FSE

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The buzzing started as a distant sound that vibrated against the nightstand beside Emily’s bed, the morning light filtered in through the blinds as she lay face down in the pillows where she had simply collapsed after her shower the night before.

Buzzz

Buzzz

Buzzz

A grumble of frustration slipped from her as she stretched a tired arm out, blindly swatting her hand at the nightstand, feeling around it for a second before slapping it again, her fingers finding the accursed buzzing, toppling it from the nightstand and to the floor with a soft thump and a grunt from bellow.

Piko lay on the floor beside the bed, the phone resting now on the bridge of his muzzle, vibrating off and into the fluff of his chest. Blinking his eyes lazily he rubbed a paw over his face, sitting upright, his golden eyes blinked open, still foggy with sleep as he looked around in confusion, trying to determine what had just assaulted him. The phone continued to buzz against his chest where it had landed.

Emily, for her part, had already burrowed back into her pillow, pulling the blanket over her head with a groan of protest. "Five more minutes," she mumbled, her words muffled by fabric and exhaustion. "Whoever it is can wait five more minutes..."

Piko stared at her retreating form for a long moment, then down at the phone that was still buzzing insistently against his fur. With a grumble that very clearly spoke his opinion on early morning wake-up calls, he pushed himself up onto his haunches, clutching the phone as he stretched, his spine arching and his claws extending as he worked out the kinks from sleeping on the floor. His mane flowed around him like a waterfall of white and red, settling into place as he shook himself awake.

The phone was still buzzing.

He nudged her shoulder with his snout. Nothing. He nudged again, harder. A muffled groan was his only response. Piko's ears flattened and he tapped the phone against her covered head, the vibration buzzing through the blanket. Emily swatted at him weakly, her hand connected with his muzzle in a half-hearted slap that barely registered. "Mmph… Stooop it. I’m sleeping..." still she did not come out of her cocoon.

With a low grumble that sounded remarkably like a sigh, Piko carefully crawled over her back, his weight pressing her into the mattress. Emily squirmed beneath him but didn't wake. The Zoroark's golden eyes narrowed with mischief as he looked down at her, pulling the covers to the side to expose her backside.

He didn't hesitate. Leaning down with his mouth open, his teeth closed gently but firmly around the plump curve of her buttcheek, giving it a sharp nip.

"Ah—!" Emily yelped, shoving herself upright so fast she nearly headbutted him with the back of her skull. She scrambled onto all fours under him, her hands pressing into the mattress as she twisted to look back at him over her shoulder, her eyes wide and her heart hammering. "Piko! What the—ow!" She rubbed at the spot he'd bitten, glaring at him through the tangled curtain of her sleep-mussed hair.

Piko just sat there beside her, holding her phone in his claws, looking entirely too pleased with himself. He held it out to her with a smug expression, one ear flicking lazily as he waggled the device at her.

"You're an ass," Emily muttered, snatching the phone from him. She rubbed her eyes with her free hand, trying to force her brain into some semblance of functioning as she answered the call. "Hello?"

"Emily Noelle Verner!" Her mother's voice crackled through the speaker, sharp with worry and anger making Emily pull the phone back from her ear a little. "Where have you been? I've been trying to reach you for hours! Are you watching the news? Have you seen what's happening?"

Emily blinked, still half-asleep and not entirely processing the words. "Mom? What? No, I literally just woke up slow down," she grumbles, sitting back on her heels and pressing a hand to her temple. The room was still too bright, her brain still too foggy, but the anxiety in her mother's voice cut through the haze like a knife. "Take a breath. I'm ok, what’s going on?"

"Your speech! The speech you gave at the pageant! It's all over the news, Emily! They're talking about what you said about Ty's injuries, about the League covering up how bad it really was. I've had seven phone calls from people I haven't spoken to in years wanting to know if it's true!"

Piko, apparently satisfied that she was now awake, flopped against her side with a contented grumble. His arms wrapped around her torso as he rested his head over her shoulder, his warm fur pressing against her bare skin. Emily absently reached up to scratch behind his ear as she processed her mother's words.

"Oh that? Yeah, I sorta expected that to happen." she says casually as she yawned wide with a stretch.

"You expected it? That's all you have to say? Emily, the Pokemon League is in an absolute uproar! They're facing serious backlash for what happened! Some of the doctors who worked on Ty have come forward to corroborate your story with photos and evidence, and now there are calls for investigations into how the League handled the whole situation!"

Emily leaned against Piko's warm body, a small smile playing at the corners of her lips. "They shouldn’t have lied about it in the first place."

"Good? Emily, what were you thinking!? You could have ruined your career! your reputation! They could renounce your title as champion and ban you from competing in any kind of pokemon events!" She sounded frantic in a way that friestrated Emily.

"Mom… I told them the truth." Emily's voice was steady, firm in a way that she hadn't heard herself sound in months. "I really didn’t have much of a choice since that Landchester prick blindsided me. Gave out all those bonuses I told you about at the pageant and when I went to get mine he insisted I give an interview, so I did, and everything I said was exactly what happened. Ty nearly died on the operating table, he did die. He was in a coma for a month. He had to relearn how to fuckin walk. He'll never use fire attacks again and he’s got a scar that’s probably gonna cause him aches and pains for the rest of his life. The League knew all of that and chose to release a statement saying he only sustained minor injuries and was expected to make a full recovery… I’m sorry but if they want to renounce my title for airing out their dirty laundry then let them, I’m sick and tired of hiding, and running away, and having this whole thing over my head. If anyone should get blasted for it than it should be that fucking rich cuck that forced my hand.”

“Emily… They can seize your pokemon!” Her voice was stern with worry.

“I didn’t do anything wrong!” Emily snipped at her. “I did everything I was supposed to do as a trainer in a situation that no one ever wants to get put in! I didn’t ask for someone to lie about it to the press, I didn’t pay off someone to alter the story, I did my job as a trainer and I got my boy taken care of, and I dare anyone to come at me over it cause I’ll put foot to ass if I’ve gotta! I know plenty of good lawyers and got the hospital staff already backing me up, and I didn’t even ask any of them to do any of that! I say bring em on! I’ve challenged the league before, I’ll do it again damnit!”

There was a long pause on the other end of the line. When her mother spoke again, her voice was softer, the worry replaced by something that sounded almost like relief? "God… damn it Emily… I… haven't seen this side of you in such a long time. You sound… almost like your old self again."

"I'm starting to feel like my old self again," Emily admitted with a half groan. "Or at least, I'm getting there. It's still going to be a pain in the ass dealing with the paparazzi and all that mess, and I’m still trying to get some stuff in my head straightened up and worked out right now, but that’s fine. I plan on heading to Hoenn here soon anyways, I’ve got to pick up Milotic and Ampharos… so long as Professor Birch doesn’t need their help anymore… I’ll probably stay there for a few months, trying to let things here die down a bit… go on a cruise or something.”

"I… Emily just… please… promise me you'll be careful. And come home soon before you go all the way to Hoenn, will you? I-I miss you… and I’m really worried about you, especially with all of this going on I-" she trailed off with a soft sigh. “I’m really worried…”

"I miss you too, Mom. I’m not gonna run off or anything before I come see you.” She could hear the strain in her mothers voice making her feel honestly pretty bad for making her worry so much. “Hey look, I still need to recover from all the hard work this week, I’m completely whipped out. So once I get up and moving around I’m gonna go deposit this check, maybe get some furniture for the new place… or actually come visit you, you can help me pick out furniture to get, perfect excuse! I mean, you know, so long as you’re not working today.” she chuckles, getting a strained sigh from the other end.

“I-I would like that a lot… actually… I love you sweetheart, please come home soon ok? I’ll get lunch started for us and see if I can’t get a catalog from the pokemart, see if we can’t get that new place of your’s spruced up… Just come home soon… ok?”

“I love you too mom, sorry for making you worry so much, I promise I’ll be home soon.” she hums, pausing as the phone vibrates with a call coming in from Redgie. “Oh god it’s Redgie, he’s probably freaking out right now too. I’ll see you in a little while, love you bye.” she says as she hangs up the call, switching over to the next. "Hey, what's up?"

"EMILY! Are you seeing this?!"

"Good morning to you too, Redgie," she said dryly, leaning back against Piko's warm, solid form.

"You're all over the news! The Pokemon League is in an uproar! Some of the doctors that worked on Ty came forward after seeing your speech and-”

Emily chuckled, genuinely amused. “Yeah I had heard about that, pretty nice to have the doc’s looking out for me yeah?”

"E-What? E-Emily, this is serious! This is-"

"I'm not hiding from it, Redgie." she interrupted, her voice calm but firm. "Funny enough, I just had this exact conversation with my mom. I'm a big girl, Redgie. I can take care of myself, hopefully with an internal investigation they can figure out who and why the story about Ty was altered… but I’m not worried about it at all, so chill out, and stop yelling into the phone whenever you call me at like… guuh, it's 8 in the morning?"

Piko chose that moment to flop even more heavily against her, his weight pressing her down as he nuzzled against the top of her head with a grumble of protest at his lack of attention. “Oh god Piko buddy… I’m on the phone, give me a minute.” she strained shifting to pat him on the head.

"What's going on over there?"

"Piko's being very affectionate this morning and wallering me around… buddy please!" Emily said with a laugh, reaching up to scratch under his chin. He made a contented rumbling sound, pressing closer. "How's Daisy? Is she doing okay still?"

Redgie's tone shifted from panicked to warm on a dime. "Oh, she's great! Actually, hold on-" There was shuffling on the other end, then the distinct sound of a Flygon chittering happily and the god awful noise of something rubbing the phone, no doubt a dragon snoot. "She says hi!"

Emily grinned, her heart warming at the sound. "Tell her I miss her. And I'm glad she's doing well."

"She misses you too," Redgie said. His tone became a little more serious as he sighed. "Hey are you… sure you're okay? You seem... really calm about all this. I expected you to be freaking the fuck out, but you sound… just… like weirdly calm."

"I’ve been in a constant state of freaking out for months, Redgie, I'm just... done with it at this point I guess. If I’ve gotta go make an appearance and smooth all this over than so be it, if I’ve gotta get a lawyer and some affidavits, alright sweet, I don’t know much about the law but I’m pretty sure I’ve got a really strong case here, so I’m not backing down from it... but that’s future me’s problem, right now I'm going to take it easy for the next few days, put my money in the bank, and probably go furniture shopping with my mom for the house… she’s really worried and upset when she first called me this morning, I’ve gotta make sure she’s ok"

Piko swayed her again, his arms tight around her midsection as he grumbled and huffed, clearly wanting more pets. Emily absently stroked his fur while trying to focus on the conversation.

Her phone buzzed—another incoming call from an unknown number. She declined it without hesitation.

“I’m really popular this morning with everyone apparently!” she sighed softly. “I appreciate you checking in on me Reg, but I’m ok, like I’m not pretending or putting on a mask or anything, I’m actually ok. I’m really tired and after the week I’ve had, so I’m probably going to jump off here and get some more sleep… or go make sure moms alright, I’ll talk to you more later alright? Tell Daisy I love her.”

“If you’re sure, I’ll let her know.” he says, pulling from the phone with a few words in the background leaving a happy trill to bleed through making Emily smile and roll her eyes. “Love ya Em, hit me up if you need me, I’ll let you go, and if you need a place to hide out or run from the cops or the feds my doors always open, we’ll take a nice long perminant vacation.”

“Oh my god you’re so dramatic... I Love ya too Redgie, I’ll talk to you later.” she chuckles, hanging up the phone, grimacing as it began to ring. Scrolling through her settings while her phone chimed with another unknown number, she muted her phone and sat it back on the nightstand with a resounding click. Flopping back on the bed with a deep sigh, she rubbed her hands over her face before letting them flop on the bed beside her, looking up at the ball of white and red fluff staring back down at her.

"Alright, now that I’m off the phone ya rude little shit" she chuckles, propping herself up on her elbows "What do you need? You've been shuffling me around all morning and up my ass while I’m on the phone.."

Piko just grumbled, his paws pressing against her shoulders as he pushed her down onto her back as he flopped over her with a huff, his full weight settling across her torso as he buried his face against her neck.

Emily gave a resounding ‘Oof’ only to groan a chuckle as he laid over her. “Fuuck buddy, be careful. My tit’s are sort of right there, you ain’t light, gravity doesn’t care.” she chuckles, stuffing her hands up to cover her breasts with a few comforting rubs.

He grumbled again, nuzzling against her collarbone, pulling back enough to nuzzle her face obnoxiously a few times.

"Gaaah! Piko… Piko Stooop!” she grumbles as she tries to push at him as he drug his tongue over her face making her sputter. “Pffft!! Piko! Alright then you little asshat!”

She hooked her legs up around his hips, locking her ankles behind him, and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him flush against her naked body. Her chin rested on top of his head as she squeezed him as tight as she could, biting down on one of his ears giving it a playful tug as he yipped and squirmed around in her hold, rolling them over onto his back and then back onto hers as he tried to get away

“Grrraaa no way asshole! I’ve got you locked in now! You want snugg's, you're gonna get snuggs!” she declares, letting him pull back enough to breath and gasp a gruff chuckle as she relaxed back on the bed under him, letting her arms flop beside her head. “Heheheh… you liked that yeah? You always did like roughhousing, just be careful with those claws, I don’t need another Daisy injury.”

Lifting a paw he bapped it against her face, grumbling something as he looked down at her, only to pause and blush as he looked away, scratching a claw over his cheek bashfully.

Looking over their position Emily looked down between them only to smirk and shake her head. “What? Yeah I know how it looks, someone walked in right now it would totally look like were porkin on the bed, whaaat you’re not getting shy and bashful on me now are ya? Can’t handle a naked woman under you with their legs wrapped around you?” she asks with a smirk, poking her tongue out at him

Piko's ears perked up at that. He lifted his head, looking down between them where their bodies were pressed together. His eyes flicked from her face to the space between their hips, and something shifted in his expression, a playful spark.

He shuffled forward, adjusting his position until his sheath pressed directly against her sex. Then, with a goofy grin spreading across his muzzle, he gave a few playful humps, bouncing his hips against her in a clearly joking manner.

"Haaaahhah! Oh my god, Piko-" Emily squeaked, laughing as he licked at her face, his tongue dragging across her cheek and nose. "You're such a dork!"

He grumbled playfully, giving another exaggerated hump that made her giggle and squirm beneath him. Letting his tongue hang from the corner of his mouth in a goofy display before he huffed and flopped down, rolling them over and onto their sides, giving an exaggerated and obnoxious sigh.

Snickering Emily shook her head, relaxing the hold of her legs as she looked at him. “Damn man, only 10 seconds? Bad sex, absolutely worst sex ever, I didn’t even feel anything, didn’t even get it in me” she chuckles, sighing as she snuggled in against his chest as he hugged an arm around her. "Came pretty close there though, so I guess you get a participation sticker at least."

They lay like that for a few minutes, enjoying the other's warmth before she spoke up, shuffling a little to prop herself upright on an elbow. “Hey… Thank you for helping out with last night.” she says as she looks into his golden eyes. “Like… I know it wasn’t exactly the right thing to do and it was hella petty of us but… thank you for everything you did to help out with Iris.”

Piko responded by giving her face a few gentle licks, his tongue warm and slightly rough against her cheek, followed by a soft nuzzle against her jaw.

"You're being a lot more snuggly than you usually are," she hums. "I really like seeing this side of you, it’s not very often you get touchy or like to act all cute and goofy.... I'm proud of how far you've come since we first met."

He gruffed, looking away from her as a blush faintly spreading across his muzzle. His ears flattened back in embarrassment, but he didn't pull away fully, only grumbled dismissively.

Emily cupped his cheek with one hand, gently turning his face back toward hers. She pressed a soft kiss to the top of his head, feeling him shiver beneath her touch.

"I mean it Piko… I'm so proud of you," she repeated, hugging her arms around his neck as she pulled him close. "Before you would hardly even let me pet you, I’ve still got these little teeth scars of yours, yeah right there on my arm when you bit the piss out of me… now look at you, snuggling me and giving me extremely unimpressive sex and rough housing… It’s better than the biting and the scratching. I can tell you that much.” she chuckles warmly “Thank you for being such a wonderful friend to me… trusting me enough to show me this side of you. I love you buddy."

Piko's whole body shivered as his muzzle and ear’s tinged with his blush, a whimper escaping him as he squirmed against her, but even as he made bashful sounds in her ear, his arms tightened around her, hugging her close in return. His voice came soft and dismissive, but the feeling of his arms wrapped around her was all she needed to know how he felt.

Pulling back a little she pressed her head against his, giving his cheek a rub. “Geez… if I could actually stand it I would totally let you fuck me for real right now.” she chuckles, making Piko’s ears shoot up as he sputters some sort of embarrassed sound she hadn’t heard from him before. Chuckling, she tilts her head. “What? Yeah I’ve been thinking about it, I mean hey can’t let Gardevoir be the only one taking care of my boys now can I? I mean I definitely felt what you’ve got under all that fluff, pretty sure you would be a hell of a lot easier to handle than Ty, Definitely easier than Noivern… that’s scary to even think about.”

Swallowing hard Piko pointed a claw at her and then back at himself as if trying to confirm what she had said, only to look down over her with a deep blush, bashfully looking away. “There you go being cute and bashful again. You do realise you were rawdoging your sheath against my pussy like not even two seconds ago right?” she asks with a chuckle, rubbing her hand over his cheek. "Thought for a second there you were gonna really go for it, maybe here in the near future once I'm all good to go we can maybe... try that again, but for real?" she asks, rubbing her hand over his cheek, making him grumble gently, his expression softening as he pressed a little lick against her cheek that made her giggle.

The sudden knock on the door was resounding, making them both tense up, shooting a glance at the door. Piko pulled from her, his mane fluffing out as he sniffed towards the door, giving a resounding growl.

“Easy there bud.” Emily says as she presses herself up. “The door's locked.” Pressing herself upright with a stretch. “Just a minute!” she called out, lazily pulling on her sweatpants and an oversized shirt she usually wore when she slept, making her way to the door as another series of knocks came. “I said just a minute!”

Emily pulled the door open harder than she meant to, the wood swinging wide to reveal Mr. Landchester standing there in his fancy suit, hair done up all nice—but his expression was anything but confident.

His shoulders were slightly hunched, hands clasped in front of him, looking like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. It made Emily's blood boil.

His mouth opened, a rehearsed apology clearly sitting on the tip of his tongue. "Mi—"

"When someone says 'just a minute,'" Emily cut him off, her voice sharp but controlled, "that means you wait. It doesn't mean you keep knocking." She leaned against the doorframe, arms folding across her chest. "What the hell do you want?"

Piko growled deeply beside her, his head looming over her shoulder, mane ablaze with blackened wisps of dark energy as he bared his teeth. Landchester recoiled, taking a half-step back, his eyes darting to the Zoroark then back to Emily.

"I—" He cleared his throat, trying to regain some semblance of composure. "Miss Verner, I wanted to offer my sincerest apologies if things seemed a little… tense last night. I wasn't aware of everything that was going on wi—"

"You weren't aware," Emily repeated, the words flat. She let the silence hang for a moment, watching him squirm. "You put me on stage at a broadcasted event and forced me to talk about my partner's near-death experience in front of hundreds of people, and you 'weren't aware.'" Her lip curled. "Save the rehearsed apology. I'm not interested in whatever script you cooked up on the drive over here."

"Miss Verner, please I—"

"Did you think I just wouldn't say anything about it publicly for eight without a reason?" Emily tilted her head, her gaze hard. "That maybe it was something I didn't want to relive in front of a live audience?"

Landchester's mouth opened trying to speak, though nothing came. He glanced at Piko again, the Zoroark's growl rumbling through the air like a warning.

"Let me guess," Emily continued, her voice dropping to something cold. "Either you wanted the publicity for having the Johto League Champion spill the story on air during an interview with you, or it was retribution for what your kid did to me. And honestly? I don't really give a damn which one it was. Because the result is the same. I'm once again all over the news having to talk about shit I'm still working through in therapy. Shit that still keeps me awake at night. So I'll ask you again. What the fuck do you want? Because if it's just more apologies, you can politely fuck off and never speak to me again."

Landchester's face paled. His carefully maintained composure cracked, showing the fear underneath, the fear of a man who had just realized exactly how badly he had miscalculated. He swallowed hard.

"Look I-I get it ok? What I did was wrong." The words came out quieter than he probably intended, the pretense falling away. "I… I genuinely wanted to apologize, Miss Verner. I'm a fan. I've followed your career since your victory at the Vertress Conference in Unova. And I hadn't realized…" He hesitated, his voice growing thinner. "I hadn't realized what happened to your Typhlosion was so severe."

Emily stared at him for a long moment, then let out a short, humorless laugh. "Oh, that makes it all ok then doesn’t it? You didn't realize how badly fucked up he was, so that gives you the right to put me on the spot like that?" She shook her head slowly. "Eight months. Eight months I didn't say a god damn word about it publicly. You think that was an accident?"

Landchester fumbled with his jacket, pulling it open and shuffling around inside. "Whatever I can do, I-" He pulled out his checkbook, a desperate look crossing his face as he fumbled with his pen.

Emily's expression flickered, something shifting behind her eyes that was worse than the anger had been.

"Put that away," she said quietly.

"Miss Verner I-I can certainly arrange something, as compensation for the misunderstanding I-"

"I said put it away… right fucking now."

The words were soft, but they carried a weight that made Landchester's hand freeze mid-motion. Piko's growl cut off entirely as Emily lifted a hand, a silent command, his posture shifting from aggressive to attentive, though his eyes never left the man.

Emily rubbed a hand over her face, suddenly looking very tired. "You don't get it," she said, her voice raw. "I'm not someone who can be bought off." She leaned against the doorframe, staring at the checkbook still hanging limply in his hand. "I'm so fucking disappointed in you," she said quietly. "Get that out of my face."

Somehow the quiet disappointment in her voice was worse than the anger had been. Landchester flinched like he'd been struck.

"I-I thought you were someone who helped people," Emily continued, letting the words sit there between them. "That you did these events to bring people joy… to show appreciation for people who worked hard with their pokemon… not to use them for PR… And definitely not stoop as fucking low as to think cutting me a check would make all of this ok." She shook her head slowly, her expression softening. "What your son did was illegal. He could have been blacklisted by the Pokemon League for attacking another person with his Pokemon. Could have lost his trainer's license permanently. No gym would touch him, no contest would have him, and his Pokemon could have been stripped away, including that Typhlosion of yours since it was in his care at the time."

Landchester stepped back from her a little, slowly pressing the checkbook back into his coat.

"But instead of pressing charges, I let it slide. Not just once, even the second time when he tried to attack me, and his pokemon refused to go through with it. I even fucking vouched for him to keep his Pokemon and perform." Emily's voice cracked slightly, though she pushed through it. "Did that make it okay? Did I scream at you for raising a piece of shit kid? For not watching him better? No. I asked you to cut him some slack, to let him compete if he earned it. I worked with him to try and help make sure he turns out to be a good person and not some… some common fucking thug. You yourself said you wanted to teach him humility… or was that all an act too?"

Piko glanced from Emily to Landchester, giving a soft growl every time the man looked at him, though he was clearly worried about his trainer.

"Now I've got my mom worried out of her mind that I'm going to have my status as a trainer revoked, the Pokemons League's breathing down my neck wanting answers, doing damage control so much I had to silence my fucking phone, it’s still in there going off since I woke up, and now you show up with some shitty apology you cooked up on the way over thinking it would help. And if that didn't work…" She gestured at the checkbook. "Always ready to break out the checkbook, right?"

She looked at him, her gaze hard.

"Tell me. And don't you dare fucking lie to me, because I am… so close to just punching the shit out of you right now for having the audacity... What was your reason for doing it? What did I do so wrong that it pissed you off enough to do this to me?"

The silence stretched for several moments. Landchester stood there, hurt, clearly not having expected this sort of reaction. He could do little more than shake his head and look away from her.

"There… wasn't truly a reason for it," he said quietly, his voice barely above a whisper as he let his arms drop back to his side. "I-I swear I… I didn't know it was that bad."

He swallowed hard, struggling to find the words.

"You're the Johto League Champion… Emily, and no one has heard from you since the championship match. You just… disappeared. Fell off the face of the earth." He hesitated. "There was a scandal going on in the League at the time, something to do with a criminal organization getting caught trying to tamper with results. There was speculation that you had been involved, that perhaps… Perhaps you had been compromised o-or coerced. The media was having a field day with conspiracy theories, but… no one could get a hold of you to verify anything. No one could get a hold of you at all, not the press, not the leaguer, nobody."

Emily felt a flicker of surprise at that, though she kept her expression firm.

"It was months before your name was cleared of suspicion. You hadn't made any attempts to rectify or deny it, nothing, no word from you. League officials said they found out you had no involvement through outside sources… and then the reports came out about your Typhlosion being hospitalized." Landchester continued, his voice growing quieter. "And the speculation shifted. But I… I hadn't realized it was so drastic. I thought perhaps it was being exaggerated, kept under wraps for the investigation. I thought if I could just get you to talk about it, to address it publicly, then we would know something…"

He trailed off, the excuse sounding hollow even to himself.

Emily's jaw tightened, though she forced it to relax. "You could have asked me," she said, her voice strained with the effort of keeping it level. "You could have just sat down with me like a normal human being and asked me what happened. Instead, you put me on the spot in front of hundreds of people, live television, and forced me to relive the worst moment of my entire life."

She looked away, shaking her head slowly.

"I didn't know about the League scandal. I'll admit that," she said reluctantly, the words tasting bitter on her tongue. "I was too busy preoccupied with the possible death of my partner, there was too much going on at the time my phone was dead for most of it... But when Mr. Shelby told me about the changes… that all of a sudden you wanted to publicly address the daycare workers… they were excited out of their minds for their hard work and recognition. I can’t help but think it was all just set up to draw me out in the open and put me in an impossible situation."

Another silence fell between them. Landchester looked utterly defeated, his earlier confidence nothing but a distant memory. He stood there, an aging man in an expensive suit, suddenly looking very small.

"What can I do to help?" he asked finally. "Anything at all. I'll do it. I've got people I know in the League, news stations I can talk too… please let me-"

"You've done enough." Emily looked away from him. "This isn't something that can be taken care of with money, Mr. Landchester. You can't write a check for this and just make it all go away. You can't call in favors to have it taken off the air. What’s done is done." She paused, her voice dropping. "You took something from me. My privacy. My peace of mind. My ability to process things on my own terms. And no amount of money is going to fix that, or give it back to me."

A soft sound came from Piko, something close to a whine, though he held his firm expression, shuffling closer to rest his head on Emily's shoulder.

"If there's nothing else… I think I'd like for you to go." she said quietly. "I've got a lot of stuff I need to take care of and I’m… quite frankly so disgusted by you right now I can’t stand it."

Landchester looked at her for a long moment.

"Miss Verner I-" he spoke up, his voice soft yet distant. "I am truly sorry… I shouldn’t have put you on the spot like that… I-I swear to you I did not… know how bad it was.” he says holding his hands together in front of himself. “I… I know there’s nothing I can do now but… if you ever need anything, please I… Do not hesitate to ask, I will do anything I-"

"I get it… I do." Emily's voice was tired, the fight draining out of her. "Just… please… get the fuck out of here."

She leaned against the doorframe, not even bothering to look at him anymore. She was way too tired and sore for all this drama so early in the morning.

He hesitated, clearly wanting to say more, but Emily's expression didn't waver. After a moment, he took a reluctant step back, and then another. He turned, his shoulders slumped in defeat, and walked away down the pathway heading back towards the main building.

Emily watched him go, her arms still folded across her chest, her expression unreadable. She didn't move until he was out of sight, until the sound of his footsteps faded into nothing.

Only then did she let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, thumping her head back against the doorframe as she closed her eyes. "Fuck…"

Piko braced his arms around her in a gentle hug, offering a little whimper of concern, nuzzling her jaw as if to question if she was okay.

"I'm alright. Not right now but… I will be. I need a drink." She muttered as she looked to the top of the doorway.

A soft shuffle made her perk up, looking to the side only to sigh. "Come on out. I know you're over there."

From off to the side there was a shuffle, a sniffle. She turned her head to watch Julias coming out around the building, the young boy looking somewhere between flabbergasted and hurt. His eyes were wide, his expression confused, clearly having witnessed at least part of the confrontation.

Emily felt a pang of guilt at that. She hadn't meant for him to see any of this. "Hey," she said softly, looking at the ground, her voice losing some of its hard edge. "I'm… sorry you had to see that."

Julias looked up at her, clearly uncertain what to say. "Is... is my dad okay?"

Emily sighed, running a hand through her disheveled hair. "Sometimes… adults try to do the right thing," she said carefully. "But sometimes they end up messing it up. Your dad... he thought he was doing something good, but he fu-” she cut herself off, taking a deep breath. “He went about it the wrong way. And people got hurt because of it."

She could see Julias processing that, his young mind working through the implications.

"Is it true?" His voice was small, fragile. "What you said at the pageant? That your partner nearly died? That your Typhlosion nearly died?"

Emily looked at him for a long moment. Then she nodded.

"Yeah," she said quietly. "It's true."

She leaned against the doorframe, her expression softening as she looked at the boy. "Pokemon are amazing and beautiful creatures," she said, trying to speak gently despite the anger still bubbling in the back of her mind. "They have incredible power, power that should respected and never be taken for granted." She paused, a small smile crossing her face as Piko, nuzzled up against her, settling onto his haunches by her side. She reached down, petting over his head, her fingers threading through his soft fur. "And that power should never be used for the wrong reasons either… just like I told you before, they are our friends, our partners… our family."

Julias watched her, clutching onto a photograph, clearly unsure whether he should even bring it up, though hesitantly he offered them to her.

"Miss Verner? I… know you’re really upset at my dad right now but… would you... would you autograph this for me? My dad... he really is a big fan of yours."

Emily looked at the photograph. It was from the pageant, her and Mr. Landchester, standing together on stage with her having a fake smile she put on for the picture, still remembering the lingering discomfort she'd felt being paraded around like a prize Pokemon.

For a moment, she was half-tempted to write 'Fuck you' on it with a heart. God did she want to be petty about it… But as she looked down at Julias, at his honest and hopeful expression. She let out a deep sigh, the kind that came from somewhere deep in her chest, and held out her hand.

"Give me the damn pen," she muttered, not the most thrilled about it all things considered, but thinking about it, it took a lot of balls for him to come see her, even if he did have intentions of paying her off, even still in the end he was honest with her and genuinely seemed to regret it.

Julias fished a pen out of his pocket and handed it to her, along with the photograph. Emily turned the picture over, looking at the blank back for a moment. She could feel the weight of the moment, the choice she was making about who she wanted to be. The fuck you with a heart really stuck out in her mind practically begging her to give one last middle finger to the guy.

She wrote carefully, her handwriting neat and precise:

Embrace new Beginnings

Emily Verner

She capped the pen and handed both items back to Julias, who looked back up at her.

"Thank you," he said softly.

Emily rolled her eyes, crouching down to his level. "Julias," she said seriously. "I want you to do something for me. Can you watch over your dad? Make sure he does the right thing from now on? Remind him that he can be a better person if he tries."

The boy nodded earnestly.

"And you keep doing the right thing too," she added, her voice gentle but firm. "You keep working hard, you keep learning, keep that nose of yours clean, and one day when you’re older I’ll battle you for real, just like I promised.

“You mean that… right?” He spoke up, looking over the photo. “That you’ll have a real battle with me with all your pokemon?”

"I always keep my promises." Emily allowed herself a small smile. "But you've got a lot of training to do before then.So you better get to training, otherwise I’ll just stomp you into the dirt like I did last time."

The boy stepped forward, his arms wrapping around her neck in a soft hug. Emily stiffened from the contact, not really wanting to be touched right now but she allowed it, giving him a pat on the back. “Go on, he probably doesn’t even know you’re up here right now.”

"Thank you," Julias said, his voice muffled against her shirt. "Thank you for teaching me so much. You're a really good person Emily." Pulling back he rubbed his eyes a few times, giving her a nod. "I'll see you again," Julias promised, stepping back. "When I'm much stronger."

"I'll hold you to that," Emily said waving him off. “Now go on, get the hell out of here.”

She watched as the boy turned and walked away, his footsteps echoing down the pathway. He glanced back once, waving, and she lifted her hand in response.

Emily stood there until he was gone, sighing as she shook her head. “I was so close to writing fuck you on that picture, you have no idea Piko.” she says, chuckling as he gave her a swat on the side. “Bro it took everything I had not to do it… come on, let’s get packed up, otherwise mom will freak out if I don’t show up… I guess I better answer some of those calls too from the league… Fuuuck man why does so much dramatic shit have to happen on such a beautiful fuckin day!” she groaned, shutting the door behind them once they were back inside.

It only took her a little while to get everything straightened up while Piko pulled the bedclothes and the towels out to pile in the corner of the room. Emily took a deep breath, looking around the room one last time. It was strange how quickly a place could feel like home, even when it wasn't. The small quarters at the daycare had been hers for only a little over a week, but there was something bittersweet about leaving them behind.

She gathered her things in her backpack and double checked everything twice to make sure she didn’t leave anything turned on or running or left behind, she couldn’t count the amount of times she had found random potions and pokeballs forgotten in hotel rooms and pokemon centers she had stayed in over the years, and to her knowledge she had been careful to never do the same.

Closing the door to the small building she stuffed the key in her pocket, gave it one last look over before she began to make her way back across the grounds back to the main building.

The main building was quieter than usual, the morning rush of feedings and exercises already completed and the rush from the pageant was notably much more relaxed than it had been. She found Mr. Shelby in his office, as she expected she would, surrounded by paperwork and half-empty coffee cups. He looked up as she entered, his usual cheerful expression notably absent.

"Hey Mr. Shelby, I just wanted to thank you for having me here before I left. I still feel sort of bad that I was only here for a week or so and got that sort of money." She shifted her weight, adjusting the strap of her bag on her shoulder. "The money is going to help a lot in the long run. I wouldn't have it if it wasn't for you, I really owe you one."

Mr. Shelby nodded slowly, setting down his pen. He studied her for a long moment, his eyes searching her face in a way that made her feel like he was trying to read something written in small print.

"You've been a big help here, you usually are when you stop by, that’s why I’m always so adamant that you take my offer for a more permanent position here at the daycare. Always good to have very reliable workers…" he said, his voice lacking its usual warmth. "Tell me… why did you pull Iris out after hours and take her to the bath house?" He leaned forward, his elbows on his desk and fingers interlocked. "Marcus left me a message about it this morning. He said you came in late with Ty, dropped him off, and took Iris out of her enclosure, said that Mr Landchester had some touch ups he wanted you to do on her. I saw it on the security feed just to verify it."

Emily opened her mouth to answer, but he cut her off with a raised hand.

"What did you do to her?" he asked, his voice serious. "Because when Mr. Landchester left just a little while ago, he looked completely distraught. Barely said a word to me. Just... walked out like a ghost once he checked her out. Now I’ve already seen what happened on the news."

Emily felt her jaw tighten. She leaned against the doorframe, folding her arms across her chest as she considered her response. She hated this, hated having to lie, especially to Mr. Shelby, who had been nothing but kind to her. But then again she couldn't tell him the truth. She couldn't explain what had really happened in that shower room, the revenge she'd exacted on Landchester through his prized Pokemon.

“Emily… I’ve been nothing but generous to you over the years, so I need you to be truthful with me right now please.” He regarded her with that rare look he always got when he was actually upset about something, that in and of itself a rarity, a look she hated.

Sighing, she shook her head slowly. "I had every intention of sabotaging her," she said finally, her voice flat. "Messing up her fur, dulling its shine with normal wash instead of the sprucy stuff we were told to wash her with… whatever I could do to blow that prick's chance at winning the competition." She paused, her gaze dropping to the floor. "But I couldn't bring myself to do it."

Mr. Shelby's expression shifted, surprise flickering across his features. “You… intended to… Emily.”

"He really hurt me… He hurt me bad" Emily continued, her voice gaining an edge. "Made me share stuff about my situation that was private. Stuff I wasn't ready to talk about, and now because of that I'm most likely under investigation with the Pokemon League because of him, because of what I said." She looked up, meeting his eyes directly.

“I… I saw the news, I heard the speech you gave, Emily you didn’t have to say all of that.”

She pushed off from the doorframe, her arms still folded.

"He used me for a publicity stunt, he came to me this morning cause he’s no doubt been getting some serious backlash himself for all of that, mind you he is the one that put me on the spot like that, and after I called him out on his bullshit you wana know what he tried to do? Guess… go on, take a guess.” she says motioning to him.

Mr. Shelby opened his mouth to respond only to sigh, rubbing a hand over his face. “I don’t have a clue.”

“He tried to pay me off, pulled out his shitty little check book right there asking me how much I wanted like I’m some cheep fucking whore he could just pay and I’d go away.”

“E-Emily! That’s not-”

"No!” she snapped only to pause, taking a slow and deep breath. “Look… I'm really sorry for making you worry," she said, and she meant it. "But Mr Shelby… that's the only thing I'll apologize for. I'm not sorry for what I said to Landchester when he came to my door. I denied him any kind of fucking closure he was hoping to get, and to be as polite as I can be about it-" She paused, taking a breath. "It's frankly none of your business. It's between me and Landchester. So please don't stick your nose in it."

Mr. Shelby stared at her for a few moments. There was hurt in his eyes, but mostly surprise, like he was seeing a different person than the one who had arrived at his daycare a week ago.

"Can you… at least confirm you didn't do anything to Iris?" he asked, his voice quieter now. "I know you’re a good woman, but you’re just as sneaky and damning as your mother when it comes to people who wrong you, that woman was a menace when she was young, and I’m seeing every bit of that crazy look she got before someone went to the hospital in you right now… Nothing seemed out of place with Iris this morning, but I need you to say it and mean it… did you do anything, and I mean ‘Anything’ to her?”

Emily shook her head slowly as she looked off to the side. "I already told you I… I couldn't do anything to the poor thing… Why? What do you think happened? What would I do? Cause you sound very certain that I did something so tell me old man, what was it.”

Mr Shelby furrowed his brow, looking from her to check down the hall to see if anyone was around before nudging the door closed with his foot, pointing his pin at Piko for a few moments. “Honey I’m a nice guy, doesn’t mean I’m an idiot… Zoroark can make illusions, you’re familiar enough with the property to know where all the cameras are and you’re pretty good at acting ta boot… But I’ve run a daycare long enough that I can tell when a pokemon’s had themselves a grand ol time, and I aint seen that much of a twinkle in Iris’s eyes since she got here, so I’m guessing that maybe who you dropped off at the security station may have not been who you say it was.” he says, chewing his words a little. “No one would know it right away, hell it would be a few months before there were any signs of it at all, now wouldn’t there?”

A silence fell between them, heavy and uncomfortable. Emily avoided looking at him for several minutes as Piko just stared at her and then Mr Shelby before he gruffed, nosing Emily’s shoulder.

“That’s… I’m uhh…” Rubbing her neck Emily looked at him before she relaxed. “Did you already call the cops?” she asks, averting her eyes.

“Nope… this is all just speculation” he says as he went back to doing his paperwork. “Though I will say you’re just as sly and crafty of a little shit as your mother.” he says, setting some papers off to the side. “He’s gonna be pissed when he finds out, he’ll come asking me about it and I’ll show him all the footage I’ve got, and he won’t suspect a thing, hell I didn’t watchin the footage. I’ve even highlighted it so I won't forget.”

Emily perked up at that, looking rather flabbergasted. “Wait you… You mean it? I-I was-”

“Don’t you dare get too excited now, I ain’t finished yet.” he says looking up at her from his work. “What you did was blatantly disrespectful to myself and this daycare, and while I do understand that what he did to you is unforgivable there are certain lines that should not be crossed, one that you deliberately danced on little missy, I do not appreciate that, and what’s more you lied to my face about it.” he says fixing her with a displeased look.

“What the fuck was I supposed to tell you?” she asks a little loud only to pause as they both looked towards the door. “He fuckin screwed me! I’ve had fuckers calling my phone all morning, calling my mom, she is in shambles worried to death that the leagues gonna revoke my shit and I’ve had it up to here with fucking assholes getting away with fucking me and my pokemon over!” she hissed under her breath, thrusting her hand up eye level with her head. “He can go fuck himself! I hope she pops out like 7 eggs and has a big beautiful family because she deserves it! Not being paraded around like a god damn trophy, She’s a living creature for fucks sake!”

Chuckling in his frustration, Mr Shelby shook his head. “You’ve got a hell of a mean streak in you Emily, I get it, I really do, but one of these days that fire you’ve got is gonna burn you up somethin bad, somethin that you can’t recover from!” he says slapping his hands on his desk, pressing himself up as they glared at one another. “Now damn it girl you have got to let some of that anger go! It’s gonna burn ya, and it can end up killing you if you let it! I was nice about it before but I ain’t gonna be nice about it now on account of the serious shit you pulled. I promised your mother that I would be here to help you out, and by golly I’m gonna do that, no matter how stubborn and thick headed you are about it!”

“Oooooo Fuuuck you dude!” Emily hissed pointing a finger at him. “I appreciate everything you do and I give you a hundred and ten percent every time I’m here, and I’m gonna keep doing that! And yeah maybe what I did was sorta fucked up-”

“It was a lot of fucked up! Call it what it is!” He retorted pointing a finger back at her before slapping the table.

“I know it was! It was fucked! It was Wrong! Maybe I feel like a piece of shit about it cause the guy came to apologize and his stupid kid called me a good person! But fuck him for putting me on the spot like that! You’re old ass was the one that told me to go to the stupid fucking Pageant!”

“What the hell else was I supposed to do!? You were in here pissin, and moanin, and groanin, after I stuck my neck out for you on this! That ain’t a small amount of money Miss Verner!”

“Oh My God Yes I Know, I Know!!! Don’tyouthinkIdon’tKnowThat?!” she hissed at him hard, kicking her foot against his desk as Piko looked frantically between the two.

The door to the room pressed open as Mrs Shelby came inside. “Honey? Is everything ok in here? What's going on? I thought I heard some loud noises in he- Oh! Emily darling, it's good to see you!”

Emily and Mr Shelby were holding hands shaking them, both smiling at her as she came in. “Hey! Good morning Mrs Shelby, Hi! I was actually coming to say goodbye and to thank you guys for having me here, I’ve got a lot of stuff to take care of back home after everything that happened yesterday.” she says as she tried to pull her hand back from Mr Shelby who kept his grip firm as she tugged and tugged before he finally let it go as she yanked her hand out of his.

“Oh yes I did see that, I’m so sorry you had such a rough time at the pageant with that speech and all dear, the league is in quite the uproar right now too. I can’t believe anyone would cover that up about pore ol Ty, he’s such a sweetheart, oh and so are you Piko, how are you doing today big fella?” the elderly woman asks as she moves to gently pet over Piko’s head, making him grumble softly and press into the petting.

Emily and Mr Shelby shared a glance before Emily nodded at him, mouthing one last resounding. ‘I know’ as she shook her head. “Yeah, he’s being really cuddly today… did you need anything else?”

“Hmm? Oh no, I was just making sure that my husband wasn’t in here listening to that terrible racket he likes to listen too, after hours is fine, but not when we’re open.” she says as she offers them a wave. “I’ll let you two have your conversation, I’ve got plenty of work to do. Honey, once you're done with Emily I need you to check on the pipes outside, the water pressure is down again, I think we might have another leak.”

“Of course dear, I’ll get right on that, thank you.” he says, watching as she leaves, closing the door behind her. Sighing, Mr Shelby rubbed his eyes. “I’m glad you’re back to your old self again… when you first got.. Damn it girl just… You need to use your head more, ya know? Especially if you’re gonna retire from battling! I know you’ve got or... 'Had' a nest egg saved up after your trips around the world but… it ain’t easy, living as a trainer, you know it, you’ve done it for years, most of us have! The older ya get the harder it gets, and I don’t want you to end up not… not coming back to us one day.” he sighs deeply, hanging his head, letting his words sit for a moment. “I… I am really glad though… to see that fire back in your eyes again… your father would be so proud of you… not for sabotaging Iris like you did but… you know what I mean.”

Emily tensed, looking away from him, a faint blush coming to her cheeks. “S-Shut up… look I’m… I am sorry, I know what I did was foolish… but I didn’t do it on a whim. Gardevoir had already spoken to Iris ahead of time and told me what Iris wanted, and I was only trying to honor that… yea it was fucked up, but it’s what she wanted… I didn’t want it to come back to you in any way and Gardevoir admittedly helped with the planning, I’m… sorry for lying to you… not an easy thing to admit without feeling guilty… especially after Mr Lanchester apologized… I know I’ve got anger issues, and I’ve got vendettas, but I’m honestly working on getting better, it’s a slow process but I’m trying… it ain’t been easy with everything that’s been going on.”

Nodding his head Mr Shelby smirks. “That’s all anyone can ever ask of you… Thank you again for all your help, and don’t worry your secret is safe with me, I’m not that fond of the guy myself. I wouldn’t take it to that extreme ya fuckin psychopath." he states giving her a look that slowly softened. "But I can understand… especially if it’s what Iris wanted. I knew you wouldn’t do something so drastic on a whim.” he says as he rubs the back of his neck. “You... should get going, you’re mothers probably worried sick and it’s a bit of a flight from here to Route 30.” he grunts, pressing himself up. “I’ve got a waterline to follow… Emily… take care of yourself ok? Honestly… pulling stunts like this is how you get into some serious trouble if you’re caught… let it be the last one ya do.”

Rubbing the back of her neck Emily nodded, looking mostly to the floor as she leaned up against Piko. “I-I plan on it… like I… I’ll be ok, I’m just… slowly piecing it all back together ya know?”

“I know it… come on, I’ll walk ya out.” he says rounding the desk, giving her a pat on the back and Piko a pet on the head. “You too fellah, letting her talk you into stuff like that, should have bitten her again.” he says, getting a gruffed chuckle from the dark type.

As they made their way outside Emily gave Piko a little hug and a pat on the head, recalling him into his ball, letting Noivern out a moment later. His large ears swiveled as he took in his surroundings. He looked around happily, his eyes bright and alert, clearly pleased to be out of his ball. He caught sight of Mr. Shelby and offered him a cheerful wave of his wing, chirping a greeting.

Mr. Shelby raised a hand in return. “Come back and see us again soon, I’ll have more work for you then, but next time you’re gonna do it for free right?”

Emily climbed onto Noivern's back, settling into the familiar position between his wings. She leaned forward, patting his neck. “Not a chance old man... thank you for everything, and I mean it... I'm sorry to lieing to you, it's not gonna happen again...I owe you one Mr Shelby, you all take care of yourselves.” she says getting a soft smile and a nod from him. Giving Noivern a pat on the neck. "Alright, buddy, We're heading to Cherrygrove and then home. Lets go!"

Noivern let out an excited cry, his wings spreading wide. With several powerful flaps, they were airborne, soaring up and over the daycare, leaving the buildings and enclosures shrinking behind them. The wind rushed past Emily's face, pulling at her hair and clothes, and she felt some of the tension in her shoulders begin to ease.

Goldenrod City spread out beneath them, a patchwork of buildings and streets that gradually gave way to the rolling countryside. Noivern angled east, following the familiar route toward Cherrygrove City. Emily leaned into his neck fluff, letting the rhythm of his wings soothe her frayed nerves. She had been caught, but at least it was by a person she could trust, though a lingering guilt twisted as her insides as she closed her eyes.

It had been such a long week. Such an exhausting, emotionally draining week. But up here, with the wind in her hair and the world spread out below her like a map, she could almost forget about everything that had happened. Almost.

They landed in Cherrygrove City a short time later, touching down in the small park near the Pokemon Center. Noivern settled onto his haunches, stretching his wings out and shaking himself as Emily slid off his back.

"Wait here buddy," she told him, patting his side. "I'll be right back… gotta make sure that we didn’t get stiffed, otherwise I’m gonna be super pissed."

She wasn’t expecting the amount of attention she got from just offering the check to the teller, at first they thought it was a joke, but after Emily explained everything the bank manager got involved, and then he looked over the check, had to make a few phone calls, came to talk to her and then made another phone call before he came back with a packet of documents for her to sign.

The whole process took her nearly an hour to finish, but after everything was said and done she stepped out of the bank with a receipt that she couldn’t fully believe, it had gone through without a hitch apparently. “Huh… fuck I feel even more guilty now… oh my god it was real… ok… need to sit down for a minute… ooooh boy…” she sighs, making her way over to the little park area where Noivern had found a nice branch to hang from, looking like he was chewing on some fruit. “Hmm? Hey buddy whatcha eating there?”

Noivern gruffed, showing her the fruit with a smile, pulling a piece off before offering it to her with a happy trill.

“Aww, thank you, but right now I’m pretty sure if I ate anything I’d get sick, the check actually went through.” she says with a smile, sitting in the grass and leaning up against the tree with a deep sigh, looking up at him and then to the rays of sun that filtered in through the branches as the giant sound bat carefully twisted himself around and fell to the ground, still chewing his food. It slowly dawned on her everything she had said earlier to Landchester. “Oh… my god.”

Noivern paused from his snack to look at her with a tilt of his head as Emily sat upright.

“I… could of… gotten another check out of that guy! God… damn my hubris…” she groans "-fucking idiot," she finished, letting her head drop back against the tree. "I'm a fucking idiot!"

Noivern blinked in confusion, he knew he had missed something that morning, but he didn’t exactly know what. He tilted his head, making a small inquisitive chirp.

"Don't look at me like that!" Emily grumbled, closing her eyes. "I know. I know. I was doing the whole principled stand thing. 'You can't buy me off, Mr. Landchester. I have morals!' So dramatic. So dignified." She groaned, dragging her hands down her face. "So… fucking… stupid."

Closing her eyes she just sat there, lamenting in her decisions, up until she felt something cool and sticky poking against her face. Noivern carefully held a piece of the fruit in between his claws, poking it against her cheek casually, offering a cheerful look and a trill.

Emily bulled up and pouted, glaring at the distant sky as the piece of fruit was pressed into the side of her cheek again, and again, and again, befire it drug across her nose before he stuffed it against her lips, opening and closing his mouth as if to give her some sort of encouragement to comply.

This was her life now, basically winning the lottery, a free chance to double down and she turned it down cause she was a nice person, a nice person that let her pokemon bang a million dollar pokemon out of petty revenge, and now she was getting fruit stuffed against her face.

Noivern let his long tongue flop out holding his mouth open with an audible sound as he rubbed the fruit over her mouth until she flailed, slapping his wings and then him several times in a flurry of hard yet playful swats. “StopShuvinitinmahMOUTH!!!”

They took off again after a short break, she really didn’t want to ride on his back while she was shaking with anger, and he had been cackling so much that she had to wait for him to relax enough for them to take off. Soaring up and over Cherrygrove City, they followed the coastline south toward Route 30. The flight was shorter this time, Noivern's wings carrying them over the familiar landscape of Emily's childhood.

Her mothers house sat just off the old back road, a modest two-story home with a sprawling yard and a porch that wrapped around the front.10 acres of forest behind it where Emily had spent countless hours playing as a kid and training with her Pokemon, playing with Sebastian and her mothers other pokemon, watching the sunset from the porch swing. It was home in a way that no other place had ever been.

Noivern landed with a few powerful flaps of his wings, touching down on the grass just outside the house. Emily slid off his back, her legs feeling a bit wobbly after the flight. Noivern stretched himself out, shaking his wings and letting out a contented chirp.

"Thanks, buddy," Emily sighs, patting his side.

She made her way to the front door, her bag slung over her shoulder. She knocked a few times, more out of habit than anything else, before pushing the door open.

"I’m home! Mom?" she called out, stepping inside. "Mom, are you here?"

A blur of black and yellow shot around the corner and through the livingroom, and suddenly Emily's arms were full of Umbreon. Sebastian bounded up into her embrace with such force that she nearly toppled over, his front paws catching her shirt as he buried his face against her chest.

"Whoa! Hey, Sebastian!" she laughed, stumbling back a step as she caught him. "Hey, hey, easy! I missed you too, old man, don’t be running around like that, might think you’ve actually got some spunk left in ya.” she chuckles

The Umbreon nuzzled into her, his rings glowing softly with happiness as he pressed his cold nose against her neck. Emily held him close, burying her face in his soft fur for a moment before pulling back to look at him.

"Where's Mom at hmm?" she asked, scratching behind his ears in just the way he liked. “Did the pokemon league swoop in and kidnap her?”

Sebastian let out a soft bark, wiggling in her arms as she carried him through the house. She checked the kitchen, the living room, even peeked into the backyard, but there was no sign of her mother.

"Out, huh?" Emily murmured, heading back downstairs. She flopped down onto the couch with a resounding sigh, letting Sebastian settle on her lap as she worked on getting her shoes taken off.

Noivern had followed her inside, settling on the floor beside the couch with a contented sigh. He stretched his wings one more time before tucking them against his body, his eyes closing in relaxation.

Emily dialed her mom's number, waiting for it to go through. “She isn’t still out shopping is she? It’s been nearly 2 hours.”

"Emily?" Malissa's voice came through the speaker, warm and familiar. "Hey honey, Are you heading to the house soon?"

"Just got in actually, chillin out on the couch right now." Emily said, leaning her head back against the cushions. "Where are you at?"

"Oh wonderful! Make yourself comfortable dear, I’m still at the store, I'm afraid. Got held up a bit." There was a pause, the sound of rustling bags and subtle beeps in the background. "I'll be there soon though, it shouldn’t be too much longer sweetheart. Just try to relax and rest for a while, okay? You've had a long week."

"Yeah," Emily said softly. "Yeah, I have."

"I love you, Emily. I'll be home soon."

"Love you too, Mom, be safe coming home."

She hung up the phone and tossed it onto the coffee table, letting out a long, slow breath. Sebastian shifted in her lap, his rings pulsing gently as he looked up at her with those big, dark eyes.

"Alright," she said, scratching under his chin. Carefully unclipping the balls from her hip she released her pokemon one by one.

Ty blinked a few times, looking around with a bit of surprise at the change of location, but as he did he chimed happily, moving to make his way through the house. “Don’t get in the fridge, Moms gonna be cooking food, and you’ve still got some of that Spicy Chow left that you like in my room.” Emily called after him.

Piko stretched with a gruff, moving to flop against the other side of the couch, shuffling around in the cushions until he found the remote to turn the TV on.

I see that we made it back to your mothers house safely… are you doing ok? You seem tired. Gardevoir spoke up as she sat down between Emily and Piko.

“You know what… It’s been a very long morning, you can read my brain for it, I do not have the energy to recount everything that’s happened today, I feel like I just… want to pass out and stay asleep for a while.”

Oh… you actually… oh my it must have been quite the adventurous morning then… very well with your permission- She trailed off, reaching an elegant hand up to stroke along Emily’s head as she closed her eyes. She made several expressions before her eyes snapped open leaving her with a puzzled look. Oh... Well shit.

Emily held up her hands. “Right!? Like Fuck that guy! Fuck me? Maybe… it wasn’t such a good thing we did with Iris but… Guuh, I’m done with the day already, I don’t even want to do anything else.” she groans in protest

Your body is exhausted from all the field work, and this isn’t helping with the mental aspect of things, perhaps you should try and get some more rest then, you were up rather early after a late night last night.

“Like I could sleep after everything that’s happened this morning. Really? You saw all that right? The bullshit? Did you see deep in there? Deep inside my brain, there was a lot of bullshit.” she stated pointing a finger at her own head. “Like a lot.”

You're being a little dramatic now, but that’s ok, just try and calm your mind, relax your head back on the couch, there’s an armrest beside you, you can prop your feet up, and just close your eyes, rest your head on my shoulder.

Emily groaned in frustration, laying her head back against the couch with her eyes closed. “I feel like a total prick.. I lied to Mr Shelby’s face… I’ve got everyone all worked up and worried about me… this shit sucks bro.”

Calm the mind, try to let all of that go and think forwards. Spending time with your mother, shopping for furniture, peace and quiet, relaxation, and soon a trip to recover our two missing friends. She spoke softly in her mental voice, petting a hand gingerly along Emily’s head, threatening her digits through her hair before carefully pulling Emily to rest against her. Let it all fade away, you’re away from all of it now, and soon you will have nice warm food to fill your belly, and a soft and comfortable bed to rest your head.

The exhaustion caught up to her before she had even realised it, the weight of the past week settling over her like a heavy blanket. Her eyelids drooped, her body sinking deeper into the cushions, more into Gardevoir's shoulder.

It had been such a long morning. Such a long week. The confrontation with Landchester, the phone calls with her mom and Redgie, the trip to the bank, all of it blurred together in her mind, a kaleidoscope of emotions and exhaustion that slowly swirled into a soft blanket of darkness that enveloped her.

She was asleep before she even realized it. Gardevoir held an arm around her, using her psychic powers to float a blanket over she carefully draped over Emily’s chest, tucking her in gradually to let her trainer sleep.

She didn’t really dream in her sleep, only float in the darkness and warmth wrapped around her. She heard things happening, small fleeting sounds from the conscious world that drifted back into silence, felt herself shift a little on occasion.

Something soft and warm stroked across her forehead leaving a trail of moisture in its wake, followed by another, and another, it was oddly familiar and comforting. Her eyes cracked open slowly focusing on the blur of green, gray, and purple. Another brush over her head as she blinked the sleep from her eyes. A goodra stood leaned over her a little, its antenna bouncing as it gasped with a very bright and happy look, rubbing its paw over her head once again.

Emily smiled warm and sleepily. “Mmph… Hey Aloe… it’s good to see you again buddy.” she says softly, yawning with a stretch and a grunt, reaching up to pet a hand lazily over his squishy cheek, smiling as he nuzzled and trilled into her palm. “You've been a good boy for mom?” she asks as she pulls the covers off her and to the side. “Guuh what time is it?”

Another happy trill came from him as he reached down, hooking his arms around Emily’s sides, pulling her up and clear off the couch into a big, firm, and squishy hug, leaving her feet dangling and swaying as she grunts out with a solid ‘oof’ his hug a reminder that the dull pain from Daisy’s hug was still lingering around in her ribs.

Hugging her arms around his neck just to help brace herself Emily chuckled as she was spun around. “Oh gosh bud, careful, I’m still pretty sore from all the hard work.” she chuckles, hugging onto him as he simply began to waddle with her through the house. “Aloe… Aloe come on you overgrown goober, put me down.”

He carried her into the kitchen with a bright and happy trill. Malissa was hard at work at the stove, humming as she cooked. “Not too loud Aloe dear, we don’t want to wake Emily up.” she said over her shoulder.

“It's a little late for that.” Emily says, still hanging on, swaying her legs around as she kept a hug around his neck. “Hey mom, welcome home.”

Turning abruptly Malissa gasped, a look of relief swelling on her expression quickly followed with disappointment as she looked at the overgrown slug. “Aloe honey, I asked you not to wake her up until lunch was ready, she’d had a very long and hard week.” she scolded, getting a trill from him in response as he nuzzled firmly into Emily’s cheek. Sighing she rests her hands on her hips, shaking her head. “What am I gonna do with you?”

“Maybe convince him that holding me off the ground is not the most comfortable thing for me right now… it’s Daisy all over again.” she grunts, smiling as the big goo dragon carefully sat her down, hugging her firmly and nuzzled his squishy cheek against hers as he trills. “Heheheh ok, ok, I get it, I missed you too buddy, I missed you too. Come on now ya big lug.”

As she finally managed to get herself pulled away from him, her mother was next to hug her tightly. Emily sighed a soft warm sound as he hugged her back. “You ok mom?”

Malissa only nodded her head against her daughter's shoulder, rubbing her back. “I saw the news and got really scared, I was really worried about you.”

Hugging her back tightly Emily pulled back with a tired smile. “It wasn’t the easiest thing to do, buuut the check actually went through sooo-” she trailed off, giving her mom a thumbs up and a goofy smile. “I did it.” she chuckles only to grimace as her mom swatted her lightly on the side of the head. “Ah!”

“Don’t you ‘I did it’ me young lady! You can’t just go around causing problems like that out of nowhere without telling me first so I can be prepared for it! Have you lost your damn mind?” She snipped at her, both hands resting firmly on her hips.

Chuckling Emily pressed back into Aloe’s arms trying to see protection. “I didn’t really have much of a choice ma! It was a lot of money! Help me Aloe!”

“Nu-uh, Hell no you hold her right there for me and don’t you let her go.” Malissa states, moving to get her spatula, swatting at Emily’s arms, sides and hips as the younger women laughed and danced trying to squirm away in the slug dragon's grasp. “Gonna make me worry myself half to death!? I’m gonna tan that hide of yours like I used to, Come here! Stop squirmin around!”

“Ahhhh! Traitor! Aloe let me- Owe! That one actually- Gaah Mom S-Stop!” she cackled, pressing her side into her pokemon, arching a leg and held her hands out as if that was going to stop the firm little swats of the spatula. “Don’t Burn The Food!”

“It aint gonna burn! Your ass will though, com- come here you.” Malissa shoved herself up against Emily, pushing Aloe back a few steps as she hugged her tightly, the two chuckling warmly as they hugged once more. “Can’t do anything with you, little trouble maker!”

“Hey like mother like daughter right?” Emily asks, getting a little tap from the spatula on the cheek. “Pfft Ahh! Abuse! I surrender! No more crazy shit on TV I swear!”

“Yeah you better not, otherwise I’ll use a ladle next, ping you upside the head with it, rambunctious little shit.” she scoffs, returning to her food, quickly flipping the steaks in the pan. “You didn’t go gambling again up there did you?”

“What? No, mom they took the slots out a long while back, I think it’s some sort of card flipping thing now? I don’t know, it’s so much lamer now.” Emily retorted, getting a paper towel to wipe off Aloe’s goo from her shoulder and side of her face.

“Yeah they're not gone, just got moved to the underground, that’s the one I’m worried about.” Malissa muttered, shaking her head as she sighs. “List $800 there, and I was on such a win streak too.”

“Yeah that’s the problem, gotta cut your loses if it’s more than $200, like they’re made to keep you there and hooked with the lights and sounds and stuff, if you get on a winning streak the first time you lose after that you cut and go, Redgie got like $90 the last time we went.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Malissa grumbled looking unamused as she went back to cooking. “I picked you up a few tins of pokemon food too”

“Ooo sweet, I appreciate it, I think Ty went through the last of his spicy chow earlier, I don’t know, I conked out after Gardevoir got me sat down and relaxed and stuff.” She says as she leaned up against the counter beside her mother.

“Yeah I figured as much, that boys always had a big appetite… Oh! The internet folks came out and got your stuff hooked up on Monday.” she says pointing her spatula at her. “I let them in your house and stayed there with them until everything got finished up.”

“You’re the best mom, I appreciate it. Sorry about springing all that on you last minute. Mr Shelby came out of nowhere with his offer.”

“Oh honey please, you live just like 10 minutes up the road, it’s not gonna hurt me to have a nice walk through the woods, especially with Aloe and Sabastian walking with me.” She says with a smile. “That being said I did pick up a few catalogs we can look over and get you a list made up, get that house looking like a proper house, get all your trophies and badges and stuff out of your room and hang up.”

Emily scoffed with a roll of her eyes. “I don’t know if I want all that stuff up and on the wall, like yeah don’t get me wrong I’m proud of my team's accomplishments, buut I don’t need shiny pieces of metal and plastic to appreciate them.”

“Oh hush that kinda talk, It’s good to have reminders of all your accomplishments, also they are good conversation starters when you have guests over.”

Rolling her eyes Emily shook her head. “Not like I have many friends that would come over to visit, most everyone around here’s already grown up and moved on, I mean there’s Redgie, I was actually working out with him to be a roommate… being alone down there is… hard for me.”

“Yeah, I know those feelings, after your father died I-.” she stopped as Emily tensed up. “It’s uhhh… it’s a big change, it’s not easy being in a house like that by yourself after living with someone for so long, but it’s also a new beginning, a new adventure.”

“Right… umm… Do you need help with lunch? I can help you with some of the sides if you want.”

“Oh no, I’ve got this. I think you’ve worked enough over the past week to earn a little catering, just have a seat at the table.” She says as she went back to cooking. “He would be proud of you ya know.”

“Yeah… I know he would be.” Emily sighs as she has a seat at the table. “You’d think I’d stop being such a baby about it after 12 years.”

“It was an abrupt change, with you being so far away it’s understandable that you’re still uncomfortable about it… loss hurts, hell I still cry every so often. But your father was a fantastic man and he always did right by me, he gave me you, this house, he endured my nagging… I miss him.” she sighs as she moves to the sink.

“I miss him too… I doin’t miss how loud you two were when you were porkin it though.” she says getting an abrupt scoff and a chuckle from her mother.

“Emily!”

“Childhood memories I could absolutely do without, it was the last time I showed up to the home unannounced, always called ahead of time so I didn’t walk into my mother in the wild” she spoke in a silly voice, swaying her hand overhead as if presenting a spectacle to someone.

“Young lady, it was not that bad!” Malissa fired back. “It was our anniversary night and we just weren't expecting you to come home so early. Who in their right mind takes off from a ship with their pokemon?”

“Not that bad? You were boinkin it on the couch!” she chuckled pointing off into the other room. “Right over there! I busted in wanting to make it a surprise. Next thing I see your titties floppin around, dad trying to cover himself and then you both scampering off upstairs calling out that you loved me and you're sorry, I remember it vividly mom!”

“Ahh… my breasts were so much perkier back then.” Malissa sighs, getting a cackle from her daughter. “Listen honey as you get older sometimes you’re going to yearn for things, I know you screw around so you know what I mean. That feeling never leaves you no matter how old you get, but the body ages and bones and joints start to hurt, I say enjoy your youth while you have it, and if you don’t have it, than still enjoy the times you can make together with someone, even if you're sore and tired for a few days afterwards.”

“Even if your kid barges in at the end and watches you scamper up to your bedroom but ass naked?”

Chuckling softly Malissa shook her head. “Yes, even if your rambunctious child bursts in, now please change the subject, you’re embarrassing me.”

“You’re embarrassed? How embarrassed did you think dad was cleaning up ‘your’ snail trail?” she chuckles softly

“Emily Noelle Verner!”

“Alright, alright I’ll stop, no need to bust out the government name.” Emily shuckles, looking over to Aloe who had a very serious and yet concerned look about him, as if he had learned some things that he entirely didn’t want to know. Reaching over she gently petted him on the back, giving it a few gentle rubs and a pat. “Yeah it’s ok buddy”

Aloe simply shook his head slowly, looking back at Malissa who was as red as a beet and couldn’t stop snickering into the back of her hand. Pressing himself up he made a confused and disturbed trill as he slipped off and into the other room.

“Ope, well he’s gone, I think he got disturbed.” Snickering Emily leaned back in her chair, looking up at the ceiling with a grunt. “It’s so good to be home… I missed this place.”

“This place misses you too, everything around here is so much more lively when you’re around, the plants are greener, the sun feels warmer, you bring a certain comfort with you when you’re here, it’s a comfort I’m going to miss too when you leave.”

“Yeah… but, I’ll be just down the road, and you’ll have my pokemon here with you to keep you company. I know you love having Aloe here.”

“Oh goodness yes, he is a fantastic help around the house, he is good at cleaning and very strong, he helped me with a fallen tree the other day out in the back. You know I don’t mind looking after more of them for you right? I only have Sebastian left of my old team, I’ve got room for 4 more if you would like to leave me with a full house.”

“Yeah I know… it’s just a lot to handle, they are big eaters, and I just didn’t want to bog you down when you have so much other stuff to do too.” He mutters rubbing the back of her neck.

“It wouldn’t be the first time, won’t be the last either, even if I have to go out and catch some of my own, you’ll honestly just be saving me the trouble.”

Perking up, Emily looked over her mother. “You? Going out to catch a pokemon?”

Malissa shot her a look. “Little lady I may be a bit older, but I still know how to catch a pokemon like the best of them, don’t you forget who taught you everything you know.” she says with a little snap of her fingers.

“I’m just kidding mom.” she chuckles, pressing herself up, making her way to the fridge for a drink. “Ooo do we have any rootbeer?”

“Yep, two cases in the bottom drawer, they might not be cold yet.”

“Ahh that’s fine, cold or warm, Rootbeer is the best… I mean cold is better but… would be easier if Milotic was here, she could help cool it off.” She says fishing a can out of the bottom drawer, closing the fridge as she feels it over with a pleased smile. “It’s cold enough, thanks mom!”

“So you’re heading to Hoenn to get your pokemon?” Malissa speaks up, glancing at her over her shoulder. “When is that going to happen?”

Pausing mid sip from her drink Emily hummed in thought. “Well that’s the thing, I could take a cruise there, have a nice little vacation, only going there really to get Milotic and Ampharos back, so either way I’m going there on a boat, Noivern can't make that kind of trip on his own.” she hummed as she looked over to her mom. “Gotta make sure that you’ve got the time off of work so you won’t get in trouble.”

Malissa paused as she looked over at her with a look of confusion. “What do you mean?”

“Hmm? Oh well, if I’m going to take you with me than I want to make sure that you’re gonna be alright, You’ve not had a vacation in a while so I’m guessing you’re do for one, absolutely could use one, and I bet you haven’t been to the Hoenn region since my tournaments there like what.. 6 years ago? 7?” she asks with a smile.

There was a pause between them as Malissa just looked at her for a moment as if trying to wrap her head around the situation. “You… Are you offering to take me on a cruise?”

“Well duh.” Emily snickers as she sits at the table. “I don’t want you to be away from me right now, not with everything that’s going on. And I think just taking a little time for us both to get away from the world would be really nice, besides ‘you’ might be able to meet another guy, get back out there.”

“Oh… Well I… don’t know about that but… umm… That’s a lot to just…” she was a little stunned to be honest, that had come up out of nowhere. “It’s… such a short notice I don’t-”

“Come on mom, a 7 day cruise there, 2 days of partying, 7 days back, it would be awesome! You and me, see if Redgie wants to go too, we’ll get drunk, make some mistakes, get a little wild and crazy with it.” she snickers as she leaned back in her seat, holding up her drink with a little grin. “Ehh?”

Malissa looked a little stunned at the thought, setting her spatula down as she pulled the food from the stove and set it on a cool burner. “I-”

“Please mom? You’ve been working really hard, and I wanna get away from the world for a little while, just forget about everything that’s happening with the pokemon league, everything that happening with the agency, and just us heading out with our pokemon for a vacation. I can cover the bill if that’s a problem.”

“Yea no, you’re paying for me.” She shot back abruptly, just standing there for a moment with a deep sigh, looking back to Emily with a roll of her eyes. “I suppose if I must keep an eye on you then there isn’t any helping it, knowing you the boat will sink like the old S.S. Ann did.”

“No, no. Don’t even bring up that kind of negative energy, everything is gonna be great! And with you there I might not even go crazy and let 4 dudes run a train on me!”

“E-Emily!”

Chuckling softly she held her hand up. “I-I’m kidding mom, I’m kidding. Just us having a family vacation like old times, we’ll go out, have a blast, and come back home to deal with our shitty real world problems.”

Pressing her hands on her hips Malissa shook her head, slouching against the counter in thought. “I’ll have to call and see if I can leave for a few weeks. No promises, but if I’m able to, then yes… yes I think that sounds like a fantastic idea.”

Thrusting her hands up Emily gave a loud woo. “Yeah!! Hell yeah Vacation Time!! We’re gonna get so fucked up on booze!”

“Oh my god.” Shaking her head Malissa turned back to her food with a bright and happy smile. “I don’t know about going that far with it, but a few drinks wouldn’t be too bad I suppose.”

“Awesome! I’m also gonna see who all I can get transferred to you for that… Lucario for sure, he’d be great help around the house, Delphox maybe… he’s a little bit of a hot head though… maybe not him.” she hummed in thought.

“What about your Beware? He’s a total softie, would be nice to have around.” She pointed out as she smiled.

“Yeah I’d come home to you dead and broken in half from one of his hugs.” Emily retorts as she shakes her head. “Besides, I let him go back to his home to help look after the pokemon there.”

“Hmm… What about Dragonair?”

“He’s up at the Dragons Den, I could always fly up there and get him back… guuh, but then I’d have to deal with Clair’s stupid ass.” she mutters with a sour look. “Yeah no after everything that’s been going on I’d just outright deck her right now.”

“Aww come now sweetheart, she’s matured quite a lot since your little spout with one another.”

“Yeah no, fuck her and her piece of shit brother.” she mutters. “I might go grab him just so he doesn’t have to be around them… yeah I’m gonna go do that, let him stay down here with you, would that be ok?”

“I… y-yes that would be alright.” she says, giving Emily a worried look. “Are… you sure it’s a good idea to go there in your current… headspace?”

“Hmm? Oh yeah it will be fine, I’m cool with the monks there, they are really nice and understanding, besides I’m going there to get ‘my’ pokemon. I don’t even plan on stopping by the gym or anything.”

“I… if you are sure… I don’t mind looking after Dragonair for you, he is a sweet one, a giant noodle of a pokemon but an adorable one none the less.”

“I know, I wish I could just keep all my pokemon… but rules are rules, only 6 at a time… I’m really grateful for you watching after some of them for me, lets me have my besties close even if they are technically not under my supervision.”

“It’s not a problem, like I said I like having a full house, it’s something nice to come home too after a long day.” Malissa says as she sighs. “That’s enough for now, go on in through there while I finish getting dinner ready, we can talk more about it later after you’ve decided on everything.” she says as she shoo’d her. “Go on now.”

Pressing herself up Emily sipped her drink. “Mmph, alright I’m goin, love you mom, thanks again for lunch!” she called out behind her with a little smile.

As she sat back down on the couch she leaned against Aloe who still looked concerned as he watched the TV. “Yeah… it wasn’t pleasant for me either when I saw it, don’t think too hard about my mom naked now ya little pervert.” she spoke softly making Aloe tense up with a stressed trill, shaking his head and waving his paws. “Heheh Relax, I’m only kidding, still so adorable.” she hummed, rubbing between the pokemons antenna.

As she rerelaxed back against the couch she gave a soft hum, looking around the room at her pokemon as they lazily did their own things. She was surprisingly relaxed all things considered, after everything that had happened she didn’t feel panicked or stressed, just relaxed. Turning her drink up she finished the last of it with a relaxed sigh as she closed her eyes, It was so good to finally be back home.