

Laventon tentatively reached his arm out, and when the boy didn’t move away, he pulled him into a one-armed hug.

“We could picnic, instead? Maybe out here, or on Prelude beach? Would that be easier for you?”

“The beach?” Maitiu perked up then, immediately looking a little bit less like a kicked yamper, “That sounds nice.”

“We could even camp out there, if you’d like. Sleeping under the stars, talking over a campfire… listening to the waves…”

“Is that a good idea?” Maitiu looked sceptical,  but there was a mischievous glint in his eyes- so rarely seen anymore- “Sleeping on the ground, in the cold… I mean, with your back…”

Laventon gasped dramatically, “How rude!”

He made sure he was smiling as he exaggeratedly turned his head up and away from Maitiu, who he could hear giggling, “How old do you take me for, hm?”

“I know, sorry, sorry,” the boy grinned, wicked as a banette, and Laventon found himself not caring in the slightest, “It’s wrong for me to disrespect the elderly.”

“You troublesome little fiend,” Laventon shook his head, smiling, “Perhaps I will un-extend the invitation.”

“Nooo!” Maitiu leaned over and lay down in the grass, “Sunny, bite him!”

The little sylveon obediently leapt from Maitiu’s jacket and onto Laventon’s shoulder, where she bit at his coat a few times without any real force behind it.

“Ah, a wild beast!” he exclaimed, and carefully lowered himself into the grass, too, “Alas… I have been mortally wounded… I now shall breathe my last…”

Sunny curled up on top of his chest, purring triumphantly. Clementine watched from within the flower-field, one eye closed as she attempted to nap with little success.

It really was nice out here. It wasn’t too cold today- though Laventon kept his knitted hat on- and the breeze was gentle, the air was fresh… He could understand why his boy was so intent on staying out here, even without all the memories- both new and old- that kept him out of the village. He’d have to make time to come out and explore the wilds more often, even if it was hard on his back.

But for now, he was having a lovely, relaxing lie down by some gorgeous flowers, guarded by his boy’s diligent pokemon, with the boy himself only a couple of feet away. And with the promise of a family picnic in the evening, the certainty of spending time with both of his beloved children, laughing and talking over food and the sound of ocean waves, Laventon found himself feeling more relaxed than he had in a long while.

Yes. He really would have to visit the wilds more often.