Head resting on the table, Spike’s eyes turned listless as the final card flipped over. Somehow, he lost seven rounds of a card game to not only his mother, but also Ares and Medicham!

“Why are we still here? Just to suffer?” Spike mumbled in near monotone.

“Ri?” Ares asked, tilting his head in confusion.

“Nothing,” Spike grumbled. Then, he shot up, pointed at his buddy, and asked, “Onto the big questions, how the heck did you win so many rounds without understanding the rules the whole time? Did you steal all my newbie luck?”

“Riolu!” Ares confidently replied with lips curling into a taunting smirk.

“Think you’re so cool, huh? Aight, you and me; mano a mano; on the beach. Loser has to kiss a Wurmple.”

“Riolu,” Ares immediately replied, accepting the duel.

“What in the world are you two talking about?” Mara wondered aloud.

Medicham refrained from saying anything but chuckled at their antics.

Before they could start another round, a male nurse wearing blue smocks approached Mara and said, “The patient Ralts is awake. You can come see them now.”

“Oh, thank you.”

“Finally!” Spike exclaimed as he jumped from his chair to follow the nurse.

While leading them toward the opposite hallway, the nurse mentioned, “Ralts tried to teleport away as soon as it woke up, but Chansey managed to calm it down. It should be expecting you to visit, from what I understand, but don’t be surprised if it is nervous.”

“Got it,” Spike replied.

The nurse led them to a room marked with a sign that read ‘Patient Room #2’. He knocked before opening the door and gesturing for them to enter. Inside, they saw Nurse Joy’s partner Chansey standing by the medical bed. The Ralts resting there under a thin blanket looked up at the group entering the room. Seeing two humans and two Pokemon, she started shaking nervously.

“Chansey!” The pink egg-shaped Pokemon yelled at them with a frown on its face.

“Medi- Medicham,” Medicham replied. Then, he said something to Ares and gestured at Mara for her to leave the room with them.

Mara pressed her lips together, looked at Spike, and asked, “I know Ralts aren’t particularly comfortable with crowds. Are you confident it trusts you enough for you to handle taking it with you?”

Smiling, Spike confidently answered, “Leave it to me, mom. You’re looking at the future greatest Ranger of all time right here.”

“Pft. Whatever. I’ll wait for you outside.”

Once those three left the room, Chansey chirped some Pokemon speak at Spike, and he replied, “Don’t worry. I got it.”

Chansey sighed and hesitantly left the room as well before heading to another. Now, Spike and the Ralts were alone. When they looked at each other, Spike noticed that she had stopped trembling, and his lips curled into a happy smile.

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“Glad you’re better now,” Spike said.

The Ralts continued to stare at him without saying anything, but she rubbed her knubby hands together in response. Unfortunately, Spike had no way to understand if the Pokemon was actually trying to say something with the gesture. Rather than worry about it, he pointed at a nearby chair and asked, “Is it okay if I sit down next to you?”

For a moment, the Ralts just stared at him, but after a few seconds she finally gave a small nod of approval.

“Thanks,” Spike said before pulling the chair over to the bed and sitting down. “So, are you feeling better now?”

The Ralts nodded without saying anything.

“Do you want me to take you home?”

For the first time since he entered the room, the Ralts turned her head away. Her small hands started rubbing together again for some reason.

‘This one’s a lot quieter than any of the Ralts that played with me at the playground,’ Spike noted.

While he was thinking, the Ralts focused her gaze on him again and shook her head.

“You don’t want me to take you home?”

Once again, she shook her head. Spike couldn’t help thinking the Ralts’ green head and red skull crests made the Pokemon look cute when she shook her head like that. He felt like he understood how Aunt Deidre always got happier when small Pokemon were around. However, he did worry about why the Ralts didn’t want him to escort her home.

“Would you prefer to just teleport?”

Again, the Ralts shook her head. Then, she extended both her hands toward him. Confused, Spike raised a brow, but the Ralts kept its hands stretched out.

“Uh… do you… want to stay with me or something?”

Immediately, the Ralts nodded.

Raising both brows now, Spike’s eyes widened. He legitimately did not expect that response, especially after interacting with numerous Ralts who showed zero indication of wanting to do anything but play with him from time to time. During his silence, the Ralts lowered both her head and hands and started pressing her hands together again.

When Spike saw that, he smiled and asked, “I’d be happy if you want to stay with me, but what about your family or friends?”

The Ralts paused for a moment, but then started rubbing her hands together again without saying anything.

Sighing, Spike asked, “Are you sure you want to stay with me?”

The Ralts nodded.

Lips spreading into a wide smile. He reached out toward the Ralts, but stopped halfway after remembering that most Ralts tended to avoid physical contact with him even when playing with him. Contrary to his expectation, she reached out her arms toward him in response. A small chuckle escaped his lips, and he gently patted her head, though he tried to avoid the red crests as much as possible. In response, the Ralts smiled a little and raised her arms up higher like a child asking to be picked up by her mother.

Unable to resist the small Pokemon, Spike picked her up and held her in the air at eye level. Unlike Ares, she felt incredibly light in his hands. The two locked eyes, and Spike suddenly felt a tingle near his brain. Some part of him registered that she was reaching out with a weak form of psychic touch. At the same time, his heart pounded. A similar emotion welled up within him as when he and Ares first looked into each other’s eyes. Although he couldn’t think of a word that could describe the emotion, he thought of it as a type of confidence that he had found a friend for life.

“Well, then, Ralts. Welcome to my family.”

The Ralts nodded with a barely noticeable smile.

“How about I give you a name?”

Ralts nodded.

“Then, hm… How about… Aria?”

Ralts, no, Aria nodded while clapping her hands, though it didn’t make much noise.

Smiling wide enough to display his teeth, Spike said, “Nice to meet you, Aria. I’m Spike, and we’ll be family from now on. It might be a little uncomfortable for you at first, but let me introduce you to some of my other family members.”

Aria nodded slowly, but didn’t seem as adverse to meeting them as before. With that, Spike hugged her close to his chest and exited the medical room. He couldn’t help smiling again when the Ralts wrapped her arms part way around his neck.

‘I wonder if this is what it feels like to be a parent?’ He wondered.