Sybil, Monday

  The future is a scary thing, Sybil wouldn’t deny that. Seeing into the future puts a real burden on one's body and mind after all.

  Yet, what everyone always seems to be concerned with is the content of the future - the actions they will take, and the events that will affect them.

  How to control said events and seize them for their own gain.

  Sybil and any other Natu weren’t any different, her species relied on it, in fact.

  Survival of threats before they can ever appear, and finding food for oneself. Seeing the future allows her species to see things they otherwise wouldn’t.

  Most Natu, once they attain future sight, don’t realize that their sight of the future is far more of a burden than they realize. They sit by idly, day in, day out, staring up at the sun in the hopes of gaining another tidbit about the future.

  And before they know it, that future has passed them by.

  ‘Such foolishness…’ Sybil shook her head, before returning her gaze to the star-dotted sky above. It was a beautiful night, and while the lamps in Viridan City outshone the stars so far away, they could still be made out if it was dark enough. Her trainer and teammate were soundly asleep, but the bird Pokemon had short sleep cycles in comparison to them.

  Sybil still held the same burden of knowledge as her siblings, but she had attained a truth that most of her siblings, maybe not even her parents, ever had.

  ‘The only way to change the future is to act on it.’

  That day, it must’ve been less than a month ago still when Sybil saw the future for the first time. Not those glances of the future she always gets every day now, but a true vision, like her parent.

  Her feeble mind had just barely been able to hold onto the vision, grasping onto it like a fish onto a lure. What she’d seen back then…

  The mountain overlooking their home, engulfed in a blanket of flame. Just as the rest of the world before them, their father looked on as the flames and ash as the fires advanced towards their home, spelling out their doom.

  Every single one of them had known about the event beforehand, they had all looked towards their future, to the events which would follow the fire, and how they would escape it.

  Only to find nothing.

  There was no future in which they survived, that was what their father, the most proficient seer of their group, had told them.

  Sybil understood why they hadn’t fled, ‘With no futures to see, fleeing seemed useless…’

  ‘We could’ve run away, my father could’ve flown even…’ She shivered at the memory of the sight, the smell- ‘No! I cannot let it control me…’

  So, Sybil had moved on to find a future to save herself, save her family, save the world from that fire. She was sure, somewhere, somehow, there must be one. If not on that little outcropping where they lived, it had to be somewhere else.

  The future is a fickle thing, even the most minute change in actions can lead to your demise. Her parent could see into both the future and the past. They could see the various routes the future can take at any moment, see them morph and change in real time, like the currents of a river. Yet even they were immobilized by the potential future and what they’d seen beyond that fire.

  Her training at the human trainer school had proven useful and vexing, it showed her her weaknesses and her strengths. The visions she’d been wishing for were stronger now, but also far more volatile than before.

  Where before, her visions were like the errant droplets of a water tap in the human bathrooms she’d seen. Now, with her abilities heightened, the tap had been opened up, but her mind couldn’t comprehend all the possibilities as every future crashed past her face, into the sink of the present, and down the drain of the past.

  ‘If only I could finally evolve…I would finally be able to see it all, like my parents…’ Her time would come, Sybil was sure of it.

  Whatever the future had in store for her, she was going to fight for it in the present, to make it worth her while. She would become strong enough, strong enough to fight for a future worth living in. To stop that fire, to save her family, to…

  She gazed over to Larry and Valerie, her teammate and trainer, coddled against each other in the soft embraces of the bed.

  The human girl, she could understand. After all, she’d been the one in whose future she didn’t see the fires of destruction in. The more worrisome part was her teammate, the Larvitar.

  No futures ever appeared when she gazed at him, not one in the entire time they’d been living in cohabitation. Of course, for a Natu like herself, sights of the future were a difficult endeavor anyway. They appeared at random, in the heat of the moment.

  ‘Though I doubt my luck to be this low…’ Sybil complained.

  The Rock-Type was an enigma in more facets of his life as well. He spoke far too much for a Pokemon, his thoughts were clear on his face anytime he didn’t, and Sybil could see that there were even more behind those eyes of his. There is no way it was normal, he was only supposed to be a newborn after all.

  He knew a lot of things, so many things a newborn shouldn’t be privy to. In some confusing way, he already had a name, long before their trainer ever gave him one. ‘Where did he obtain it then? Names are a uniquely human custom.’

  During their training, he had proven himself a uniquely talented fighter. He took to new moves, Type-Energy manipulation, and physical conditioning like a fish to water. Undoubtedly, Larry was a genius when it came to fighting.

  On their excursion, he talked about human cities in detail, even though neither of them had been in any human cities before then. It all just didn’t stick together for a newborn, which he presumably was. His knowledge of ice cream, use of battling terms Valerie had never mentioned before…

  ‘No matter…’ Sybil wouldn’t dwell on it any longer. Having a uniquely talented teammate was a boon, who was she to criticize someone for having secrets?

  She would change her future, she had to.

  Just then, her eyes shone once again with the fascinating shimmer of iridescent Psychic-TE.

  …

  Valerie, Tuesday

  “Alright, Larry, you get your fill of soil and then we’ll start training.” After a nod and a cry of agreement, Larry disappeared into the soil below.

  Entering the forest for their training, Valerie and Matthias planted themselves down on the same tree trunk they’d used before. Sybil hopped off her shoulder and waited for Larry to finally return from his feast. Only a minute or so later, he was back, and so Valerie finally announced their training plan for today.

  “Ok! Sybil, you will try and speed up your Teleports. With you unable to do damage in the same way as Larry, you’ll need to be evasive in your fighting style when it's your turn.” The bird nodded back seriously and disappeared into a flash, only to reappear a few steps over, readying itself for training, ‘Showoff…’

  Larry was next, “For you, Larry, I think you know what I’ll ask. I want you to focus on getting control of your body while it powers up, so keep moving and getting the hang of using Dragon Dance and Rock Polish faster. I doubt we’ll manage to defeat more than one of Giovanni’s Pokemon using a cheap strategy like that…But I think it’ll blow people's socks off.”

  Nodding back seriously, Larry trotted his way over to another part of the forest clearing and closed his eyes in concentration as he worked on getting a Dragon Dance started. Valerie looked over the scene fondly, ‘Gosh, they’re both just way too cute.’

  Matt cut through her thoughts, “Y-You don’t give them more instructions?”

  “Unless they need some, no,” She shook her head, “They’ve been doing pretty well so far, but I guess I should start working more hands-on after this.”

  “...B-Because this one doesn’t count?” Matt questioned.

  Valerie felt like she’d been got, “Ouch, but…Yeah…Kind of. Both the mess surrounding Team Rocket and how impossibly difficult this Gym is make this kind of feel…worthless? Like, I’m training for a practice match?”

  “I-I see…B-But that’s good, i-isn’t it?” Matt finished.

  “I guess it is…” She agreed, “I know I won’t be as anxious as the other trainers once I get to Pewter Gym, that’s for sure.”

  “W-Which Gyms will be hard for you anyway?” Matt received an agreeing nod from Patrat on his shoulder.

  She had thought of it before, which Gyms would spell trouble for her team, but she always came back to the same answer, “I’ve got too few Pokemon to say. With my current team, probably Cerulean will be the hardest. Larry will be absolutely useless in a Water Gym, and I’m unsure if Sybil has the power to beat it alone. I plan to add more Pokemon to my team until I get to Cerulean City, though.” She quickly added on.

  “L-Like what?” Matt followed up.

  Not having a quick answer ready, Valerie simply shrugged, “I haven’t thought that far, I would like to find some who wanted to join me.” She grimaced at the idea of catching a wild Pokemon without its consent, “I just can’t imagine beating one to catch it…Always felt kind of wrong…I’ve been lucky in that regard…”

  Matt nodded, opting to stay quiet in his agreement. Patrat on his shoulder, on the other hand, looked shocked by the idea, “Pat?!”

  “Whoa!” Valerie flinched back when the Normal-Type hopped from Matt's to her shoulder, only to pat her on the back warmly, “Rat-Rat! Patrat-Rat-Pat!”

  Discerning the meaning of another trainer's Pokémon was far harder than her own, but by the way her Pokemon's looks did not even flinch slightly at the words, she knew they must've been positive, “Umm…Thanks?”

  Matt quickly repossessed his large rodent with a panicked look, all while Patrat trashed wildly in his grasp, “S-S-Sorry about that…”

  “No worries…” Valerie quickly responded.

  …

  ???

  “Ugghhh…” The ticks and tocks of the Viridian Gym's entrance clock were mind-numbing if one was to listen to them for more than an hour. She was on her fifth hour today, so a groan escaping her when nobody was looking was more than a given.

  ‘People looove to sign up online these days.’ She complained, ‘I don't know who thinks they need to keep me chained to this fucking chair for eight hours when barely three people have shown up today…Who the fuck challenges this gym so early anyway?!’

  It used to be more dramatic around here. She also didn't used to be a receptionist. Grunt work might've been more physically demanding, but at least it used to be interesting. ‘Guess you really do always want what you can't have. As a Grunt, I wanted nothing more than to work in Administration, but now that I'm here, I just want to get back out and maybe kick that stupid fucking Natu’s beak in.’

  ‘Fuckin’ Magic Bounce…’ She lamented, ‘Of all the stupid fucking ways to get my ass beat…That's it?’

  ‘And who's Giovanni to sic his fucking cat on me?’ She tapped her fingers against the wooden table in a rhythmic motion, ‘Is he fucking crazy?’

  ‘It's his fault anyway that it all failed,’ She complained with a huff, ‘Couldn't even tell me about a second Pokemon beforehand, and it had Magic Bounce? Why weren’t we stealing it too?’

  All of Team Rocket was united underneath Giovanni, he was a genuinely charismatic leader in front of his troupe of criminals. So much so that the man was idolized by the Grunt wearing the black outfits with the red R on top of them.

  ‘But once you actually work for the guy? Nothing but a crazed idiot.’ Her experience working closely with the apparent mastermind painted a different picture. Where the Grunts saw a grand plan to take over the Kanto Region, she had already seen that the man was after something else entirely.

  She couldn't place it, but going by the disinterested way he fought his Gym Battles, practically handing the badge over to the people who walked through the door, she was sure his priorities were beyond Pokemon battles.

  ‘And for even myself not to be allowed in the secret basement of the Gym? Am I not a fucking Senior member by now?! What could even be down there, huh? A legendary Pokemon or something equally stupid?’ She joked to herself as her fingers finally stopped drumming the table.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  She began scrolling through her computer's menus absentmindedly, sighing in annoyance, ‘If only he gave me a second chance to go out and get that Larvitar…I should get him back for it, seriously.’

  Her finger stopped scrolling as her mouse fell on the date of the first Gym Challenge, Valerie Riston’s. Her eyes darted behind her, to the storage room of Gym Pokemon used for fights, just down the hall. She’d need to call her coworker soon about getting the Rhyhorns out for training.

  Suddenly, a light bulb went off in her head as she snapped her fingers, a grin now on her face, “Ohh~, I've got an idea on how to get back at him~”

  …

  Larry, Wednesday

  “Are you excited?” Valerie teased Larry as she corresponded with Maxie on her phone.

  Larry was already practically vibrating with excitement as he rocked on the balls of his feet, “I am! So much!” He was finally about to get a video call with his mother again, finally seeing her after she’d been healed and ready to be released back into Mt. Silver. Maxie had taken it upon herself to take on the flight back over to the mountain, with Larry's mother tensely set against her belt inside her Pokeball.

  How they’d gotten her to agree to get into a Pokeball, Larry didn’t rightly know. From the way she talked to them when they’d left, she’d warmed up to Valerie and everyone surrounding Larry, but kept the same frigid attitude she’d had for every other human.

  ‘Something must’ve happened, something good…’ Larry knew humans in this world to be generally far nicer to Pokemon than any humans back in his past life were to animals. Here, Rangers went so far out of their way to venture into the most dangerous mountain in the region, only to reunite a child with its parent. Sure, some peacekeeping organizations back home did that too, but it is the rule here, not the exception.

  Tapping in a final message in the chat window, Valerie pressed send, “Alright, I think Maxie should call us now…”

  RING! RING!

  “Ah, there we go.” She picked up the video call, setting the phone down on the desk in her room as the buffering Video Call finally connected, “Maxie!”

  “Valerie!” Maxie smiled back as she waved a hand in greeting at them, her camera bobbed up and down with her walk. The outdoor scenery behind her already let the two of them know where she was, but she explained it anyway, “I’m near the entrance of Mt. Silver right now. How are you doing, Val?”

  “I’m doing great! We’re preparing to fight the Viridian Gym right now!” She responded with a grin, “How was your flight over to Mt. Silver?”

  “Oh, it's finally getting warmer again, spring is in full, well…spring, I guess. Haha…” She rubbed the back of her head awkwardly as she quickly spun her phone around towards the mountain. Where before, snow marked its tip quite pointedly, now the snow was slowly receding and giving way to the grey of rocks and greenery of spring. “We’re all kinds of busy marking off the new cartographic features like rivers, which come into being now that the snow is actually melting.” She explained, “That, coupled with all kinds of Pokemon finally showing themselves again, means we’re hard at work once again. I’m also on guard duty to a degree.”

  “Wow.” Valerie was awed by the complicated inner workings of ranger life, “I guess the work never ends, huh? I’m sorry for making you transport Larry’s mother then.”

  Maxie waved her off quickly, “Pfft, no! Don’t worry about it, this is the perfect distraction from all the hard work. I’ve got more work to do on my way back to the outpost anyway, being able to just take a flight for a few hours to unwind is great.”

  “I remember having no phone reception at Mt. Silver.” Valerie mentioned curiously, “How is this call connecting?”

  “Oh, this is actually special ranger tech!” She explained excitedly, “It's something called a styler!”

  ‘Styler…Aren’t those from the ranger games?’ Larry reminisced about the side-games he didn’t have much knowledge about, ‘They had those fancy spinning tops used to calm down Pokemon and recruit them, right?’

  “Mine's a downgraded model, just used for communication since I’m the only ranger currently working at the tower. I need to be available 24/7, even while not at the tower, so they gave me one. This thing can be called from pretty much anywhere. It uses satellite technology, I think, it has a really goofy-looking antenna on top!”

  “Interesting…What’s it a downgrade from?” Valerie questioned, not privy to the same knowledge as Larry.

  “Oh, the fully featured ones are called Capture Stylers, they’re able to calm Pokemon down and temporarily recruit them to help you,” She explained, “pretty helpful for Ranger work, all things considered, but they’re high-tech and are only handed out to rangers close to the organization. I think only a few rangers actually use them in Indigo.”

  “Capture…” Valerie cringed, “How does it work?”

  “Err…” Maxie only shrugged, “From what I know, it's all voluntary on the Pokemon's part, but I couldn’t say how they work exactly…They’re probably safe…”

  “If you say so…” Valerie nodded. Larry made himself known in the lull of quiet and quickly typed something in the chat window of the call, “Huh? You got something to say?”

  “Larry can write? Wow, he’s a smart one, isn’t he?” Maxie questioned as his message appeared in the chat window of their call. She quickly read it out loud, “How did I get your mother to get back into the Pokeball? Well, luckily, I didn’t have to do a thing. It was all the nurses.”

  She started explaining as she pulled the ball from her belt, “I don’t know the full story, but from the way the Nurse Joy at the counter talked about her, the nurses became quite fond of your mom over the weeks she spent there. Maybe they befriended her?”

  ‘My mom befriending a human? Sounds implausible…’ Larry couldn’t quite see it, his mom's social skills were buried six feet underground and long dead. He couldn’t quite see the big, silent brute that was his mother making friends with a bunch of sociable nurses.

  “We're already here anyway. You should ask her yourself. It's the entire reason for this call, isn't it?” Maxie explained, she spun the camera around again towards the mountain above her. She panned down, framing in front of her the scene where everything had unfolded, the entrance of Mt. Silver.

  “Oh, good idea!” Valerie nodded, “Larry, do you mind interpreting between your mother and me once you two have talked? I want to talk with her too.”

  “Sure,” Larry nodded back. He was more than happy to do so. ‘I hope the two of them get along well, they're the two most important people in my life after all!’

  “Alright…” Maxie readied herself, holding up the Pokeball to her face, “I know you can hear me in there. I’ll unlock the ball now and release you.” The ball seemed to wiggle for a second before Maxie, fidgeting with her phone in her hand, turned the outer ring of the white button on the front of the Pokeball to unlock it.

  She pressed the button and pointed the ball in front of her, “Ok, out you come!”

  The ball cracked open with a signature POP! and the red laser of the Pokeball grew in size to accommodate his mother's stature before she finally appeared in a flash of light.

  ROOOOAAAR!

  A visible wave of pressure was exerted by the cry of his mother, and Larry could see behind her as both trees shook at the sheer energy contained in her Normal-Type Roar, and Flying-Types took off into the sky in fear.

  The camera momentarily wobbled, as evidently even Maxie hadn’t expected such a boisterous appearance, stumbling backwards a few steps, “W-Woah! Y-You cool?” She asked his mother warily.

  Larry’s mother grinned down at her before turning with a scoff, “O-Oh, I think she’s just messing with me…”

  Valerie giggled, and Larry finally took in his mother for the first time in a while. Her armor was still somewhat cracked, but it looked more like someone had mended the cracks of a vase, and the slivers of flesh between her armor didn’t peek out from underneath anymore. She stood tall and seemed in far better health than before.

  “Mom!” Larry called out over the phone, and once she registered his voice, her gaze traveled back to Maxie, specifically the Styler in her hand.

  “Hm? Larry?” She growled out in a low rumble as she closed in on Maxie, “Is that you?”

  The ranger kept her composure far better this time around, but was still a bit frazzled by the powerful Pokemon in her wake, “W-Wait a sec, Tyranitar. I’ll turn the call around!”

  Maxie spun on her heel, bringing herself to the lower corner of the video call, with Larry’s mother taking up much of the video feed over top of her shoulder, “Like this,” She pointed at the phone with a finger, “See? That’s Larry in there, Valerie is also there!”

  “Hello!” Valerie and Larry both waved back for effect, and his mother leaned in close, squinting her eyes as she tried to make sense of the tiny screen.

  “How did you get in there?”

  “I didn’t!” He quickly retorted, “This is that video call!” Larry took a quick moment to explain in his most simple terms the fact, “...I’m actually in a human city, far away right now!”

  His mother took the explanation in stride, nodding along in either understanding or confusion, it wasn’t clear to Larry, “I see…It is nice to see you again…”

  “It is Mom! I’m so glad you’re doing ok.” Larry saw the fond smile on his mom, and he couldn’t help but want to hug himself close to her through the screen. It felt like that horrible fight against Moltres was truly in the past now. “It really is! How are you feeling? You won’t fight another Legendary Pokemon, will you?”

  She took a second to dissect the question before she nodded sheepishly in realization, “I won’t…And I feel healthy.”

  Both Maxie and Valerie giggled at the guilty look on his mother's face, but Larry just wanted to know more about what had gone down with his mother in her absence, “Good, but I need to know Mom! You went back here in a Pokeball! Did you become friends with the nurses?!”

  Instead of giving him a clear answer, she averted her eyes, opting to look off into the forest behind the device, “They were ok…”

  And so Larry and his mother spent quite a bit of time simply talking, most of which was taken up by Larry, animatedly regaling his mother with his adventures.

  “...And when we left, we took this flight where a giant bird carried a metal box, which we sat in while flying from one city to another! We were so high up, I bet we were higher than the top of Mt. Silver!”

  “Hrmm…” She would answer.

  “...I went to a school while training for the gym battle, there I learned how to write words like human! I can actually write words now and communicate with humans!” He told her excitedly.

  Yet she only nodded back wisely with a fond smile on her face, “Mhm, I knew you were a genius.”

  “..Valerie had me learn a ton of new moves, moves which power me up! Just the other day, I punched down a full tree!”

  Everything was discussed, from his training regimen to the kidnapping, the latter of which soured the mood instantly and made Maxie’s position in the lower left corner of the screen feel quite a bit less comfortable, “Ughh…”

  “What did I say…” She growled out with an incensed look as small slivers of dirt rose behind her on the screen.

  “It’s nothing to worry about, Mom!” Larry quickly assured her, seeing the dust particles behind her decrease again, “We’re gonna do the Gym Battle at their supposed hideout, and after that, we’re gone!”

  “Dangerous.” She pointed out correctly.

  “I know, but don’t worry! We have support from Professor Oak! He’ll help us out!”

  “Who? What is his plan?” She challenged, and Larry was only able to wilt in disappointment.

  “We…uhh…We don’t know yet…” He answered weakly, “He said it was supposed to be a surprise…”

  “Surprises are dangerous.” She accused.

  “It’ll all go well…” Larry assured her, “Probably…”

  His mother could only sigh in response. Valerie, seeing their argumentation between mother and son, finally spoke up, “I guess Larry told you about the kidnapping?”

  His mother sniffed angrily in response, but Valerie only smiled back sheepishly, “I guess I should say I’m sorry for already endangering Larry just a few weeks after our journey began…I’m sorry…”

  His mother decided to avert her gaze from the remorseful human girl, but Valerie wanted to state her case, to save her credibility in front of her Pokemon’s mother, “Larry and Sybil sneaked away while I was studying, they managed to save themselves from the kidnapper by themselves and they were only returned to me because a friend of mine found them…”

  “Since then, I’ve kept a far tighter leash on Larry and Sybil, keeping a closer eye on them and trying to keep them in their Pokeballs when out and about in the city.” Valerie explained, “I’ve also started our training to help them escape if something were to happen. Listen here, I’ve read up on this.”

  His mother turned back towards the screen, now more interested. “Sybils' teleporting is getting quicker by the day, a fact that will help in fleeing from poachers and other evil people who would try to steal her. Couple it with Confuse Ray, and nobody will catch her.”

  “Larry learned Dragon Dance and Rock Polish, two moves that power him up, which can allow him to destroy traps and flee or fight back more effectively than a criminal might expect. He already has Dig and Sandstorm, making catching him quickly and efficiently impossible if he really wants to flee.”

  ‘Huh?’ Larry looked up at his trainer with surprise, ‘She hasn’t told me about this.’

  She caught his gaze and smiled down at him before petting him on the side of the head, “I did say I thought our training through.”

  His mother clearly hadn’t understood all of her explanation, but seemed at least slightly reassured that she’d cared for her son, “I see…”

  “I am still a new trainer.” Valerie explained, “Your son is as safe as he can be in human society. But I want to make this right by you, Tyranitar.”

  Valerie looked down towards her Pokemon, “This is where I want you to translate, Larry. Ok? I want to make sure you can ask me anything you want to Tyranitar. Something about me, my friends, Larry, or whatever you'd like to ask us. Ask away!”

  He nodded back, readying himself to interpret whatever his mom was about to say, but as usual, his mother was a Pokemon of few words, “When will you visit?”

  Larry typed the question into the device, and the message appeared in the chat window to the side of the screen. Valerie read the message out loud before answering, “Sybil has been training her Teleportation rigorously, but so far we’ve only been able to Teleport either herself or another small Pokemon along with her, no more than a few lengths beside her. Even her best solo attempts leave her on the other side of the arena. We’ve been working on increasing her speed instead while we wait for her to evolve.”

  His mother nodded along, “Once she evolves, she is supposed to be able to teleport far more easily, since her Psychic powers really awaken during the evolution.”

  His trainer taps her chin thoughtfully, “If I had to guess…We’ll probably need some more time before we can visit you back at Mt. Silver. Unless you want us to fly over?”

  This time, it was Maxie who shook her head, “Sorry to say, but the entire area is locked off now. The only way you’d be allowed back anywhere near Mt. Silver was if you were a bigshot in the League or if you were a Ranger employed here. They don’t even let Aces in here anymore.” His mother frowned down at the human near her angrily, but she only raised her hands in surrender, “H-Hey! I don’t make the rules…” She received a huff of annoyance in return, “From a friend to a friend, the only way you’d get in here now is if nobody saw you come in…”

  “Then I guess our only chances for you to meet up with your mom will be when Sybil finally evolves…” Valerie answered to a nod from Maxie, “Sorry that you two can’t meet in person sooner…”

  “I’m ok, it makes it easier to focus on training.” Larry smiled back, to a shocked expression on his mother.

  “Do you not want to see me?!” She questioned with a loud snarl.

  “I do, Mom!” Larry explained as he translated her exasperation, “But I’m more than happy to see you in a video call! We can do this more often as well, you know!” He quickly typed out his question as well, writing a quick, “We can video call my mom more, right, Maxie?”

  She nodded in agreement with a cheeky grin, “Sure, I’ll be busy tending to the entirety of Route 28 and the surroundings of Mt. Silver, I should be able to find some time to videocall a friend in between.” Turning back towards his mother, “So long as Tyranitar here can show up around here every now and then, I’d be happy to keep her on video call.”

  “I’ll move…” She quickly nodded back with a tender growl.

  “Great! Look, I know you’d probably love to talk some more, but I’ve got to get back to my job.” Maxie apologized. Everyone nodded in agreement, but before she disconnected the call, she seemed to have an idea, “How about we set a date where we’ll meet back up here? It would make my job far easier.”

  “Our Gym Battle in five days, how about in a week or so? If everything goes well, we’ll be preparing our trek to the next town, Pewter City, by then.” Valeire suggested nods from both Larry and Maxie.

  “...That should work, sure.” She turned back towards his mother, who’d raised herself by now, “You heard the girl, come back here in seven days, around the same time, and you’ll be able to talk some more with Larry and Valerie.”

  “...Fine…” Larry could see on his mother's face that she didn’t like being ordered around by people, but she still accepted, “...If it's for Larry…”

  “Bye-Bye! I’ll miss you, Mom! Let’s talk again next time!” Larry swung his arm energetically, Valerie waving at Maxie and his mother behind him, “I hope you’ll find a nice place to relax back home!”

  “Goodbye…” She waved weakly.

  Maxie held up a palm towards the camera next to her, “See you guys! And good luck with that Gym Battle of yours!”

  “Thanks, Maxie! Byee!” Valerie finally disconnected the call and gave Larry another pat on his head, “See? Your mom is doing great now.”

  Larry had to nod in agreement, she’d really grown in her time back at the PokeCenter. Maybe not physically, but mentally, Larry leaving with a trainer had given her a new air of maturity and calm serenity. She’d clearly grown as a person. Where before she would’ve probably whined, complained, and raged at the injustice of having her kid taken from her, she now seemed to understand that it was his choice to go and nothing else.

  It made Larry smile fondly, ‘Now I’ve got to show her the fruits of our labor and do well in that Gym Battle!’