Rohan looks at the watch on his wrist, checking the time. Seeing that It’s almost 7 P.M. He fills up the kettle with water and places it on the stove. Grabbing one of the chairs he moves It in front of the window and begins watching the mudkip playing outside.

“You seem to be a little worried.” He hears in his mind what feels more like a pleasant hum than actual talking.

Looking past his shoulder he sees Ezelle, his Gardevoir, walk up behind him.

“Yes, these are without a doubt the weirdest bunch of mudkip I’ve ever raised, and that’s with thirty years of experience behind my back too.” He shifts his head back to look through the window of the cabin

“Truly, I’ve never seen a mudkip so young break through a wall of bricks, Rocky, was it? Let alone every single one of them learning how to use water gun.” Wasn’t that an odd situation. Normally the earliest he’d ever seen a mudkip learn water gun was at seven months old, and that was a big outlier. As one of the Hoenn regional starters, mudkip are given out to promising young trainers on the day they become a year old. Only learning water gun maybe a week to a month after the start of their actual journey. That means this group is at least eight months too early.

“Maybe it’s the Mago tree? They’ve been competing for its berries every single day. ”

“Perhaps~ ... You should make sure there is more than a single tree for next year's clutch, it was quite predictable that something like this would have occured Mr. ‘Thirty years of experience’. “

“Urgh. Yes, I've already sent word to the gardener but these berry trees don't come cheap or easily. It wont be until next year that they arrive." The old man scratches his cheek, slightly embarrassed. “At least it turned out for the better, I’m glad I won’t have to separate them from each other. “

“Indeed, with the exception of one, the little ones have little control over their own emotions… Does the new Gym Leaders arrival have something to do with the mudkip being raised here, I cannot Imagine that her presence here would be required for anything else?” Rohan can feel the curiosity of his pokemon spike through their psychic connection.

“Aye, tell me honestly, Eze, at the rate they’re going, how long will it take before one of them undergoes an evolution into Marshtomp?”

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At his words she floats over to the window and starts observing as well. About a minute passes before she speaks up again.

“...You’re worried that they’ll evolve on their own, without a trainer, before the end of the year?”

“I’m absolutely certain that they will if they continue at this pace, I mean look at those movements. What are they even doing?” The Gardevoir takes a closer look at the mudkip playing.

“That would be a game they have simply named ‘Dodge’. If you look a little closer you would be able to see the messy circle they have drawn in the mud, separated in half by a line. The two mudkip competing take position on opposite sides of the circle, afterwards taking turns shooting water guns at each other. You lose either by being hit or by leaving the circle.”

“You’re joking…” The man's jaw practically hits the ground at her words.

His reaction causes Ezelle to send an infectious amount of amusement through their connection.

“At the very least, you need not worry about something like this happening again. With the exception of the wall-breaking incident all of this group's peculiarities can be linked to the one you’ve named...” She pauses for a moment to build dramatic suspense “The escapeé~”

“That annoying little rascal!?” Rohan’s face scrunches up a tiny bit, being reminded of an unpleasant memory. “At least he has stopped trying to leave the damn property, I swear to Arceus he was doing that on purpose just to mess with me.” Again the Gardevoir sends some of her amusement his way.

“I believe he did that more because he was fascinated with how you could always find him despite all of his attempts at sneaking around, rather than because he wanted to annoy you. For someone who has no concept of what teleportation is, it should have been fairly interesting.”

“Humph!” The elderly man humphs in mock ‘outrage’. “So what’s this about the group's peculiarities being his doing.”

“Well, naturally I decided to keep a closer eye on him after his escapades. What I’ve found is that he has quite the inquisitive and caring nature~ He was actually the one who discovered how to use water gun first and later taught it to everyone else. There, he's the mudkip lying under the shade of the tree." Stating that, she points to said location with her hand.

"Most of the games they play were invented by him as well, he’s the one who taught them how to play ‘Dodge’. The ‘Daily berry tournament’, as they call it, was his idea as well. He introduced it to them in order to stop his berry-mad siblings from starting a berry-fueled rampage~”

“That’s quite the long list of things ain't it?”

“It is for this reason that you should not be worried about them advancing this fast ever again. The chance for the stars to align is bigger than another mudkip like this appearing. The amount of emotional maturity and intelligence he has displayed over these short two months is something I wouldn’t expect from most adults. He's also a delight to play with, maybe you should forsake this passive stance that you've taken on raising them and go enjoy yourself?" She moves to the kitchen stove, turning it off and picking up the kettle full of boiling water.

“That being said, I truly hope with all my heart that you and lady Roxanne can find a home that will warmly welcome the little ones.” Placing the kettle on one of the wooden chopping boards, she cuts the psychic connection and ascends the stairs to the second floor.

As if on cue with her leaving, the house doorbell rings. Going to the front door Rohan gently opens it.

“Ah, Miss Roxanne. Please, come in, I was just about to make some tea.”