To Bloom Again

Chapter 11: Home (Part 2)

Content warning for drug use. Plus, it gets just a little bit dark so, fair warning.

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A storm was brewing in Mauville city, with the winds so strong that it was pulling away the flowers and tree leaves nearby. Little droplets of water began to pour down as the nearby people were pulling their umbrellas out.

And yet, Marina, alongside her mother, Ariel, and her Kirlia, Grace, were shopping at the Plus and Minus mall, getting new clothes and browsing around to kill time, before Marina's 3rd gym match.

The blue haired trainer hasn't been to her hometown's mall in quite a long time so it felt nice smelling the light, cinnamon scent surrounding the area and distant murmur of people chatting while dropping coins into the fountain to make a wish. She spotted the ponyta carousel near the food court and wanted to ride it. So did grace.

After waiting in line for two lengthy minutes, the two got on and Ariel got her camera out to record them enjoying the ride, to show to her husband later on this lovely moment.

It has been years, many many years since Ariel saw her daughter happy and actually enjoying herself, not having to stress about training all the time or her worrying about the next contest or trying to stay as model thin as possible. Maybe it was the right thing for Marina to quit her Pokemon coordinator duties and just be a regular, run of the mill trainer. If this is what's best for her daughter and her Pokemon, she had to respect that, no matter how much the middle aged women wanted to see her perform again.

Once Marina and Grace grew tired of the ride, they were ready to sit down, resting their legs for a bit while Ariel was ordering food for them.

"Are you enjoying yourself so far, Grace?" Marina directly asked her humanoid Pokemon.

The pokemon happily nodded, "Yes. I've never been to a place where multiple stores and restaurants are in the same building before. It's magnificent."

"It sure is, until you eventually get bored of it after a few hours." She shifts the conversation, "Are you ready for our next gym battle?"

"I don't know, Rina." The kirlia replied, candidly, "I'm not sure if I'm ready."

Marina gives her mon a sympathetic smile, "Its okay, you can sit this out if you want. I'll let Karen and Sheldon do the heavy lifting." She gives her three vanilla pudding cups and a plastic spoon that was inside her bag. "Here you go. Battling or not, you still need to eat. Wallace taught me that."

Ariel returns with a tray of two, large tofu burritos and one large drink. The smell of it was already making Marina's mouth water and she was ready to devour it.

She thanked her mother for buying the food and the two enjoyed while Grace tore up the pudding cups, talking about the next gym battle and Marina wondering if the indoor pool was still up.

In which Ariel replied, "Yes dear, the pool's still up. I saw Wallace and his Milotic use it in the morning while I was making my special brownies."

Special brownies, Marina thought before realizing what her mom was referring to. "Please tell me you hid those brownies away from the guests."

"Don't worry, they're hidden away. Now finish your burrito, sweetie. I gotta go to radio snack to pick up triple A batteries for the tv remote. Your dad will kill me if I don't."

So the trio finished their meal, grabbed their bags and did just that. Noticing that the rain was pouring down harder, Marina commanded Kirlia to teleport back home.

Marina thanked her Pokemon as they arrived in the living room, coming home to Steven who was running towards them in a panic.

"Thank god you guys are home." He panted, trying to catch breath, "We have a bit of a situation."