Lee allowed his daughter to lead him outside of the school, his mind ruminating on what had just transpired. Bullying? Nine, beloved, did you know about this?
No dear, I’m just as taken aback as you. It seems that the Academy’s administration was intent on keeping things quiet in hopes of taking care of the issue before it reached our attention.
But surely we could have at least seen some sign of it going on. You were not particularly subtle of checking Matt’s surface thoughts when he was seeing that Fennekin.
A brief flash of memory passed between the pair. A five-tailed Vulpix sneaking out at odd hours, basket held in his mouth in a woeful attempt to impress one of the year’s starters who had not been chosen by a trainer and elected to stay on the Ranch. Corviknight had put a quick stop to the nonsense once Matt had admitted to stealing the basket’s Pecha berries from his stash and set the Vulpix straight. The Fennekin had lost interest soon after witnessing Matt’s dressing down in the middle of the Ranch.
I was just making sure he wasn’t overstepping his boundaries, Lee, I was hardly infringing.
We talked about this, beloved. I know you want to be a good mother but peeking at thoughts besides mine was to be strictly limited especially on the kit-Children. Ninetales huffed at the mixup. Even so, I know you passively check their emotional states…nothing odd from Daisy?
Disappointment was common, but that was to be expected when the instructors are teaching from material several years behind your research. I didn’t think much of it. Ah. Lee? We’ve strayed from the path home.
Lee pulled himself out of their introspection and noted that the family had begun to approach the local PokeMart. Brightly colored signs displayed the latest in Rotom-gear – Devon Corporation’s take on the Galarian amphibious bicycle. Daisy had been enthralled with the contraption and had hinted for months that it would be “oh, like the greatest thing ever” if one happened to be presented to her at Christmas. Lee sighed, want to take this one Nine?
Another huff.
“Daisy dear. Just because your father and I are having a conversation doesn’t mean you should take advantage. We still need to talk about this bullying business and why you haven’t let us know.”
“I didn’t want to be a bother…dad’s always working on his research and you’re writing…”
“My precious gift, we would make time for you regardless of the reason. We love you and want you to be happy.”
The red-head slowed, looking between her parents.
“I’m fine though, really.”
Lee stopped and stared down at his daughter. His DAUGHTER. It seemed like only a few years ago that he and Ninetales had their fateful discussion with Lokoko. Of course, at the time they were unaware that she was a fellow Ninetales herself. But her advice was sound. Revisit your relationship with her, and put those instincts to rest by taking that last step. It had taken more time and Zinnia’s exasperated goading, but eventually Lee had given in. Being intimate on a physical level was difficult at first as the image of Ninetales physical and mental bodies were at odds in his human brain. Her care and warmth had made him feel safe, and when Matt had been born everything had make sense with the world. The moment he had laid eyes on the egg that bore him, Lee knew for a fact that he would do anything to keep his child safe. Then Daisy was born. A live birth that had taxed both Lee and Ninetales as it had taken 3 months to be sure the child growing was viable, then another 3 before they knew that it was truly human.
Lee had pored over texts and research articles for the entire time before he made that embarrassing phone call to Professor Birch.
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
“Professor? I…well, I have a bit of a situation that could use your expertise. Or barring that, a referral to someone who specializes in it.”
“No guarantees on whether I can help, but I’m sure I can find someone if I can’t answer.”
“Unless absolutely necessary, I’d really like this to be strictly confidential.”
“Certainly, Lee. About par for the course given your history. What seems to be the issue?” Professor Birch’s voice was jovial.
Lee hesitated before steeling himself and with a little prodding from an equally embarrassed Ninetales launched into his explanation of how Ninetales was pregnant and it was a human and what the hell do I do now?
What neither of the pair expected was to hear laughter over the phone.
“Professor! I’m serious!”
“HA! I’m certain you are, but sometimes I forget that you aren’t originally from here.” Birch coughed a few times and his laughter subsided. “Lee, there is hardly a human around that doesn’t have some form of Pokemon heritage anymore. Heck, my great-great-grandfather was an Alakazam!”
Lee nearly dropped the phone in shock at that. Upon further explanation from the Professor, everything suddenly clicked. How Ash could seemingly just shrug off thunderbolts from his Pikachu, how fighting type gym leaders could spar with their Pokemon with minimal injury. Somewhere along the line, a Pokemon had contributed their robustness to the gene pool. Zinnia’s Draconid tribe wasn’t an isolated case of Human-Pokemon interbreeding.
“So what does that mean for my child?”
“She will likely share some characteristics of her mother’s line, those with Vulpix blood often have red hair and will be a bit shorter in stature. But they have a higher heat tolerance than say someone with Poliwrath heritage.”
“Will she breathe fire or anything like that?”
“Short answer is no. Longer answer would be that she would likely have a higher affinity towards Fire-types and may be able to sympathize with them more easily. With her mother being an exceptionally powerful Ninetales at the elite level who had evolved from the purest of Firestones? I’d expect a similarly exceptional child. Congratulations Lee!”
Beloved, as much as I enjoy reminiscing on perhaps one of the most embarrassing moments in our life, perhaps you should speak to our daughter.
Lee was pulled out of the memory with a small mental jolt. Checking, only a brief moment had passed thanks to the speed of thought. He crouched down and pulled Daisy in by both hands until their eyes met.
“Daisy. Being bullied is never okay and trying to handle something like that on your own without even consulting us is not something that I had expected from you. Whatever happened to being daddy’s girl? You used to come sneak into the lab just to tell me about what Luxray’s cubs were up to. If I can make time for something as silly as that, don’t you believe that I would make time for something more serious?”
Daisy’s eyes were starting to mist over as Lee felt a tremor run through his little girl’s hands.
“They were right though! You did teach me! You let me sit in on your lectures and showed me how to care for the little Shinxes! And…and…” Tears were streaming down Daisy’s face, “I wanted to be as strong as you and mom. So I tried to take care of it myself.”
Ninetales wrapped herself around Daisy, her tails swishing over her daughter’s cheeks to brush away the tears that were still falling.
“Daisy. You are strong, but sometimes it is better to ask for help than to try and do it yourself. Your father and I struggled with doing just that and we are still getting better at it every day.”
“Your mother is right. When I first came to Hoenn, I tried to just compartmentalize and take each day as it came. But it was only thanks to your mother, Gruncle Birch, Aunt Zinnia, Uncle Brendan, and many others I was able to come to be as strong as I am now.”
“Com-compar-“
“Compartmentalize, it means to put things into little mental boxes and try not to think of them.”
“Oh, like on the PC.” Daisy sniffed, wiping her face on one of the golden tails that quickly disappeared out of reach once she was through.
“Yes dear, like on the PC.”
“Octillery showed me how to do that.”
Lee sighed internally. It had been quite the shock when Octillery had learned how to utilize the text-to-speech program and convinced Lee to purchase him a wearable keyboard. Even more surprising was when the octopus Pokemon had passed the requisite exams and became one of Lee’s official Lab Aides. At least his inquisitive mind was being sated on the daily now.
“Daisy, do you understand that you should have come to us about this?”
“Yes, daddy.”
“That’s my girl. Now, let’s get home and order a pizza, shall we?”
“PIZZA?! Yes!” shrill giggles erupted from the girl, drawing looks and awws from all around the group. “I’ll race you home, mom!”
“Maybe you’ll win this time, dear!”
The girl and fox Pokemon darted off through the streets towards the lab. Lee stood and chuckled as he dusted off his knees. They ached sometimes…all those years of running around hills and valleys had slowly but surely taken its toll on him.
That reminds me. We’re out of that Ivycream you use. May as well go into the Mart since you’re right there. Ah. And Daisy’s bicycle order came in this morning, Sceptile was a dear and hid it in the rafters for now. We can wrap it later.
Lee grimaced, he never imagined himself being that old man who had to rub creams and take pills on the regular…but here he was.
Amusement ran through their link along with something a bit more primal. You’re not old yet, beloved, you’d need to finish being an exuberant youth for that. Speaking of which…perhaps something for later after the children are asleep as well? A different sort of wrapping?
Lee couldn’t help but blush, and the cool air made it feel all the worse. Resigning himself to his fate, Lee walked towards the blue-topped building. Maybe he’d place an online order for the pizzas while he was shopping.