Inconvenient Reincarnation

Paws sore, sharp grass blades poking against his cracked paw pads, Simon breathed a sigh of relief as he spotted the little building poking through the trees. A pastel yellow building, a little garden to the right, with the forest at its back door. Three young pokemon were playing outside with some twigs, but quickly ran inside againwhen they spotted the team coming closer. Isabella breathed out a little laugh, instantly causing Simon to calm down. It wasn’t a bad place for her. That’s good. 

A cubone, surprisingly tall for their kind, poked their head out the open door before turning around, hesitating, and walking fully outside to meet the team. As he came closer, a bunch of stickers on their skull became clear, causing another little giggle from Isabella- though this one she quickly disguised as a cough. Poorly, but disguised nonetheless. A dratini followed close behind, eyes flickering around timidly, as if scared to meet their eye. The cubone on the other hand, visibly grinned behind the skull mask. He called out with a gentle, sing-song like tone, “Welcome to Sunny Day Orphanage! I’m assuming you’re an adventuring team?” His voice was soothing like no other, almost like a lullaby. Full of warmth and thankfulness. Simon could instantly tell the orphans must love him.

“You’re right,” Simon replied with a polite smile. “We’re Team Solar, here to help in whatever ways we can. Lovely meeting you…?” his voice trailed off, silently asking for a name.

“Kenan! And it’s lovely meeting you too! I can already tell you’ll both be of great help around here, so…” 

Text:
 “Welcome and thank you! My kids will love you! This is Maya” -Kenan
“…Hi” -Maya 

The dratini was softspoken, but seemed a little excited nonetheless, eyeing Simon with pure interest. Kids, pokemon or otherwise, had never been his strongsuit, so he only gave a slightly nervous smile. Isabella talked this time. “It’s great being here. I’d be happy to look after the kids for starters, so if there’s anything or anyone in particular you want me to entertain, let me know!” Simon could tell she looked towards Maya as the weight on his head shifted. “I’m great with stories. Scary ones, happy ones, ones about love, and ones about chaos! Feel free to listen in if you want to!”

Maya nodded, a little smile on her face. She looked up at Kenan as if to make sure it was okay to get excited, and once Kenan nodded back, the smile got a little wider. She quickly slithered inside again, and he could barely see her head towards a few other pokemon with a grin, undoubtably ready to tell them about the visitors. Simon couldn’t help but smile a little as well. Seemed her excitement was quite contageous. Isabella nudged him a little by the ear, as if to tease him a bit for instantly melting a bit, but he tried not to react. Kenan only laughed a little, a warm smile ever-present as he tracked Maya inside, making sure she got inside properly.

“Well then! We have a lot of things that could be done, so suit yourselves! Making food, tending to the garden, amusing the kids, kid-proofing here and there, and just generally doing what might be helpful,” he smiled, a slight grumble behind his voice. It took a moment before the shinx realized the noise was actually a purr. Cubone could purr? Apparently yes. The sound was quite comforting, so he didn’t bother bringing it up. “If you could tell the kids some stories, Isabella, that’d be great! Seems Maya is already excited by the thought, and she’ll be telling the other first thing- that part of her is scarily consistent.”

Somehow, the cubone already knew Isabella. She didn’t seem bothered by it, happily nodding with an “mhm!”, so Simon could only guess she might have met him at some point. Maybe she knew him through the friend. He didn’t dwell on it, but rather continued the conversation. “I’m not the best with kids, so I might take care of the garden and food and all that. I’ll do anything that needs to be done, of course, so let me know and I’ll get started on it,” he offered. 

Kenan’s tail wagged a bit, and he nodded immediately. “Sounds great! If you could start with the garden, that would be lovely! It would still be nice if you came in for a moment to say hello to the kids, though- if not, they’ll likely only be more curious and interruptive to you. You know how kids are,” he laughed out a loving chuckle, glancing back to the brightly colored orphanage, barely spotting a few children huddled up by the window duck away. Their giggles were easy to hear even from outside. 

“Sure thing. I’ll leave the rest to Isabella after that. Sounds good?”

“Yep. Enjoy your gardening!”

“Enjoy your chaos.”