Patricia Greenwood

  —

  I needed an actual office, I decided. The small desk in my bedroom just wasn't cutting it anymore. It had been fine for just making phone calls and typing on a computer for my old job, but books? Papers? Binders?

  Studying wasn't something I had expected to do after I had moved to Pallet Town. This is where people went to stagnate, or to relax if you were older, which much of Pallet was. If my life's course hadn't been interrupted by a delightful, infuriating girl with green hair and a heart full of love, who reeked of violence and death, I never would have been studying in my mid thirties. I would have been monotonously, drearily calling numbers at this small, flimsy desk, barely making enough sales to justify my salary, tiny as it had been, as my daughter… I don't even want to know what would have become of Leaf.

  Money should be tight, me not having a job and studying all the time, but money wasn't. It wasn't abundant, considering it was being used, but finances wouldn't be an issue for me for the foreseeable future at least.

  I couldn't be grateful enough to Professor Oak for his help and kindness over the past two weeks. If I'd had to do this alone I would have failed miserably, no doubt about it. The Professor knew everything there was to know about the vast majority of the process, however, and had offered to act as something of a consultant when he had free time, which he seemed to make plenty of for this.

  The rest?

  Well, Rescue Organizations were hard to create for very good, valid reasons, and after Victoria, so many had been quietly shut down that starting a new one was going to be a huge challenge. Thankfully, Officer Jenny in Pewter was also backing me as a guarantor, so once the expansion was finished I would be able to at least start the process. Getting to the starting line was already so hard, but it felt like nothing compared to what Erin had done.

  Professor Oak and I still had to present it to the community after everything, because I couldn't legally open a Rescue organization in or close to a town or city without getting at least 75% of the residents approval. Me, the Professor, and Clefairy were confident we could get far more than that to approve. If I could get some of the rescues to help, all the better, but I would only ask once, when we finally got a town hall meeting set up. It should be less than a week…

  My wonderful daughter knew without me ever having to tell her, and never asked me why I was borrowing Clefairy. Although, she may have just been… communing with her fae, for all I knew. It wasn't hard to figure out, though. Mrs. Maple had been the only one brave enough to come near our house to ask, though, and I didn't blame anyone for that.

  Maddy alone was more than enough to set most people's teeth on edge, and Charizard had a standing invitation to just hang out here now, an offer she frequently took us up on, considering we didn't cower in her presence. They were both quite visible as they landed in my ever-smaller feeling backyard, and you could feel Charizard's aura from the street. All this without even mentioning Leto. It would be rather hard to approach my house for almost everyone, these days.

  Therefore, it had been quite the surprise when my devious daughter led our kind, sweet, elderly neighbor out back to meet me while I was skinning a Golduck of all Pokemon! She had been so nervous, but insisted I finish, as I was already a 'bloody horror'. I had ignored her comment, but continued to skin the biped as we talked.

  She had been surprisingly receptive to my plans, but then again, Leaf had already talked to her. Shown her Clefairy, and from the gentle way she interacted with the rescues, including Koffing, told her their situations. Not that Leaf knew more than the basics.

  She would never learn the details. I had been reluctant to tell her the basics.

  I had cursed Erin endlessly when I had read the transcripts. She had tried to take that all on herself, and I wished I could blame her after I had finished. She had been so kind to them, so understanding, even through the horrors she had heard. She had asked each one individually to keep their stories secret, to never talk about them to anyone but her or a psychologist she would find. She didn't want them to spread that misery, because unfortunately Erin had been terribly, terribly correct.

  Some traumas were better spread out among friends and loved ones, a support network, their impact lessened and blunted by the act of sharing. Some traumas should only be shared with those trained for it, however, and Erin had known the instant she heard Lucy squeak that she had never needed to hear that. Lucy had known, as well.

  She had been so desperate, though.

  I had a second talk with Leto after reading the transcripts. After I had Seraphina burn them and melt the ashes away with Acid. If Leto could eat a Primeape, a Golduck, she could eat a Team Rocket member who refused to surrender. I found that I was with Erin at this point: If they willingly wore that uniform, I just… didn't care anymore. They had signed away their rights, literally. Do the right thing, give them the option to surrender, get proof of that with Rotom, and then remove the scum who refused.

  Leto hadn't even asked why I had changed my mind. She knew.

  Mrs. Maple was already working to get me the support of the community, thankfully. She also expressed interest in adopting a rescue that had been bound to house pet status. That was highly encouraging, but even if we were willing to add a small addition to the contracts of our current rescues, which we could do even if we couldn't remove parts of old ones, we couldn't yet.

  Technically all of the rescues were still Erin's Pokemon, because only Erin was qualified to carry or hold rescues among us. It was far easier to get a single trainer that distinction than a Ranch, and even with Looker pushing for it, Erin only got hers with one badge because of Leto. My own qualification would be far harder to acquire.

  Mrs. Maple had seemed sad as she heard me tell her that, shooting glances at the usual cuddling pile of rescues on the back deck that idly watched me work and Seraphina spin her flames. I couldn't imagine that very many wanted to separate from their friends, however, even if they were just down the street. I got the feeling my Ranch was going to be more like a retirement home for most rescues, and I couldn't be happier either way.

  I'd prefer they all go to loving families individually and receive as much love as possible, of course, but that would most likely be hard to reasonably accomplish. We were going to have to thoroughly vet all applicants, as well… I had the feeling few would want to leave after I got done with the land behind my house. I had never been so happy to live on the very outskirts of town, or for land to be so cheap. For Professor Oak to own the land and give me a very good deal on top of the cheap price.

  It had still been a lot of the money Looker had sent me.

  A LOT.

  Mrs. Maple had been so worried when I had finally set the skinned, quartered Golduck corpse on the spit over the unlit coals, but relaxed when I wryly told her I didn't eat bipeds. I had tossed the skin onto a tarp and rolled it up for Leto to take later.

  We had bought a large covered basin in Viridian City that had required its own special Storage Ball to contain, and it sat far, far, far into the woods, full of a slow-curing solution and an absolute mess of skins Leto had tossed in, including the ones Erin had been storing in an expensive Stasis Ball. We were planning on simply filling that basin up and sealing it until they were all done, honestly. Neither me or Leaf wanted to go through the hassle of curing the skins the normal, faster way, so waiting a month for the solution to do its work was fine by us.

  We would just buy a second one once that one was finally full. I had already reached out to various furriers, and the one in Vermillion was particularly interested. Not just because we were a close source of a variety of skins, but after he heard how we were getting our skins, he was delighted! Apparently he had been the one who designed and created my dau- Erin's jacket. It had been one of his finest creations, the first Alpha skin he had worked with as well, and he had asked me something I was so glad Leto hadn't heard.

  He had asked me if she had enjoyed her royal mantle.

  I could never ruin that surprise for Erin, but I wanted to see it so badly now. I had hurriedly hushed the confused man before whispering the answer. He had laughed and said he wouldn't spoil the surprise for me. He would certainly be the first one I reached out to sell to eventually, and he would get an amazing deal from me. I really just didn't want to waste the skins, honestly. They had died to feed us, we might as well use all of them out of respect. Maybe I would have some rugs made… Was that disrespectful, actually, walking on them?

  I groaned as I finished another practice exam the Professor had leant me, knowing that I would get a passing grade. I didn't need a passing grade, though. I needed to be as close to perfect as I could force myself. Ranches were so simple, yet so complicated at the same time. If your Pokemon weren't destroying everything, your main worry was keeping them fed, healthy, and happy.

  Technically I was missing almost everything I needed for the supply side of things, but in reality? Even when Leaf and Erin continued their journey I would have Maddy to hunt for us, and without Erin's team, we would eat a lot less. I had already planned out a huge, lovely garden as well, and I had also asked my daughter to look for any Water or Grass Pokemon that might want to live here as she Journeyed.

  The crucial area that I, and by extension my future Ranch were lacking in, was healthcare. I would need a trained Nurse Pokemon, but trained Chansey were expensive to purchase, and they had to agree to work here in the first place, a huge long shot. I would also need a trained Pokemon psychologist to be on-call at least, but I knew that they would have to live on-site if I wanted this to actually happen.

  Professor Oak may be powerful, and have a well-earned reputation, but he couldn't just force a Ranch into existence. He had already reached out to his contacts, but so far hadn't received many replies. The ones he had received had all been highly encouraging of my goals, and one psychologist actually expressed what seemed to be genuine regret that they were too busy, but there had been nothing good in the responses. Absolutely nothing about a Nurse Poekmon, either.

  Raihan had been a surprising help on that front, however. It had taken days of negotiating with the Indigo League to accept them instead, but I would soon have six Indeedee, two males and four females. They were all trained as both healers and psychologists, given that they not only liked to serve, even more than most Nurse Pokemon species, but could sense the needs of their patients through their horns, anything from a changed bandage, a hug, a stern look, or a need for a long talk.

  Team Rocket had never managed to get into Galar, so they had none of the biases that Kantoian Pokemon and people suffered from. Raihan and the Freezingpoint Nurse Joy had both pleaded my case to the Nurse College there, and had found the volunteers more than willing to transfer regions to help. To serve, as most Indeedee wished, and to do some good for others.

  I had incredulously asked him how much they would cost, or why he was sending six, but there was no need for payment, apparently. Raihan and Nurse Joy had managed to get them released for free. Technically, also as a very minor political gift to be brought up in international politics, but I could accept that. There were six coming because, and I quote Raihan, 'You know she's not going to stop, so here's as much help as the Galarian Nurse Joys will ever be able to give you and her.' They'd had to limit the number of volunteers, actually! Almost every Indeedee there had wanted to come!

  Apparently the Freezingpoint Nurse Joy was the same one who had sat in on my daug- Erin's mind reading as a Welfare agent, and she had been distraught to hear everything that had been going on in Kanto. We had exchanged numbers through Raihan, though, and I would keep her informed. Also, Erin would be getting a stern talking to for not calling Joyce more! She had been so worried!

  I would still continue to look for a dedicated Pokemon psychologist, even with the Indeedee, but it was going to be extremely difficult to find one willing to work with rescues in Indigo.

  A Rescue Ranch would also require power, should the rescues rebel. Not that these would or could, but the laws were strict for very good reasons, even if they vexed me. Maddy qualified, barely, as a Champion-level Pokemon after I had finally convinced her to let Professor Oak run actual tests, and therefore I barely qualified with a single Pokemon. Maddy had not been happy to hear the Professor's assessment, however. I had the feeling that I wouldn't barely qualify for long, as she only watched her Poke-dramas every other day now.

  Unless it was Wednesday or Thursday. She never missed 'The Feebas and the Milotic'. I had tried joining their little drama club, watching along with subtitles, but I really didn't get Poke-dramas. At all. Even if it was nice to have Koffing so close, and her to be too distracted to be nervous, I just couldn't get invested in them in the slightest. Milotic was stunning, however… Brilliantly stunning, in fact… Maybe I could get some Feebas eventually?

  Overall, I was still nowhere close to opening my Ranch. I wasn't going to fail to open, though. The builders would be here tomorrow before dawn, and should finish by tomorrow night. The Indeedee would be here the day after tomorrow, and the day after that were my exams. Professor Oak was able to administer them, thankfully, but that didn't mean I would get easy passes. The Professor wanted my Ranch to succeed almost as much as I did, I thought, but his reputation was impeccable for a reason. I wouldn't have a hostile exam overseer, but it wouldn't be easy, either.

  Three days. In four days I would know whether I had put enough effort in. I hated to rush it, but I needed my qualifications. Erin hadn't woken up, but eventually she would return to her journey with my other dau- Leaf, and she would leave.

  I've had that slip more than a few times lately. Slip? That was Erin's decision…

  When Erin left, though, I wasn't going to have her take Lucy, Lily, or Noodles, not to mention Koffing! They were staying here, no matter what. I knew she didn't want to, either, so I had to succeed.

  I was broken from my latest practice exam by the sounds of excited hissing, and I looked up from my desk to see Seraphina slam into my open doorway. She didn't care, though, rapidly pointing down the hall.

  I was off my feet before I had even registered it, and it would have been hypocritical to judge her for slamming into the doorway. I certainly hit the opposite wall as I slid on the hardwood. I didn't stop, though.

  Erin was… sleeping peacefully. I felt my heart drop even as Seraphina leapt on the bed, pointing at Erin's arm. We both just stared at it for a minute. She looked up at me, sad confusion in her eyes, when Erin's hand lightly twitched. She wasn't awake, but she was starting to move, and I knew what that meant. I threw the window open, taking a huge breath.

  "LETO!"

  I heard the clack of the sliding door opening slightly too harshly before Maddy came awkwardly waddling outside and looked up at Leaf's window. I didn't even have to say anything. She was already taking off, rising into the sky as she began to call for Leto. Leto had been off doing something with my daughter.

  I ignored the straps on Leto's head as they had left. That I hadn't seen. That didn't exist! Nope! Nothing didn't exist because nothing was there!

  Erin's other Pokemon slammed into the doorway, Hecate jumping out of the way of Cerberus, the Deino going down in a pile as Artemis tripped in front of the blind Pokemon, Kallen rocketing in faster than anyone else with small water jets. Normally that would earn him a few flicks, but not now. He could use Surf in here and I would only worry about Erin getting wet.

  I heard a thunderous Roar far, far in the distance, and smiled.

  Soon I saw a glint in the distance growing larger. She normally slowed down quite a distance from Pallet Town, knowing how heavy her charges were, but she cared about that just as much as I did right now. I had no doubt that someone, multiple people probably, in town were terrified right now, but I was too excited right now to care…

  Much.

  I would apologize later.

  She skidded to a halt a hundred yards from the fence, knocking over three trees as interia carried her forwards. Her eyes briefly flickered to make sure she didn't crush anything or anyone as she lightly stomped into the backyard, but other than that her eyes never left the window.

  Erin's other arm twitched, and her Pokemon all cheered, jostling each other as they watched. The rescues were starting to show up, quietly sitting near the foot of the bed as they stared in anticipation. They might not want to sleep inside, most of them, but they all came to say hello to Erin every day. Even Koffing.

  Leto whined, and I looked out the window. She couldn't see into the room, see Erin, from the edge of the deck. My nice, beautiful deck that I absolutely adored spending time on. My deck that was certainly not rated for Leto's weight.

  "Try to be gentle, but go ahead, dear. Maybe just one foot? See if that works?" I had the money to fix it, but I'd rather not have to worry.

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  She actually paused for a few moments, eyes closed, then a single spike of stone slammed through the deck from below, then another a foot away. In a brief moment there was a grid of stone rods, and then stone began to flow, forming a large, thick platform of rock that Leto stepped onto. I gave her a warm, grateful smile. Those holes, while jagged, would be so much easier to fix or cover than her crushing my deck. She could just use stone to plug them, actually…

  Her giant head swung up, and her eyes stared at her daughter. Leto was always staring, it was just her default look, but this was the warmest stare I had ever seen, and I realized that she hadn't actually seen Erin since the cavern, other than through a Pokeball. Her eyes lit up when Erin's arm twitched.

  "According to Nurse Joy, she should wake up basically at any moment once she starts doing that." She whined lightly, her eyes never moving.

  Leaf finally arrived. I had the feeling Leto had forgotten her in her excitement, judging by the way her hair looked, like she'd gotten a ride from Maddy, or surfed on a- Nope! Also judging by the brief guilty glance Leto sent Leaf. Leaf didn't even look at her, though. We all only had eyes for one person. Maddy was standing in the yard, just listening as she looked up.

  Then I heard a weak, wispy voice, and even as my fingers itched I teared up in relief.

  "Fuuuck that hurts."

  —

  Leaf

  —

  The first couple of minutes after Erin spoke were hectic. Mom was already administering tests from a pamphlet Nurse Joy had given us, and she was perfectly fine, thankfully. Well, perfectly fine other than the literal full-body ache. That thing had- No! I didn't want to think about that now. She was awake!

  My mom finally left her alone, but only briefly. Soon me, her, and Cerberus were dragging my bed under the window. Erin wasn't able to really move, but she forced us to painfully raise her arm to touch Leto's snout. Then we leaned her back on the pile of pillows, her eyes closed.

  "Hey Leaf?" Her voice was raspy and thin. One of her eyes cracked open and I gulped.

  "Sorry." Her eyes closed, but I knew she found it hard to move anything right now, even to talk.

  "No, we're sorry. It was so-" My mom cut me off.

  "How about we agree that mistakes were made all around and forget about it? Maybe still make some plans for the future, but let's not dwell on the past." Erin 'hmm-ed' in agreement, and I did too. Erin's voice caught as she did, and my mom held up a glass of diluted Oran Berry Juice for her to sip on. It should help with the pain.

  "How long?" She seemed to know it hadn't been just a few days.

  "Erin, dear, it's been… sixteen days." Erin winced, then winced harder at the pain her action caused. She chuckled darkly.

  "Exactly the time it would have taken if Clefairy had just done it in the first place."

  My breath caught in my throat, and my mom almost dropped the glass of juice. Erin's eyes popped open and slowly scanned over her team and the rescues, a warm smile on her face at the Pokemon, especially the rescues. The Rattata were all on the foot of her bed, Ekans', Poochyena, and Lily's head poking up as they looked at her. I didn't have the words for the expressions they had, but I understood them.

  Then she looked at me and mom and I felt my blood go cold at the look in her eyes.

  "You need to know, don't you?" Her eyes were so understanding, but tired, just like everything else about her.

  Me and her both nodded, and she sighed, looking around. Her face brightened a bit as she noticed a hovering tablet, smiling weakly.

  "Hey Rotom, decide on a voice yet?" It floated over to her.

  "I have, Erin." It sounded like a mischievous little boy, honestly. It sounded like it was about to pull a prank at any moment. "It's good to see you awake, but you are a very complicated assignment, you do know that, right?" The ghostly face winked at her and she snorted out a laugh that turned pained. She gave it a direct look and it perked up.

  "Rotom, are you recording this? Because I will never say this again if possible."

  "I am, Erin." It repositioned itself, I assume for a better shot.

  "Patricia, you heard some… things, at the start." My mom nodded and I tried not to think about how Erin had looked when the false, blinding light had reappeared.

  "Patricia, what you… heard was…" She sighed. "You didn't hear one half of a conversation I was having with that thing, Patricia. Not past a certain point. You were hearing my reaction to the conversation I was hearing, that I was forced to forget. That I was hearing myself have with Clefairy." All eyes turned to my little horror, but she looked shocked.

  "Don't glare at her. She's innocent. She didn't know. Nobody knew. It's a fae, though. You should always expect them to find a loophole where one shouldn't exist." Our gazes were confused and she sighed.

  "Let's say you're a gargantuan monstrosity of a fae. You lead your entire region, as far as your species goes. You're a fae, and by your very nature you alter reality around you. Usually small things, little things. Things that can be easily explained away. That flower? No, it was always yellow. This money? It's not even fake, it was just an interesting leaf. A minute? No, that was ten minutes, right?"

  "What happens when you're that powerful and you stay there, though? When you dominate a place, and can't be ousted from your position? What happens when your ability to control reality itself leeches into the fabric of reality, stains it? What happens when reality bends around you, and it keeps bending for decades or longer?" Her voice was so quiet now.

  "You eventually reach a stage where you become a set point in reality, even if only a tiny portion of it. That cavern may as well be a different dimension, one that it controls completely. One that it knows completely. That Clefable will always know what happens in the future in its cavern, unless the fabric of reality itself changes in that area. That can happen, but it's rare, and that's usually the domain of certain Legendaries. At that point I'd be more worried about the entire region's stability, not a single mountain." I was barely breathing, and my mom was still as a statue.

  "So what happens when you have amazing foresight, although I'm not sure how far ahead it goes, but only in your small cavern, in your domain? You begin to know who will come. Who will leave. Who will return." Her eyes cracked open and gave Clefairy a pitying look before they closed again.

  "It knew that Clefairy encountered me because she came back to ask permission to leave, no fae shenanigans needed there. It knew she would return, though. With all of us. It saw it. So if she's going to leave and bring back such an interesting, exotic toy, well, it was going to hop a mental ride and sink its hooks into that toy. It's so much funner when toys obey you and let you play with them." I gasped in growing horror. I had a bad feeling about when tha-

  "Before Leaf caught Clefairy and established a psychic bond was the only time it could have talked with me, before we even left Mt. Moon the first time, most likely. I'm sure if I'd had Rotom at that point, it could show us a certain point where everyone just stopped for a time." My mom was quiet, face pale as she watched Erin's face, looking for something from her.

  Erin's voice was steady, but so weak as she slowly spoke.

  "It showed me exactly what ended up happening in that cavern. It showed me what could happen in its domain, and I had a choice. Because there is always a choice with the fae, the future is never set. It could never have forced me to accept that, forced me to endure that. That's not how fae work. They never show you only one option." My Clefairy was shaking, her eyes wet as she looked at Erin. She was crying as she looked at my mentor.

  "It also showed me what would happen if I didn't endure that." She was silent for so long I began to wonder if she had fallen asleep. Her voice was a whisper as she finally spoke.

  "It showed Leaf, Fraxure, me, and my team walking out. Just us. Everyone else would have begged for death and never received it for as long as it remained there, in its place of power. Not Clefairy, not its child, but she never would have left that cavern again." She took a deep breath but didn't continue talking.

  My eyes tried to meet my moms, but her face was buried in her hands. I didn't even have time to say anything before Erin spoke up weakly.

  "Patricia, you were going to be there. That's just… who you are as a person. That's how a fae's foresight works. If it hadn't been you, somehow, it would have been another brave, kind, determined woman in that place with us. It wasn't your fault. It wasn't anyones. I had the rescues and Clefairy, too. It was going to happen even if you never came. It knew my choice wasn't really a choice, but technically? Legally? In all ways that matter to the fae? I could have avoided that pain. I had a choice. I chose it willingly, and I don't regret it." My mom was still sobbing into her hands as I stared at Erin in… I don't know what I felt right now.

  "I didn't get nothing out of the entire ordeal, however. I gave Clefairy the ability to mediate true contracts. Why would I do that for a Pokemon that's not even mine? Before I ever saw a rescue? Because Clefairy wanted it in the future, and it told me so. It aligned with what I wanted in the future, too, so I agreed. Fae don't lie, and it didn't… I did that because we're going back." She went silent as we erupted, but with a frown Kallen hit us both with tiny water trickles. She spoke up before we could continue.

  "We're going back to that entrance, on our way to Cerulean, because Clefairy has a gift waiting there for her. A certain Stone." Clefairy was shaking her head. "We're going back, because it owes me that. It gave Clefairy that ability because Clefairy wanted it, my price aside. Because it's child wanted it, wanted to help others. Even if it split her from it, formed a rift between them that can never be spanned for all of eternity, it allowed the price I paid to be so small for such a great power because she is its child. It cares for her, in its own way." The sneer was weak.

  "As soon as our bargain was sealed it owed me the Stone, because the future had slightly changed and our bargain was ever so slightly imbalanced by it. Somehow, its children that came back were slightly happier in the future. Most of them. Most of the Clefairy line are benevolent, even if they're like… Clefairy." My terror sadly giggled a little. "Horror it may be, different than most of its children it may be, it is still a parent, and it wants the best for as many of its children as possible."

  "I'm not sure what exactly will happen, but whatever it is has a positive impact, somehow. I know that much. That's all it allowed me to understand, of its knowledge of the future. That's all I was owed. Its children were happier because there was slightly more happiness to go around. Just the tiniest bit happier, due to Clefairy somehow." My mothers eyes shot open, but Erin was still talking, eyes closed.

  "So to reiterate… I paid a… a price, for those sixteen contracts and for Clefairy to gain that ability, because I knew in the future she would help, and it would be needed. I paid a price in blood and agony to get those not bound by a fae contract out of the heart of what may as well have been a Fae High King's Court, one that we had essentially been tricked into. I don't regret either price I paid, and I never will. I chose." She stopped, and I thought she might actually go to sleep this time.

  To the astonishment of everyone, Erin had one last, hesitant visitor, though. She had been in the hallway the entire time, too nervous to enter.

  Koffing slowly, cautiously floated into the room, eyeing everyone warily, but she still made her way to Erin's side, mouth set in a flat line. On any other Pokemon it would look like she was frustrated or irritated, but I knew that for what it was.

  Koffing was trying to smile as she hesitantly bumped into Erin's arm.

  Erin's eyes cracked open a sliver and she smiled at the sight. It was a weak smile. Erin was still so weak, and her voice was light as she spoke, almost a whisper.

  "I told you it could be beautiful, didn't I?" Koffing nodded, tears in her eyes, before she abruptly shot up and ran as fast as possible through the open window, bumping off Leto's snout in the process.

  "Worth it…" Erin's voice was so soft I barely heard it, right next to her.

  That was the last thing Erin said, and then she was asleep. Hecate was like a sleep detector, and once she raised her 'hat' up we left her there and quietly exited my room.

  —

  Erin didn't wake up again for another day and a half. While it was worrying, it was expected. Erin's consciousness had essentially rebooted itself finally, but now? Now it was trying to repair itself. She would wake up soon. Hopefully in less pain.

  She at least got to sleep through the noise.

  Mom's 'grand design' was being implemented, and Leto was helping. She had never actually 'constructed' anything beyond rock slabs, but when mom had offered her assistance the workers had been ecstatic. After they had finally calmed down, that was. It took me sticking my head inside her mouth, but that was shocking enough they had recovered.

  Mom hadn't bought a lot of land, but she had bought enough that it would need some adjustments for moms designs. I mean, the large pond alone took Leto three hours, but it ended up being far, far deeper and intricate as the workers relaxed around the giant rock type and they began to understand her strength. At one point she had let someone get on her snout to accurately direct the flowing stone she was manipulating with an extended arm. A shaking arm, but still.

  Me and mom had both had to do a double take at the sight. Leto had let a stranger 'ride' her. Well, to be fair, she didn't consider the top of her snout riding. That was you holding on for dear life. Grab her crown for longer than it took to pull yourself up, though, or try and get on her neck? Well, we didn't try to get on her neck, hell no. We could touch her crown all we wanted, actually. We just had to be polishing it with at least one hand while we did, admiring its beauty, its majesty.

  Prissy royalty…

  Still, she seemed to enjoy the construction work. The pond took the shortest amount of time, but she also spent hours and hours and hours with a workers Dugtrio working on the drainage of the plot afterwards, somehow? Very occasionally you would see the ground shift, but their work was almost invisible to me. Still, that had freed up the other nine Dugtrio to start crafting the most intricate example of over-engineering I had ever seen.

  Moms garden looked amazing after they had gotten done. Instead of simple rows for crops, we instead had a huge, triple terraced hill formed from the excavated pond, with smaller plots dotted across it, stone frames for vines already installed across the flat retaining walls. It was crowned with a small, currently empty pond ringed with young fruit trees for the top terrace. We had tangerines, persimmons, apples, pears, peaches, and even a single willow tree right at its edge just to drape over the pond. A pond which would water the whole hill, once the plants were established.

  This hadn't been planned, so we would need to get a water type to keep it full, or install a pump, but after we installed some benches, maybe a gazebo, I knew that this would be my moms favorite spot on the ranch. Most likely everyones. The view was great too, almost the entirety of Pallet peeking through the trees behind us, with the rest of the ranch laid out directly below us.

  I had hesitantly asked the workers why they were doing so much extra, not wanting to ruin it, but they had laughed and pointed at Leto. Those Dugtrio should have been busy all day, but since they weren't, they wanted to create. Everyone there did, they were craftsmen. The goal of the eventual Ranch was a good one, too, and most of the workers had come by to say hello to the rescues when I offered them the chance. One had almost cried when a Rattata squeaked up at her, and that Rattata had watched her the entire time she was here.

  I wish my mom could even offer, but we couldn't, not yet. I honestly didn't know if the Rattata would leave his friends. Or… it might be easier to forget, away from us… I wish he'd had the choice, either way. I asked her, and yes, she was possibly interested, so I got her number just in case. We would see how things worked out in the future before I ever brought it up. I wasn't going to get his hopes up for a possibility.

  I think the biggest actual construction was our barn. Barn wasn't an accurate term, though. It was more like a huge rec room than anything, a large wood and stone construction that Leto also helped with. Just the foundations, but she looked so proud looking at the large slab of stone. Also full of anticipation. She liked TV, and our projector didn't work well outside unless it was dark.

  The construction crew didn't actually do much with it, however. It was just a large, empty room with huge doors right now. There were some extra rooms tacked on for storage or sleeping spots, but we were going to work on all that later. We weren't exactly overflowing with rescues right now.

  The road had actually been extended a few hundred more feet past our house, and a large warehouse was built on the corner of our new property line. Once again completely bare, but it was a warehouse, who cared. Eventually we would have more rescues, and we needed a place to put the large refrigeration unit slowly on its way here from overseas, not to mention everything else we would acquire in the future. Mom hadn't told me anything else she ordered, but I doubted there was much. The land had been expensive.

  The third biggest construction was actually an addition to the main house. It was simply a large room almost identical to the ones at Pokemon Centers, with a huge door to the outside.

  Erin needed her own room, after all, and Leto wouldn't let her sleep alone once she was healed.

  The last building was essentially a clinic for the Indeedee. The Nurse Joy from Freezingpoint, Joyce apparently (they had first names? I mean, obviously, I guess, but still…), had actually helped mom with that, sending over blueprints for the workers. We both wanted those generous Pokemon to have as comfortable a life as they could on the opposite side of the planet from where they were born. They had volunteered to come here, to help, to serve, and we wanted them to never regret that choice. I had seen a picture of them, too, and Arceus they were adorable! Little butlers and maids! The males seemed so stern and no nonsense, and the females just radiated gentle, kind energy. I couldn't wait to meet them!

  The rest of the construction was mostly the walls around our new estate. They weren't thick prison walls or anything, but after everything else was done Leto and all the Dugtrio practically jogged a ten foot tall, three foot thick wall into existence, the Dugtrio a rolling torrent of earth in front of Leto as she pulled up the freed, pre-loosened stone behind her. A duo of Machoke actually jogged along with her, smoothing the wall out with large boards clearly designed for the purpose as it was formed, before her influence left it and it solidified again, a Kadabra levitating another tool to do the same with the top.

  In one day, my house went from having… a house, and that was it, to a larger house, a small clinic, a huge barn, a warehouse, the most beautiful monstrosity of a garden hill I had never heard of before, a large, deep pond that was slowly filling due to some redirected groundwater, and the walls. We had our own private section of forest now, and I was already envisioning the rescues being able to scurry around in the undergrowth, happy to be in nature but safe.

  They hadn't wanted to try taking a walk with us yet, unfortunately. Home was safe. Nature wasn't.

  Mrs. Maple actually came over after the sounds had finally died down, bringing two Pidgey pies for us. Well, the rescues. She said for us, but her eyes were easy enough to follow. She had promised mom that she would try and come over more often to visit everyone, and the rescues had heard. They might not really trust her like they trusted me and mom, and I would never blame them for that, but Mrs. Maple certainly got plenty of smiles, even a head bump from Poochyena.

  She also brought us a little gossip.

  Most people weren't too happy with us today, what with the noise, but overall my moms plans had been received… neutrally. Which was amazing, honestly. The only reason we hadn't had complaints was because of Professor Oak. It was never explicitly stated, but Professor Oak owned Pallet Town. There was a very good reason that Pallet remained a sleepy place, even with the world's foremost Pokemon Professor and his personal Ranch there. Professor Oak preferred Pallet the way it was.

  So it stayed that way.

  I'm sure there was far more to it than I was aware of, of course, but if Professor Oak was supportive of mom, then the community would withhold judgement until the town hall, and they would be receptive there. Still nervous, and I would never blame them for their caution. I just hoped that it would be enough.

  A few people were infuriated, but nobody really paid them much attention, according to Mrs. Maple, so we weren't worried. There was far more cautious interest, actually. True contracts weren't common, but they weren't mythically rare, either. Everyone knew about Galar and Kalos, and the rebellions. The problem, in Kanto at least, was that the only species that could mediate one natively was… the Clefairy line, as Mr. Mimes were barely fae touched, despite… appearances. I agreed with Erin on them, they were just so creepy, not that I'd tell them, they couldn't help it... The Jigglypuff line was also barely fae touched, mainly just their voices.

  Historically, very few true contracts had ever existed in Kanto, and they were more legends than anything else. It had probably been that Clefable, actually, because it was ancient.

  So when the people of Pallet Town had heard Mrs. Maple describe the rescues, their conditions? When she had told them of Clefairy, and what my little fae could and would do? What she wouldn't do? When she had shown them a video of Lucy demonstrating her binding, because Lucy was happy to be bound? To be harmless…

  Their reactions had been about what I expected, honestly. Reasonable horror at Clefairy, and then wonder. A Victoria situation could never occur here. There were certainly some ethical concerns with the contracts, but when the other option is death for most, legally? It wasn't that hard a choice.

  The residents were hopefully optimistic overall. It was all going to come down to them, I knew. I don't think she would get a perfect score, but I knew my mother would pass the exams. I knew she would gain her certification. She had a goal, and she wouldn't let anything get in her way.

  Erin might have promised not to seek out Team Rocket, but I had no doubt in my mind that my moms Ranch would need to be expanded by the end of the year. Me and mom would help her.

  I just hope she knew that.