I woke up to sound of rustling sheets and a low whine. Looking over to Absol I saw her trying to get of the bed. Noticing the low sun out of the window it was late afternoon.

“Absol please stay on the bed, you could open your wounds if you are not careful. I guess you are hungry?”

“Absol. Sol!” Absol answered, still squirming on the bed.

“Yeah no, stay on the bed. I will get you some food.” I state, then thinking a bit I add. “Do you eat raw meat? I mean you will probably later on, but right now?” I ask her.

“ABSOL!” came the delighted answer. ‘Yeah, I think that’s a yes’ I thought with some humour.

“Ok stay still and wait for me. I will first get you the normal food and then the meat as a treat after.” I say while moving out of the chair and towards the door.

“Sol.” Absol nodded.

Moving through the Center I eventually found the front desk where nurse Joy was attending the computer. “Hey nurse Joy, can I get some carnivore food for Absol? She is hungry.” I ask while walking up to her.

“Oh, she is awake? Of course you can Iruni. I guess you want to feed her yourself?” I nod. “Just follow Chansey, he will show where we keep the food and the bowls. Chansey if you would please?”

“Chansey. Sey.” came the answer from the pink blob. As I follow him I have to suppress a shudder at the possible stall strats you could employ with one of them.

After showing me the food storage Chansey waits outside while I arrange a bowl for Absol. Chansey motions me to follow and together we go back to Absol’s room. I guess he will look her over.

Absol perks up when we enter, clearly smelling the food. “There you go. I guess Chansey here wants to check up on you. So please behave yourself while I get you your treat.”

The only answer I get is a head in a food bowl and a chuckle from Chansey. Shrugging I move out of the room and move to the front desk again.

“Chansey is checking up on Absol, I will go and get her a treat. I should be back soon.” I explain upon the questioning look I receive from the nurse.

“Alright. Please don’t get anything unhealthy, I don’t want to admonish another trainer on proper treats while recovering.” She said sternly.

“No of course not.” I answer a bit nervous. What’s up with the nurse and the sudden flip from a sweet caretaker to a stern women?

Looking around Oldale town I quickly spot the PokeMart, not that that is hard. Oldale looks like a small sleepy village, not unlike Littleroot.

‘Man can’t they sort their stuff a bit better? And what’s up with those ridiculous packages of pre-made food?’ I grumble while searching through the shelf. ‘The perfect mix for every Pokemon? Yeah sure pull the other one. I have to ask Professor Birch which brands can be trusted and used or maybe I’m lucky and manage to ask Sidney.’

“Ah, finally the meat.” I mumble while spotting cooled meat. ‘Which one to choose though?’ I thought while looking through the selection. “Probably that one, I think.” I mutter while grabbing a package of Tauros meat that looks like it has a healthy mix of fat and meat. The only kicker is the price at 400 Pokedollars. That’s all my cash I have on hand, hopefully it transfers to quality meat.

The cashier looks a bit surprised at my chosen item but quickly lapses back into apathy. ‘Man, cashiers sure are the same everywhere.’ I muse while leaving the mart with a small bag containing the meat.

On the way to Absol’s room in the Poke Center nurse joy give me a stern look. I just nod solemnly and hurry on, don’t wanna risk a lecture after all.

Upon entering the room Absol looks up from grooming her front paws, Chansey is nowhere in sight. “Alright, as promised your treat. But please eat slowly, I don’t want a lecture from the nurse.”

After depositing the meat in her bowl I get to watch Absol ignoring my warning and promptly proceeds to demolish the meat. ‘Ah, well she is young after all and its the first time she gets to eat that meat.’ I think while watching on.

After she finished I ask. “And? Was it tasty?”

“Absol.” she answered with a nod. That’s when I saw that her fur was kind of tangled everywhere but on her paws. ‘Probably can’t move too much at the moment.’ I stand up and search through a small cupboard at her bed. I can see Absol watching me from the side. Then I found what I was looking for, a brush. Thankfully it wasn’t a very fine one, that would have been hard with the tangling.

“Do you want me to brush your fur? So that you can get the tangles out of it?” I ask her while holding up the brush. Absol tilts her head while thinking my offer over.

“Ab.” came the short reply with an accompanying nod. “Alright then, let’s get started.” I proclaim.

At the Birch Lab:

The day was winding down when Sidney arrived at the lab. Quickly spotting the Professor with his assistants he sat down with them to explain the current condition of the Absol. They let out a relieved sigh that the Pokemon would be fine.

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“That leads us to what to do next. I was thinking about asking a friend of mine who has a ranch and breeds on the side to care for her, but your son asked to take care of her instead. Does he have any experience or you for that matter?” Sidney asks while directing the last part to Frank.

“No, we both have no experience with Pokemon that young.” Frank admits. “But Iruni is reading up on dark types a lot.” He adds.

“More like devouring any book that we give them, while later muttering under his breath.” Birchs adds with a chuckle and Joshua just nods at that.

“He did kind of mentioned being interested in dark types to me, but many people do that being who I am.” Sidney admits. “But the question is would he be able to care for her? Absol only leave their parents around three years old with a solid grounding in their attacks. He wouldn’t be able to really leave her for that time.”

“Three years?” Birch exclaims. “You really should share a bit more about them you know? But back to Iruni, he is currently helping here and that patrol was his first one alone. I probably shouldn’t have partnered him up with a Poochyena and a Zigzagoon in hindsight.” Birch explains. “He does have a surprisingly good handle on our Mightyena. They listen to him, which you know is not the easiest to achieve.”

“How long did he interact with them?” Sidney asks.

“We are in Hoenn for about three months now, he primarily feeds the Pokemon and he started doing that on day one.” Frank answers.

“Hm that’s a good sign.” Sidney muses then nods a few moments later to himself. “Ok, here is what we do. We will allow him to care for the Absol for the time being. Birch you will check up on the Absol to make sure everything is in order. Of course if the Absol doesn’t want to stay with him I will find a home for her.”

“That works for me, maybe I can finally learn a bit more about them.” Birch says. Frank and Joshua just nod, knowing they really don’t have a say in the matter.

“Good, then I’m off for now. Please inform me if anything is wrong. See you later.”

When Sidney left Birch said to Frank. “Well I think your son will stay with Absol for today, can you visit them tomorrow and inform them of the arrangement? You can take my jeep to get there quicker.”

“No problem.” Frank said.

The next day at the Pokemon Center:

I woke up to something rubbing my cheek, yawning I tried to move my arms to rub the sleep out of my eyes only to discover that one of them is trapped. After being somewhat successful in rubbing my eyes, I open them to see a lot of white fur.

“What the?…” I mumbled as my brain starts to boot into wakefulness. The last day came back to me and I must have fallen asleep after brushing Absol.

“Good morning Absol.” I said while letting out another yawn. “Ugh I need coffee.” I grumbled.

“Absol…” came the muttered reply of the still not awoken Pokemon. ‘Well the coffee will have to wait until I have my arm back.’ I thought while chuckling lightly.

“Come on, we have to get up Absol.” I nudged her lightly, only to get grumbling in response. ‘That could have been me when dad wakes me up.’ Finally Absol raises her head and starts to look around. Upon spotting me she freezes.

“Yeah, we kinda fell asleep after I brushed your fur yesterday. By the way can you move a bit so that I can get my arm back? I will get us something to eat.” I quickly explain, not wanting her to panic.

“Sol.” answered Absol with a slow, measured nod. “Absol.” she added gesturing towards the food bowl with her head. ‘Why do I get the feeling she wants another one of those Tauros steaks?’

“You want another one of those meats from yesterday as breakfast?”

“Absol.” she answered nodding.

“Sorry, I don’t have enough cash on hand to buy another one of those. The normal food needs to be enough.”

“Absol. Ab.” she said shaking her head and then proudly raising it.

“No, meat is only for special occasions. As I said I can’t get any more at the moment anyway.” I said.

“Sol…” she answered while sadly lowering her head.

“Again sorry, but I can’t change that now. I will get us some food.” I said while standing up from the bed.

After leaving the sad Absol behind I started to wonder through the Center towards the front desk. “Good morning nurse Joy. Do you have a cafeteria here or somewhere I can get breakfast? And I need to get some food for Absol.” I greet the nurse.

“Good morning Iruni. I saw you two resting earlier, finally up huh? Sure the cafeteria is up ahead through that door. I will ask Chansey to set out a bowl for Absol.”

“Thanks nurse Joy.” I said and moved to the cafeteria.

Breakfast for me was a simple affair, thankfully the had coffee here. I got some weird looks after my fourth cup, but what can I say? I need it. After eating I moved back to Absol’s room to see she was eating the food reluctantly.

“Now Absol eat up and I will see if I can get you a treat afterwards.” I said and sat down in the chair again. She perked up and ate a lot faster after that. ‘Did she just? Yes, she did manipulate me into promising her a treat. Crafty one.’ I thought while watching her.

Sometime later the door opened again to admit my dad and nurse Joy into the room. I stopped my brushing of Absol’s fur, she liked it apparently.

“Good morning son.” my dad greeted me.

“Morning dad.”

“Move please, I need to check her over.” nurse Joy said while bustling over to me and almost forcing the into one of the chairs. My dad took the other one and had a serious face. Absol just watched me and twitched a bit when prodded by the nurse.

“Iruni we at the lab had a discussion with Sidney in regards to Absol.” I sucked in my breath, this was it. Absol also paid close attention.

“We came to the conclusion that you are allowed to care for Absol, provided she wants to stay with you. Nigel will check her over on a schedule to ensure she grows up nice and strong. If something goes wrong or the environment is harmful to her we will call Sidney and he will take her.” my dad explains to me.

“From my side she is ready to go. The poison is cleared and the wounds are not in danger of being reopened again. Of course she will need to take it slow for at least two weeks.” nurse Joy chimes in.

I couldn’t fathom my luck, first I happen upon an Absol, a rare species even in Hoenn and then I’m even allowed to raise her. That means I probably will start my future journey with her.

“Thank you! I won’t disappoint!” I said gratefully.

“There is one caveat to that decision son. You need to stay with her at the lab for at least three years. That’s how long it will take her to mature.” my dad hastily adds before my thoughts can run away.

“That is no problem, I have much more to learn after all.” I said before turning to Absol.

“So Absol do you want to stay with me, at least for the time being? I think we can turn into quite the duo, don’t you think?”

Absol clearly ponders about the issue while I start to sweat bullets. ‘Come on, say yes.’ I pray. She glances over to me, smirks slightly and glances away. ‘She prolongs it on purpose, brat.’ I fume internally.

“Absol.” finally came the confirming nod after a good while. I breathed a sigh of relieve. ‘Things are really looking up, who would have thought.’ I muse while embracing and thanking Absol for her trust in me.