Chii slumped down in her own little corner of the warehouse. With the number of Pokémon that were living there, finding a place for yourself was not an easy task. But Chii had found a small, elevated position located in one of the corners and had claimed it for herself. It was just a blanket that she had dragged on top of a few boxes that had been stacked there. But it was her place and she enjoyed it, plus it had a good view so she could see most of what was happening around their home.
Sadly, she was not in the best of moods as she laid there. She had ran up to her spot almost immediately after Brawly had taken her home. She still couldn't believe that she had allowed him to carry her all the way. But anger was not the thing that was on her mind, not the main thing, anyway. Rather, she was disappointed that Ethan had ran off to do something else.
She knew that he had a lot of responsibilities and things that he needed to do… but today was the day that he was supposed to be spending with her. That had been what he had told her, anyway. But Ethan had promised her that he would spend the evening with her and her alone after he came back. So it was not all bad. Ethan always kept his promises to her, after all.
Chii looked across her home from her little perch. She spotted a group of the Pokémon that were living there. The group was not as big as it once was, a lot of them having left because they were healthy enough and wanted to leave. Some others had gotten a new family in the town. They had gotten a home of their own just like she had, so she was happy for them because of that. Everyone deserves a home. The group of Pokémon were currently playing, chasing each other around and having fun. She felt a small urge to go down there and join them in their fun. But no, ultimately, she did not feel like it. At least not yet.
Luckily, the Swablu that Ethan and Jenny had saved was still living there with them. Chii spotted her, lying on a small nest that she had made for herself on one of the kitchen counters. She had not grown all of her wings back yet, but in a way, Chii did not want her to leave. She really liked her, she was one of her friends. It was a weird feeling. She wanted her to get better soon… but that would also mean that she would leave. Thinking about that hurt her brain… perhaps she could talk to Ethan about it when he came back. Yes, that was what she would do.
She thought about jumping down to her, but it looked like she was sleeping. Ethan had specifically told her not to disturb her when she was sleeping because she was still recovering and needed her rest. So instead she continued to survey her home.
“Brawly…” Chii had spotted her arch nemesis as he was talking with Zoey. She had decided the day that she had met Brawly that he was her arch nemesis. She was not sure of he was aware of that, but that mattered little to her, he had left her no choice.
He was currently talking to Zoey, they were some distance away but she could still hear bits and pieces about their conversation. It sounded like they were talking about Ethan again. Zoey was asking about the fact that Ethan liked Brawly and that he should talk to Ethan about it.
Chii huffed as she tuned the two of them out. She still thought that Zoey belonged with Ethan. Everything had been so perfect, up until that point where Brawly had shown up. He was the one that ruined everything. Ethan had tried to explain to her that if it was anyone’s fault, then it was his own for not telling Zoey that he was gay earlier. But Chii knew better. She knew that he was only telling her that so that she would not be mad at Brawly. But she had seen through Ethan's clever plan. She did not know what Brawly's plan was, but she would not let any of it happen.
“Hey, Chii!” She looked down at the mention of her name and saw that her arch nemesis was looking up at her. He had been the one that tried to speak to her. But she wouldn't have any of that. No matter what he had to say, she would ignore it. She would remain strong. “It’s been awhile since you ate, do you want any grapes?”
…
But perhaps she could make a small exception this one time… No! She had to remain strong. She knew that this was was one of his tricks, her arch nemesis was tricky in that way. Using those grapes to tempt her. But he did not know that she had an unshakable iron will! She would remain vigilant, nothing would move her from her post or trick her into talking with him. Not even those sweet, delicious, goodly grapes....
“Y-yes.” She cursed herself for her moment of weakness. Her arch nemesis was indeed a crafty one. Weaponizing her own grapes against her, to think that someone could fall so low.
She watched carefully as Brawly walked towards her, the basket of grapes in his hand. What did he have in plan for her? What was his goal?
“Here you go.” She kept her eyes on him as Brawly reached up to her spot and placed the small basket in front of her. They looked even more delicious when they were that close. It was then that she had realised her mistake. She had taken her eyes off him, while he was that close to her… and the grapes! Her gaze snapped back to him to witness in horror as Brawly tossed a single grape up in the air. She watched it linger in the air for a moment in all its gloriousness before it fell back down into Brawly's open mouth.
She watched as he slowly walked away like nothing had happened, he even had the audacity to smile and wave back at her after performing such a heinous act. The grapes were hers, and he knew that. He must have given her them just to make her watch as he took one of them for his own. He had still given her a lot of grapes, but that was not the point. That grape that he ate was also hers, it was the principle of the thing. And she would get her revenge.
Later of course… right now she had her delicious grapes. She could see Brawly smiling out of the corner of her eye as she bit into the first one. She should deny the grapes because of what he had done… but she simply couldn't. Their juicy goodness was too much. She would eat them… but she sure wouldn't like it.
An incredibly manly burp echoed through the warehouse. It had come from the small basket that had just a couple of minutes ago, been filled with grapes, but now it was filled with something else instead. A few small cream colored legs along with a pink and fluffy tail could be seen sticking out.
“You gave her the whole basket?” Chii could hear Zoey's voice coming from below. But her tummy was too full for her to move to look over the edge. The fur around her mouth was sticky with grape juice. She stifled another small burp. Perhaps it had been a bit much… but it was just so delicious that she did not care.
“I did not think that she would finish the whole thing.” She heard Brawly say back. He had underestimated her and that had been his downfall, he thought that he could outwit her? She felt a sense of victory as she laid there… or it could possibly be more gas from the grapes, she wasn't really sure.
“Well, she doesn't sound too good. You know that she can't help herself at times…” And another burp confirmed that it was indeed more gas. But the sense of victory still remained though. She then saw two familiar red paws that reached up to her perch and into the basket to lift her down.
She did not really want to go down, she had been very comfortable with not moving at all after that grape binge. But she did not resist as Zoey lifted her up and down to where she and Brawly was standing.
“Aww, you have grape juice all over you.” Zoey complained as she looked down at her. A small smile gracing her face as she watched Chii fail to stifle a yawn. “Well, at least you ate something willingly… did you enjoy it?”
“Yeah! It was delicious.” Chii purred happily from where she laid in Zoey's arms. Perhaps she could forgive Brawly this one time.
“Would you get me a wet cloth to clean her fur?” Chii heard Zoey ask Brawly as she blinked slowly. Her eyes was getting a little heavy. She did not need any wet cloths, she could perfectly clean her self. She opened her mouth to tell Zoey just that, but all that came out was another long yawn.
“You look a little tired.” She hear Zoey tell her.
“No, I don’t want to sleep.” She muttered. She wasn't tired, no. She had already had a nap earlier that day. It had been cut short, but still. Her eyelids was getting heavier and heavier each time she blinked. That and she was so comfortable there in Zoey's fluffy arms. She nuzzled even tighter to Zoey, enjoying the warmth that she gave off when she was that close. Maybe she would just close her eyes a little....
“Has she been asleep for long?” Chii stirred in her sleep as she heard a familiar voice. She considered moving or opening her eyes, but she felt a warm and incredibly soft blanket around her. She was too comfortable to wake up just yet and instead, just nuzzled herself deeper into the blanket so that it covered all of her entirely.
“Yeah, she overate and got a bit sleepy as a result.” Chii tried to shut out the voices, but the hard fact was that she now was awake. She did not want to be awake. She hadn't wanted to go to sleep in the first place either, but now she did not want to be awake. The blanket she was covered in was just so soft…
“Heh, that’s my girl.” She heard the same voice laugh again. It was hard to hear whose voice it was through the blanket, but it sounded familiar.
“So how did it go?” Chii yawned softly as she heard what was said.
“Well it did not go exactly as planned. We… learned some things about what we are up against. It seemed that-” Chii zoned out as she listened to the two that were talking. She was pretty sure that one of them was Zoey, but the other one. She tuned back in as they were still talking. “And the nurse told us that it would be at least one or two more days before he could speak again.”
“Really? That is a lot to take in. But at least you will be able to get your answers then, hopefully.” It couldn't be Brawly. No he had another way of talking. And Jenny did not sound that much like a guy… that only left Ethan.
Chii nodded happily, having solved that small mystery from inside her cozy blanket. It seemed that Ethan was back home.
“Yeah, I hope so too.” Realization then just struck her. Ethan was back and she had missed it because she was sleeping. This was supposed to be her Ethan time!
“ETHAN!” The blanket positively flew off Chii as her voice filled the entire warehouse. All eyes immediately snapping to her as she wore the biggest smile that her little face could possibly handle. She ran off the couch that she had been sleeping on and jumped towards Ethan, sailing through the air and straight into his arms as he was ready for her. “You’re back!”
“Indeed I am.” Ethan smiled back as he rubbed the fur on her head. She purred as she really liked it when he did that. “And I also hear that you enjoyed yourself?”
“Yeah!” Chii cheered happily. “So what did you have planned since you were spending the evening with me, and me alone?” She asked as she looked up to him with two hopeful eyes.
“Oh, so the two of you have something planned then?” Zoey asked with a smirk as she watched Chii and Ethan.
“Yeah, I kind of did promise that. Hope you don't mind watching the place.”
“Oh no, you two have fun. Besides, I got Brawly and Jenny to keep me company.” Zoey smiled and waved Ethan and Chii off as they walked out of their home.
“So where are we going?” Chii asked as she climbed out of Ethans arms and up onto his head. She really liked that spot. His ears were fluffy beyond belief and it was high up so she had a nice view of her surroundings, it was perfect.
“Nowhere special. Is there anything that you want to do?” Chii hummed to herself as she thought. There was a lot of things that she wanted to do.
A grin slowly grew on her face as she had her first idea. “There is something I want to do.”
“Okay, then we will do that first.” Ethan told her. “What is it?”
“This, your it!” Chii slapped Ethan's face with her tail, making him recoil slightly in shock from the sudden move. That however gave Chii more than enough time to leap off his head and get a running start. “Catch me if you can~” She sang as she ran down the street, dodging ponies along the way.
She had been a little curious about what Ethan had been doing all day after he had sent her back home with Brawly. But that could wait, now she was just having too much fun.
She laughed loudly as she heard Ethan yell after her. She took a glance behind to see that he was catching up to her, jumping over ponies and obstacles as they came. She had to admit it. She was fast, but he was faster. That meant that she had to do other things to win. Or rather to keep him away long enough for her to be satisfied.
So using her small frame to her advantage, Chii began to run under stalls and through holes in fences to keep Ethan at a distance. She cheered more than once when she heard him complain or crash into something behind her. Her plan was working. Or at least it was for a while, until a shadow passed over her and Ethan landed abruptly in front of her.
“Got you now!” He lunged forward, but she was already a step ahead of him. She gracefully jumped straight towards him, dodging his paws as he tried to grab her, and launched herself off his head and continued to run.
The two of them continued this little game for a good while, and Ethan had to stop and apologize to passing ponies more than once after he either ran into them or scared them. But eventually the two of them ended up in the park and it seemed that Ethan had her cornered.
Chii looked around her for a way to escape. Behind her was where the park ended and the forest started and she did not want to take their chase out there, that and Ethan had her blocked off in front.
“Nowhere left to run now.” Ethan laughed with a smile on her face. He had enjoyed their little chase too.
As Ethan ran forwards towards her, Chii couldn't help but grin as her plan had worked.
“Blizzard!” She opened her mouth and unleashed an icy Blizzard attack on the ground in between her and Ethan.
“W-what the?” Ethan began to spin out of control on the newly formed ice. He couldn't steer away or even stop as he sped towards Chii who easily jumped out of the way, laughing to herself as Ethan positively flew past her and into one of the trees.
Chii skipped over to Ethan who was lying on his back with his legs up in the air and leaning against the tree. She laughed as she heard him groan.
“So did I win?” Chii asked as she jumped up onto him and looked down on his face which was covered in leaves and twigs.
“I thought I was the one that was supposed to catch you?” Ethan asked with a smirk as he wiped the debris away from his face.
“Oh, that’s right.” Chii said as her ears fell flat against her head and she flopped down on his chest herself. “I dont want to play anymore though.” She said as she looked down at him. She was tired from all the running around.
“Isn't using Blizzard cheating when playing tag though?” Ethan sat up and leaned against the tree, Chii resting on his lap.
“Everything is allowed in love and tag.” Chii cheered as Ethan ruffled the fur on her head.
“You are a crafty one.” Ethan smiled as he shared a laugh with her. “So what do you want to do now?” Chii thought about the question for couple of moments, before she found her answer.
“I just want to lay here.” She sighed with content as she rested her little head against Ethan. “Or can I have some ice cream?” She asked hopefully.
“You want ice cream?” Ethan asked as he looked down at her. “I thought you just ate so many grapes that you fell asleep. You really got room for more?” Chii laughed and batted at Ethan’s paw as he poked her stomach. She may have eaten that many grapes, but she still had some room for ice cream.
“Yeah… but ice cream is so good.” There was always room for ice cream. Perhaps if she was lucky they might have grape flavored ice cream. Her mouth watered from the thought alone.
“Well, perhaps later. For now I think we could take a small break.” Ethan said as Chii looked up to him. She was perfectly fine with that answer. She was a little tired from all the running around and Ethan looked slightly winded as well.
“Okay.” Chii said as she draped one of Ethans long fluffy ears over herself. She purred happily as she covered herself almost completely, only her head sticking out with a content look on her face.
“You comfortable?” An amused Ethan asked as he looked down at Chii, who was using one of his ears as a combined pillow and blanket.
“Yeah.” Chii purred. But there was something that had been on her mind for a while that she wanted to ask Ethan about. “Where did you go earlier?” She asked as she tilted her head upwards to look at Ethan.
“When I went with Mary and Jenny, you mean?” Chii nodded at Ethan's question. “We just had a few things that we needed to take care of.” Ethan told her. He had never told her the whole truth about what they were doing, but she still knew a fair amount. She had listened in on some of their conversations from time to time. She was a curious Skitty after all.
“So you are going to catch those bad guys, right?” Chii asked. Since it had been something important and Jenny had gone with them too, she thought that it had something to do with that.
Ethan looked down on her with a slightly surprised look, but that soon softened as he scratched her behind her ears.
“Yeah, we are going to take care of those bad guys. Very soon, too, if everything goes according to plan.”
“That’s great.” She purred at his touch. She wanted justice for what had happened to her Swablu friend.
“That and I had to make a quick visit to the mayor to sign some papers.” Chii reared her head again to look up at Ethan.
“What kind of papers?” She inquired.
“Just some minor things. You'll see soon enough, trust me.” Chii was content with that answer. Ethan always told the truth to her and she could wait. Sometimes he held back when talking, but he would never lie to her, never.
“Okay.” She answered simply. “Could you tell me a story?” She asked with a yawn.
“What kind of story?” Ethan asked as he continued petting Chii.
“About Uncle Vernus?” Chii asked hopefully. “He is the first Pokémon that you got right? The one that have been with you the longest?” She wanted to know more about her new family since she was now a part of it.
She noticed that Ethan had gone quiet and she could see a strange look on his face as she asked that question. It was a look that she did not recognize. It looked like a painful look, but not quite at the same time. But as soon as it had come, it disappeared as Ethan put on a kind smile.
“He is indeed the one that has been with me the longest. We have had a lot of adventures together, me and him. But he is not my first Pokémon.” That surprised Chii a little. She had always assumed that Uncle Vernus had been with Ethan since the beginning.
“W-who was then?” She asked as another long yawn forced itself past her lips.
“That’s a story for another time.” Ethan told her as he stroked her fur. “Why don't I tell you about some of my earlier adventures with Vernus instead?” Chii wanted to know more about the first Pokémon that Ethan had, but she was getting tired and that could wait for another time.
“Okay…” She said as she nuzzled even closer to him, burying her head into his soft fur.
“Let me tell you about the first time Vernus met Brawly then. Boy was that a meeting that will be remembered. It all seemed like a normal day…” And that was all that Chii heard as she slowly fell asleep.