“I-is that?... it does not even look like her-”
...
“Is Jenny going to be-”
...
“Make some room, give her some space so we can-”
...
“Get her on the bed, we need to check her vitals to determine-”
…
“Ethan, w-why won't she stop screaming?”
...
“Hold her down, I can't sedative her if-”
…
“Someone put out that fire!”
…
“-all we can do for now.”
...
“C-can she hear us? Jenny… if you can, please come back to us soon....”
Ethan almost collapsed on the bed that he was sitting next to. The weariness was pulling at his eyes, but he could not rest, not yet. To say that the last night had been hectic would have been an understatement in every sense of the word.
After they had found Jenny outside of their home, they had rushed her to the hospital. That's when things went a little sideways. Jenny had woken up, and it all seemed fine at first, but the instant she noticed one of the pony doctors, she went into full panic. She was screaming and thrashing. They simply could not get through to her at all. In the end, to protect her and them, they had to sedate her.
“What happened to you?” Ethan spoke as he looked down at Jenny who was sleeping softly in front of him. What had happened to break their Jenny in such a way?
They were not in the hospital anymore. Physically, apart from her missing tails, not much was actually wrong with her. They had been removed and stitched up almost perfectly. She had a number of minor cuts and some old bruises covering her body, but considering her outburst in the hospital, and how she had nearly torched several ponies, Ethan had made the call to relocate her back to their home. They could do little for her tails; it was her mind that Ethan was more worried about. She had been tortured, her tails cut off, her fur shaved, and she was malnourished to top it off. “I'm sorry that we did not find you sooner.”
She was now located in one of the corners of their house, in her own little, private room. Vernus had created it as fast as he could, so that Jenny would have some privacy when she eventually woke up, so the walls and roof were made of branches and vines that were woven together. It was not much, but it offered some privacy from the rest of the inhabitants, just like the room that Ethan and Brawly had. Next to her, her partner, Growlithe, was sleeping peacefully too. He had been watching over Jenny too, but had given in to the weariness a little while ago. Or maybe it was a few hours. He really wasn't sure.
All of the Pokémon that knew her before she disappeared were relieved and happy that she was back. But Ethan did not want Jenny to be overwhelmed when she woke up, and if her episode in the hospital was anything to gauge things by, well, she would need the space and privacy.
A couple of small knocks broke Ethan out of his daze. He straightened up and looked away from Jenny to see Zoey and Brawly standing in the doorway. They stared at him with worried eyes, and he could feel a small tension in the air.
“Ethan, dude…” Brawly was the one who stepped forward, kneeling besides Ethan and Jenny. “We are all worried about Jenny. But it's morning already, you seriously need to get some rest.” That made Ethan pause. It was morning already? He knew that he had been with her for a while but for it to have been that long… “The doctors already said that she was mostly okay, go get some shuteye, we can take over.”
He had not given it too much though before. But now that Brawly had mentioned it, he did feel tired, really tired.
“No, I… I have to be here when she wakes up.” But still he refused.
“Oh for the love of-” Zoey held herself back from unleashing a verbal barrage at Ethan. “She has us and her partner to be there when she wakes up; it will not be a disaster if you take a breather.” Deep down, he knew that she was right, he just refused to acknowledge it. Perhaps it was the lack of sleep that was messing with his judgment, or perhaps it was the fact that he felt responsible in a way for what had happened to Jenny. It did not matter in the end though.
Zoey was pretty average for a Zangoose in term of size. A little bigger perhaps, a little taller, but not much. But over her years she had gained more than a little strength in her small body.
Ethan blinked, a little confused as Zoey picked him up as easily as one would pick up a bag of groceries and stomped out of the room.
“Sleep well, cutie!” Brawly called out after them with his usual smile, only barely holding back a laugh. Well, for a few seconds anyway, then it broke loose and Ethan felt a blush of embarrassment lighting his face up. “I'll come to join ya later!”
The entire warehouse watched as Zoey marched through their home, not stopping or slowing down for anything. Many were more than a little confused, and amused about why Ethan was being manhandled by the usually motherly Zoey.
“Do I get a say in this?” Ethan asked, and by the way she looked at him after that comment, he guessed that, no, no he did not get a say.
The door to his and Brawly's bedroom flew open before Ethan was gently placed the bed. Or maybe he would have been if it had been anyone but Zoey who slammed him down in a manner that would make one question of she knew Seismic Toss, leaving Ethan quite disoriented.
“Now you just stay here and take it easy.” Zoey smiled kindly. Ethan knew that Zoey always did what was best for the ones she cared for, but he had never been at the receiving end of her “tough” love before, not to this degree at least.
“Will you-” and the door slammed shut, leaving Ethan alone, “get me if anything happens.” Resigning to his fate, Ethan sank back into the pillow and stared up at the roof. “I don't even feel that tired. I'll just stay here for a little while to satisfy Zoey.” Not even a minute after that, a cute Lopunny was quietly making his way into the land of dreams.
Ethan was not sure how long he had been asleep, but he knew that it had not been long enough when a certain little thing woke him up by poking him in the face, over and, over and over again.
“Ethan… Ethan, are you awake? Ethan, are you awake? Ethan?” He felt the soft paw poke him in the cheek with every mention of his name. He loved her very dearly, but at moments like that, Ethan was glad that he was a very patient person.
“Urgh… Yes, Chii, what is it?” Ethan forced his eyes open to see the small Skitty in question sitting next to his head.
“C-can I talk to you for a little bit?” Chii asked, and now she had Ethan's full attention.
“Of course you can.” Ethan pulled himself up into a sitting position. He was still really tired, more so than before he had fallen asleep actually, but he always had time for his family.
“I think I want to compete in the contest, the one in Canterlot.” Chii said suddenly.
“Okay,” Ethan nodded, his brain had not fully started yet, but he noticed that she seemed a little unsure about her decision. Her ears were a little splayed back, and she was avoiding meeting his eyes. “You have been thinking about this a lot, haven't you?”
“Mmh.” Chii gave a slight sound of confirmation.
“Are you sure that you are ready for this?” It was not a question he wanted to ask, but one that was necessary seeing how unsure she seemed about her own decision.
“I… I think so.” Chii spoke softly. “I want to compete again. Despite everything that happened before… I always had fun when competing, I would forget about all my worries, and I was good at it.” She sniffed a little, wiping her eyes though no tears came. “I know we never won anything, but I was good at it, I know it, and I want to continue with that.” She looked up, finally meeting Ethan's eyes with a look of resolve. “I want to do it!”
“That's my girl.” Ethan could not help but grin. She had overcome another of her inner problems, he was proud of how far she had come.
He swept Chii up in his arms and laughed with her as she jumped all over him. She was really excited now that the final shreds of doubt had been dismissed from her mind.
“The contest is quite soon though,” Ethan said when they finished their little playtime. Chii having settled next to him again. “So you will have to train quite hard to come up with a performance in such a short time… do you think you can manage that?”
“Yeah!” Chii nodded fiercely, she had her mission and she would excel at it. “It's just… one small thing.”
It did not take Ethan long to figure out what she was hinting at. “You need a partner,” he remembered the announcement, this was a team competition. A team of two to be exact. “Have you thought about who you want to ask?” Ethan inquired.
“Mmh.” Chii nodded again with just a small sound of confirmation. When she kept looking at him without saying anything else he caught on.
`I guess I shouldn't be surprised` Ethan mentally sighed. “I appreciate it, but I can't be your partner on this Chii, sorry.” The crestfallen look that came over Chii sent a small sting to his heart.
“What?! Why not?!” Chii demanded, but continued before Ethan could say anything else. “Y-you helped me decide on this. You never said it, b-but I know that you wanted me to do this!” Chii's insightful words rang true, she had seen through him. “Why won't you help me with this then?!”
“Calm down, Chii,” Ethan put his paw on top of her head, gently patting it. “You know why I can't. I have too much I need to do here; I would not be able to practice with you, not nearly as much as we would need anyway.” Chii had halfheartedly tried to bat his paw away, but now accepted the gesture. “And with Jenny now… I can't, Chii, I’m sorry. Besides, I don't know a thing about contests, I don't think you would want me on your team.”
“Okay...” Chii plopped down, letting out a big sigh for her little body. “But… why did not Arceus fix Jenny like Mew fixed Zoey?” Chii asked suddenly. “Do you think that he could?”
“I'm sure that he could.” Ethan answered. “But I'm also sure that he had his reasons. He sent us back to her rather than teleporting her to us when we were in the temple, maybe he felt that we could help her better.” In truth, Ethan still did not trust Arceus completely. What he and Mew had done for Zoey had lifted a lot of the fears and doubts he had, but he still felt that it was safe to remain a little skeptical. And in that sense, he was glad that he had left Jenny in their care.
“I guess,” Chii reluctantly agreed. “I’m sure that you would do fine with me in the competition though. I saw you training with Brawly and Zoey, you move very gracefully… most of the time.” She started laughing softly as she remembered all the times he had been knocked down.
“Hey! I am the very personification of grace.” Ethan struck a half-assed pose, that only made Chii laugh harder. “Hey, are you implying that I am not perfect? How dare you?” He tried to keep a serious face, but the facade cracked soon enough and he joined Chii in her laughter.
“N-no, you are very fabulous… everyone keeps saying that anyway.” Chii commented, oblivious to the small blush that appeared on Ethan's face. “What does that mean?” Her little mouth pouted as she thought about it. “Are they talking about the way you and Brawly act in public with all your-”
“And that's enough of that, young lady.” Ethan quickly interrupted Chii before his face became as red as a Scizor's glowing metal skin on a bright summer's day after it had been covered in tamato berry juice….
He had a few really weird classmates while he went to school, and there are certain things that you just can't unsee.
But it was true that Brawly did not really care about keeping his show of affection in private, and perhaps he had gotten a little too used to it and picked up a few bad habits himself if people were talking about them. Oh yeah, he was definitely going to have a talk with Brawly about keeping his hands to himself when they were out among others… for the most part.
Hey, he was allowed some guilty pleasures in their day-to-day lives.
“Anyway, there are a lot of other ones you can ask about the contest, I'm sure that someone here will be more than happy to be your partner.” There had been more than a few Pokémon who had been ecstatic about the contest when it was first announced.
“Yeah… I just want it to be someone I know since we don't have that long to practice. It really helps if you trust your partner.”
“Well, was I the first one you asked?” Ethan asked.
“Yeah, I really wanted to perform with you.” Chii sulked, still a little miffed about the rejection.
“Hey, keep your chin up. If more contests come around then I'll try to be your partner one day.”
“R-really!?” Chii smiled from ear-to-ear.
“Really.” Ethan nodded. “But if you asked me first, then there are others that you know whom you can ask, you know.” This also seemed to breathe new life and hope into Chii, who nodded rapidly.
“There is! Thank you, I'll go ask them right now.” Chii said in a hurry before jumping off the bed and heading straight for the door.
“Hey, just a second,” Ethan called after her, stopping the little Skitty at the last second. “Jenny has not woken up yet, has she?” There was no window in their room so he had no idea how long he had actually been sleeping for.
“Um, not that I know. Zoey and Brawly has been going in and out there for a while, and I think that Growlithe is still asleep too.” Chii answered after thinking about it for a bit. “I wanted to go in, but Zoey said that I couldn't,” she pouted. “She did not want me to wake either of them up… is Jenny going to sleep for long? I want to see and talk to her again, I missed her a lot.”
“Don't you worry, when Jenny wakes up, I am sure that she will be more than happy to see you again.” She had really grown close to the officer in the short time they had known each other. Then again, Chii really had a magnetic personality, so perhaps it was not so strange after all. “Now run along, you have a lot to take care of and not a lot of time to do it.”
“Okay, bye!” Chii smiled happily again before running out the door, letting it close back on its own.
Ethan fell back down with his head resting on the pillow once she was gone. The exhaustion and sleepiness was still very much there, he had just managed to forget about it for the little time Chii had been in there. “I wonder who her partner will end up being.” He mused to himself, while entertaining the thought of several of their friends and family members competing in a contest. Some fitting more to the role than others.
A steady laugh from some of those thoughts could be heard from the room before Ethan fell asleep once again.
Chii was not happy. Things had seemed like they were going so well, for the most part. Ethan had said that he couldn't be her partner on the contest, but he reminded her that she still had a lot of others she could ask.
“Hey, why the long face?”
Needless to say, things did not work out the way she had imagined them too. In her mind, Ethan would have said yes the instant she asked, more than happy to help her on her journey. Why did things never go the way she planned? She wanted this–needed this contest. Why did everyone else have responsibilities and things like that?
“Earth to Chii, are you in-”
“It's not fair!” Chii yelled out in frustration. “It was not supposed to… t-they all said..” Chii's words turned into an incoherent mess as the floodgates opened and she buried her face into the nearest object she could find: Vernus.
“Woah, whatever it is, I'm sure that it's not the end of the world, kiddo.” The Leafeon desperately tried to comfort Chii as her muffled cries continued. He had spotted the little Skitty looking awfully dejected, especially for her. But when he had gone over to see what was bothering her, well, things had happened rather quickly after that.
“Okay, okay just let it all out.” Vernus slowly patted her on the back, not really sure what to do. “Do you want to tell me what's wrong?” But his only answer was more incoherent words, muffled by his fur and mixed in with her cries. Chii was part of the family, and he loved her dearly, but he was really not used to dealing with situations like this. Ethan and Zoey were always the ones who would handle those kinds of things. But he was stuck right in the middle of it now, and running away was not an option. “Did something happen?” He hoped for an answer this time around, something to work with at least.
A small nod was what he received.
“Well, why don't you tell me about it.” Vernus offered. “Ethan always says that talking about your problems is good.” And even though she was a little hesitant, Chii soon explained everything that she had told Ethan to Vernus too.
“And they all said that they couldn't. Zoey had to stay here to help take care of Jenny and all the others. Lady seemed interested, but she has been offered a full time job at the school, so she has to work there. And some of my other friends here are not well enough yet to perform in a contest.” Chii plopped down and rested her head on top of her paws. “I really want to compete in this, but no one I ask has the time to be my partner.”
“That does sound rough,” Vernus agreed. “But it's a little too early to give up don't you think? Besides, you obviously have not asked everyone just yet.”
“I know… but…” Chii looked to be deep in thought for a moment. “But do you think he will say yes if I ask?”
“I'm fairly certain, yes.” Vernus answered with a big grin.
“Yeah! Thank you so much, Uncle Vernus.” Chii beamed. “I'll go ask him right now.” She turned and started walking away.
“W-wait, wait a moment.” Chii stopped and turned around as Vernus called after her. “Me! I was talking about me! You could ask me to be your partner for this contest.” He paused, waiting for an answer as Chii just stood there, looking back at him, before looking back to the door leading outside and back to Vernus once again.
“I think I'll just go find Brawly. Thank you for helping me though, love you!” Chii called back as she skipped towards the door, now leaving a completely speechless Leafeon in her tracks.
“I… but… w-what I.. I could...” Vernus stammered his mind trying to catch up with what had actually happened. He looked up as a red paw settled on his shoulder.
“Sorry to break it to you, love, you are good at what you do.” Zoey told her mate. “But when it comes to finesse and grace, well, you are about as graceful as a Snorlax with two broken legs after it has consumed half a liquor store.”
“... What?”
“I love you, but it's true. Just let her take care of this.” Zoey brought Vernus out of his stupor with a well placed kiss. “I think this will turn out alright.”
Chii hummed a catchy tune to herself as she skipped down the road leading into town. She hoped that she had not hurt Vernus, but what she said was true, he would never fit in a contest. Still though, she stopped more than once and looked back, thinking about going back and reconsidering her decision.
But every time, she swallowed her pride and continued on. She did not hate him anymore, she did not even particularly dislike him. She…
As she came into town, she spotted him talking to one of the shopkeepers with the whip-like fur that grew from his hands wrapped up around his arms like always.
She could just not let him know that. He was an outsider, he did not belong in their family.
But still, he was a friend of sorts, and he loved Ethan very much. And he was her last option, so she gathered her courage… and sat down behind a few barrels, peeking through to wait it out and see what he would do next. This would be harder than she anticipated.
She waited until he was done talking to the pony and continued on. She followed him through the town, waiting on the perfect chance to walk up and ask him.
Ask… would he even say yes? O-of course he would, Brawly, even though she did not like to admit it sometimes, was a really nice guy, so of course he would say yes… right?
Okay, maybe she had not been all that kind to him, there had been a lot of pranks that she had pulled. She had tripped him more than once when he had walked past her, though he always took that with a smile and tried to get back at her. She had woken him up with spilling cold water on him… and Ethan. She had gotten scolded for that one. She did not mean to hit Ethan, he was just sort of there.
She had used Hyper Voice on him to knock him over, and spilled eggs and other things on him in the process. And she had simply just walked up to him and used Thunder Wave on him with no warning whatsoever.
She had not just pulled pranks on him, no, she had been really mean!
“Nooooooo!” Chii covered her face with her paws and groaned out. “I'm an idiot…” Why did her past actions have to come back to bite her in the butt right now? She knew that she probably deserved it though… she had been really mean to him. “Stupid…”
“Who's stupid?” A voice she recognised asked and she looked up to see the chef pony Mignon standing next to her.
“I am the stupid!” Chii cried out in despair and let her face fall back into her paws. “Just leave me alone, I deserve this!”
“Now, that doesn't sound like the Chii I know.” Mignon put down the basket of spices he was carrying and settled down next to the Skitty. “Everyone does some stupid things from time to time, but that doesn't mean that is the end of the world.”
“But it is!” Chii protested. “I did so many stupid things… and now I'm paying for it.”
Mignon stroked his small beard as he looked down at Chii. “So, there is something you want… or you want something from somepony,” at that comment Chii's ears flattened against her head, “Yeah, that seems to be spot on. Now, who is it that you screwed over?”
“...” Chii mumbled.
“Didn't quite catch that.”
“Brawly…” Chii repeated, now loud enough for him to hear.
“Ah.” Mignon nodded. “Well, you have been acting like kind of an ass towards him, that is true,” his statement only making Chii groan louder. “But then again, does it matter?” This caught Chii's attention and she wiped her eyes before looking up at the chef pony.
“W-what do you mean? Of course it matter, I have been horrible to him… I bet he hates me.”
“He does have every right to hate you,” hearing this send another wave of hopelessness over Chii. “But that does not sound like Brawly."
“What do you mean?” Chii looked up to see the chef pony, now smiling down at her.
“What I mean is that you should talk to him. Don't give up before you even tried, that's no way to go about things. You think that he hates you and would never help you… you may be pleasantly surprised.”
Chii was sure that he was wrong, but some of his words hit home: she may be pleasantly surprised. What did she have to lose? She already assumed the worst.
“And if he still hates me?” She asked.
“Then you tried, and did you best, and that's good enough.”
It was true, she had to try everything, or she would beat herself up over it later if she didn't, she just knew it. With that in mind, Chii rose, her eyes furrowed with determination.
“You are right, I'll go to him right now!” Chii declared proudly, sticking her chest out. “Thank you, chef pony.”
“It’s Migno-”
But the rest of his words was lost on Chii who took off down the street, ducking under and bouncing over ponies in her path. She prayed that Brawly had not gone too far, or worse, back home. She wanted him alone for what was about to happen.
She started slowing down once she came upon a bench close to the edge of town, near a small mound. No one sat on the bench, but at the top of the mound, a Mienshao stood, slowly moving his body as he went through different moves in slow motion.
Chii climbed up onto the bench, and as she watched him go through his motions, she understood why he would be a good partner to her. He needed some work, sure, but he was naturally elegant in the way he moved. Little to no wasted movement, there was beauty and coolness aplenty there.
But she would still need to talk to him, to ask him for help, and despite all the courage she had gathered, she could not bring herself to interrupt him. So instead, she just sat down, and watched.
The minutes passed rapidly as she watched him, but eventually, she was noticed. She quickly turned around, it was rude to stare, after all, but after a few moments, Brawly joined her on the bench.
“Hey, Chii,” he greeted her in his usual relaxing voice.
“H-hello.” Chii swallowed, she was nervous. She could not bring herself to speak, so she didn't, she just sat there in silence. Maybe he sensed her nervousness, maybe not. In any case, Brawly did not push her to speak but instead just sat there in silence with her.
She knew exactly what she was scared about, and she had realized it earlier, but now when she sat there with him right next to her, it felt overwhelming. Why was he even there? Surely he hated her, so why had he not left already? Did he just want to see her suffer?
“Are you alright?” Came the eventual question, and no, of course she wasn't alright! When she did not answer, another question came. “Something the matter?”
“Do you hate me?”
“No, no of course not.” Brawly was quick to answer.
“Well, why not!? I have been so mean to you, horrible. I'm a bad Skitty…”
“...” Brawly did not move closer to Chii who was hugging her tail. “Where did this come from?” He asked.
And in her fragile emotional state, Chii spilled it all. “I finally decided that I wanted to compete in the contest, but no one had the time to be my partner. So I wanted to ask you, but I have been so mean to you, thrown things at you, tripped you, attacked you even, ever since I first met you, and you never deserved it. I don't even deserve your help, I wanted to go home, I was afraid to even speak to you, but a nice pony encouraged me to do so… though I don't know why, because it does not matter. I'm horrible and I deserve this.” Her emotions spilled into her words, though she did not cry, she had already cried herself dry that day. “I'm… I'm sorry, for everything.”
“Seems like you have had quite the day.” The Mienshao commented. “But I never hated you, how could I? I came into your life a stranger, taking time from the people you knew and loved. It may even have seemed like I stole one of them away from you. You have every right to hate me, I could never blame you for that.” His words did not surprise Chii, but they still shook her deeply.
“I don't hate you… I did a little in the beginning but that passed quickly. I was just too stubborn to see it. I knew that you never wanted to take Ethan away from me, or that you meant to make Zoey sad… I… I… I just didn't want to share them.”
“You finally had a family again, a real one this time, and when it looked like I was threatening it, you lashed out. True, you may have acted a little rash and could have used your head more-”
“Hey!”
“-but after your past, that was normal. I never minded the hate, or all the tricks and attacks, I just hoped that you would one day come around. You are a part of my life now, and I'm a part of yours, so if you could consider this surfer a part of your family, then that'd be real cool.”
Though she had felt completely dried out, a few happy tears rolled down her cheeks. “It would be hard, but, I think I could manage that.” She smiled.
“A real sacrifice, I’m sure.” Brawly grinned.
“A huge one.” She matched his with a laugh.
“I'm real glad to hear that though, and of course I'd be honored to be your partner in this contest, if are sure that you want someone with no experience and two left feet, that is.”
“I’m sure I'll manage.” She reached out with her paw and shook his. “We will need to train a lot though if we are going to get ready in just a few days.” They really had to make a miracle happen on such a short time, but she was sure they could make it.
“That we will.” Brawly agreed, a few days was nothing compared to the months trainers and their Pokémon usually took to prepare for these events. “Why don't we head back home for now, we can talk about ideas for the performance on our way:”
“Yeah, that sounds good.” Brawly stood up and offered a paw to Chii. She took the gesture and hopped onto it, climbing up his arm and settling on his shoulder.
She had already thought about ideas for their performance and what their possibilities were, but right at that moment, another thought filled her mind, one that she simply had to let out. “Thank you.”
“Love you too, squirt!”
Hearing that a small blush appeared on Chii, and she leaned against his head. “Y-yeah… love you too.”
“Awww”
“T-there, you heard it. And don't mention it to anyone cuz I will never say it again...”