A Tepig's Tale

Episode 26

At night in Driftveil City 

Pignati: yawns What a day. 

McFly: I know. Two encounters with Team Plasma in one day. Crazy right? 

Ontario: And apparently there are two of them now? 

Shanir: More like, two halves of a once bigger group. One devoted to good and the other to evil. 

Ontario: Huh. 

Aidan: In any case, we should all get some sleep before meeting up with the next gym leader. 

Jade: Indeed. Sleep tight everyone! 

later that night 

Aidan: tossing and turning in his sleep No, please. Don't go... No. No... 

flashback to his past watching Team Plasma come into Castelia Park and snatching up Pokemon, including his mom and dad 

Young Aidan: Mom! Dad! 

Plasma Grunt: Come on! The more Pokemon for our cause the better! 

Young Aidan: Let 'um go! Now! 

Plasma Grunt: Shut up! kicks Aidan into a tree Leave the weak ones here. Let's go! 

as Aidan's vision begins to blur, he can hear the cries of his parents calling out to him, before passing out. Once his eyes close, Aidan bolts up from his slumber in a frightened state. Aidan's body shakes like mad as he tries to suppress the memory to no avail. Just then, Jade quietly walks up to Aidan 

Jade: whispers Hey, you ok? 

Aidan: J-Jade? still a bit shaken Y-Yeah. I'm fine. Just a bad dream. 

Jade: Do you, mind telling me what happened? 

Aidan: ... Let's just, say it was an old fear of mine that came crawling back to me. 

Jade: So you are afraid of things then. 

Aidan: I know you weren't with us for long before my true self came out, but I did have a more skittish nature. Most of it was fake, sure, but some, are real. As in, genuine things I'm afraid about. 

Jade: Like what? Perhaps talking about your fears will help you overcome them? It's at least worth it to make them more well known then to keep them all bottled up. 

Aidan: sighs You do make a good point Jade. Ok, one of my biggest fears, ... is water. 

Jade: Huh? Like, you don't know how to swim? 

Aidan: Exactly. When you grow up in a small park without substantial water to swim in, makes it hard to actually learn how to swim. Again, you weren't with us, but when we were on the Royal Unova and I was still in my skittish persona, that was real. I was legit terrified during that ride thinking I'd fall overboard and drown. Even more embarrassing knowing I'm a Vaporeon now. Imagine that, a Water type that can't swim. 

Jade: Well, maybe we can fix that. 

Aidan: What do you mean? 

Jade: I mean, I probably couldn't teach you how to swim seeing as I grew up in a desert. But maybe Ontario could help you. He's a Water type as well. 

Aidan: Ontario? You can't be serious right? You think he knows how to swim. 

Jade: Well in any case, doing it with a buddy could help you learn how to easier. Plus, Shanir seems like she could give you some pointers. Water doesn't affect her too much so why not. 

Aidan: Hm. You actually have a good point Jade. Thank you. 

Jade: Any time. You gonna be alright to go back to sleep? 

Aidan: ... Well, if you don't mind maybe you could sleep a bit closer to me just in case. 

Jade: Of course. That's what friends are for. 

Aidan: Thanks Jade. 

Aidan goes back to sleep while Jade sleeps just a bit closer to Aidan