Growth

“I don’t like it,” Taylor frowns, sitting down at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee. Across from her, Leon looks up from his Rotom Phone, where he’d been reading the morning news.

“You don’t have to like it, you know,” he says gently, offering his wife a small smile.

Taylor takes a deep, steadying breath, looking out their window at the scenery. It’s a beautiful day outside, with Rookidee singing in the trees, Skwovet scurrying to and fro -

All sorts of harmless, ultimately adorable Pokemon are out there, just waiting for a Trainer to catch them and train them to their full potential. All of them will make excellent future partners, with the right love and care.

So why, in Arceus’ name, had her daughter, Lydia, decided to pick a Litwick for her first Pokemon?

“It literally absorbs people’s life forces, Leon,” Taylor says, exasperated. “The Pokedex says so. It also says that its flame burns brighter the younger the life force is that it absorbs. How twisted is that?!”

“Okay - a lot of Ghost Pokemon do something vaguely like that, though, and there are plenty of people who manage to train them safely regardless,” Leon counters patiently.

“The Pokedex also explicitly says that it tries to guide young children and be friendly with them, and then it leads them off into the spirit world,” Taylor observes, arching one eyebrow. Across from her, Leon withers.

“Okay. I’ll admit…that is, uh. Bad,” he stammers, clearly a bit taken aback. “I just don’t think there will be any separating Lydia from that Litwick. I think she’s grown attached to it already.”

Taylor sips at her coffee, then sets it down again.

“Of course she’s grown attached to it. That’s exactly what it wants. We’re her parents, Leon, and that means we have to protect her from any threats - including Pokemon,” she says firmly.

“Yeah,” he says, rubbing at the back of his neck shyly. “But…the reality is, as she gets bigger, we can’t be there to protect her from everything. We weren’t there when that Haunter attacked her at the Watchtower, you know.”

Taylor feels her stomach drop, and her face draining of all blood.

A Haunter?

Their Licks could be paralyzing - and the Watchtower in the Wild Area literally swarmed with Ghost Pokemon like that Litwick who would love to suck Lydia’s life force dry while she was unable to escape.

“I didn’t hear about this,” she says, feeling her heart beginning to pound in her ears.

“She didn’t want to tell you,” Leon admits, reaching across the table to take Taylor’s hand in his. “Lydia was so worried that you would worry too much. She was worried I’d worry, too, but it kind of came out on accident yesterday.”

“Well - so what happened?” Taylor asks, feeling her eyes well up with tears. The thought of her baby girl, all along on the floor of that sinister stone building, unable to move -

“That Litwick happened. It stepped in and ran that Haunter off. That’s why she’s so in love with it, you know,” Leon says gently, giving her hand a gentle squeeze.

Taylor feels her tears spill over, trickling down her cheeks.

“Oh, Arceus, I had no idea,” she sobs, and Leon stands from his seat, walking over to her side. He helps her to her feet, and pulls her close to his chest, holding her tightly and rocking her gently.

“Shh,” he soothes her. “It’s okay. It’s okay. Lydia’s okay.”

“She could’ve -” Taylor begins, but before her sentence is fully out of her mouth, Leon interrupts.

“I know,” he says, his voice filled with tension and remorse. “This life-sucking hanging around her worries me as much as it worries you…but we have to trust that it’s not as malicious as we might think. Things aren’t always as they seem. You know that particularly well, right?” He asks, looking at Taylor closely.

“What does that mean?” Taylor asks, confused.

Leon smiles, pressing a quick kiss to her forehead.

“Well,” he chuckles. “Things weren’t exactly…natural between the two of us, at first. You certainly had your preconceptions about me, right?”

Taylor blushes, trying to wiggle out of Leon’s arms, but he only holds her tighter, nuzzling into her neck.

“Leon -” she laughs. “You’re tickling me -”

“I’m right, though,” he laughs back. “C’mon, think of it. You practically hated my guts at first for being the media sweetheart of Galar when I was Champion -”

“It wasn’t just that!” Taylor laughs, eventually giving up and leaning back against Leon. “The media had slaughtered me across several entire Regions - you know that!” There had been a time, once, where she had never imagined being able to laugh and talk about her downfall as Champion at the same time. The fact that she could, now, with her partner - it’s honestly incredibly to her. “It wasn’t just you. It was everything about….” she gestures vaguely.

“Everything about me?” Leon laughs, leaning down and kissing her quickly.

“No!” Taylor giggles, kissing him back. “Everything about the media.” She sighs, growing serious in his arms, and decides to tell him her thoughts. “You know, there had been a time, once, where I didn’t ever think I’d be able to stand thinking or talking about this and being okay with it. Actually, that time lasted for a while. Years.”

“And now?” Leon asks, his golden eyes sparkling gently.

Taylor leans against his strong chest.

“Now things have changed a lot. I’ve grown. It doesn’t hurt the same way it used to,” she murmurs. Leon holds her a little extra tightly, swaying from side to side.

“I’m glad. We’ve been through a lot, you know. That entire shitshow in Hoenn…those Shadow Pokemon,” he says, shaking his head. “That Scizor who almost killed you.” His voice lowers as he says the words, and Taylor tenses a little at the memory, reaching up to touch her head where it had thrown sharp metal at her deliberately, knocking her out.

If it weren’t for her Espeon and Leon -

She wouldn’t be here, and there would be no Lydia to worry over.

“We really got into a lot of trouble, didn’t we?” Taylor says, trying to lighten the conversation a little. Leon chuckles.

“Some of it wasn’t our fault, in all fairness. We were chosen to take that mission on by inter-regional authorities. But yeah. Yeah, we did get into an unbelievable amount of trouble. Compared to us, Lydia is an angel,” he chuckles.

“That’s true,” Taylor laughs. “She hasn’t even joined any teams aimed at destroying the world yet. She’s got time to follow in her mother’s footsteps, though.”

“I’m amazed that you can joke about that,” Leon says, stroking her hair.

“Honestly? Me, too,” Taylor admits. A long moment passes between them, and Taylor feels tension slowly leaving her body. “We’ve grown and changed a lot. And…” she sighs.

“And?” Leon prompts, pulling back to look Taylor in the eye.

“And I guess that means I should know that other people - and Pokemon - can grow and change and become more than they seemed to be at the start.”

Moments later, Lydia comes bounding downstairs, her little Pokemon behind her. Both Leon and Taylor pull away from one another, shocked.

“Does that mean I can keep my Litwick?” Lydia asks, her eyes wide. Taylor starts to cough and splutter, absolutely flabbergasted, but Leon holds it together, keeping the image of stern-but-gentle down pat.

“How long were you listening there, Lyds?” He asks.

“Long enough,” she says coyly. Leon deflates at this, shaking his head.

“She’s definitely your child, you know,” he says, glancing over to Taylor. His eyebrows raise in a way that clearly says and you get to deal with her.

Taylor recomposes herself, and sighs.

“Yes. You can keep your Litwick,” she says, and both Lydia and Litwick cry in excitement, jumping up and down in circles around one another. “But!” She says, interrupting the excited dance. To Taylor’s surprise, she has to struggle to contain a smile at the sight. “You,” she says, pointing to the Litwick. “No eating Taylor’s life force, okay? You’ll get good Pokemon food while you’re in our house, and that should do for you.”

“Lit!” The Litwick chirps, bobbing from foot to foot in joy.

“That’s good enough for me!” Leon says, and both Lydia and Litwick run off together, cheering and shouting.

“I’m gonna keep an eye on that ghost, though,” Taylor says, narrowing her eyes. To her surprise, Leon chuckles beside her and nods.

“Oh yeah. Definitely. Just…try not to read the Pokedex info on it anymore, okay?”

“That,” Taylor says, shuddering at the thought of some of the entries contained within. “I can definitely do.”