A Couple of Special Kids

Amiss Adventure

A girl sits on a cliff with her Glaceon, looking over a route not too far from Cianwood City. The wind whips her messy pastel light blue hair around. She glances back at the trusty old Pokégear she used, waiting for orders from her superior. Finally, a message has arrived. She picks up the device, and goes to read it.

MM: Winter, I won’t be able to make it out tonight. Things have gotten stressful lately, and I just need sleep tonight. Please keep up your nightly rounds, and feel free to use my pokemon if you need some extra help. I will try to make it some other time.

P.s. sleep is important too, so don’t forget.

Winter just smiles, rolls her eyes, and types her response. She feels sort of bad for the mistress, always dealing with the day-to-day frustrations of whatever war was beginning to spread in Johto. She wishes the mistress could come around more often, but she understands.

I can do that! Don’t you worry! Should I send the younger ones to bed now or in a little while?

Winter places the gear back in her pocket, and gets up. She heads in the direction of the abandoned safari zone, her Glaceon following not too far behind. She can barely remember the tales of what used to be there. It was something about an old rich guy filling a reserve with exotic pokemon from all corners of the world, but falling ill and failing to find a replacement caretaker. Now it was just home to wild, beastly pokemon and some orphans. Heck, she was one of said orphans, and the place was pretty cozy. She liked it there, and it had a place in her heart with the old home she barely remembered. The gear vibrates as it gets another message, and she checks it again.

MM: That would be much appreciated, thank you. The little ones should be getting sleep.

Winter hurries up, and gets to the run-down area. The place is lit with decorative lights, powered by the somehow still functioning generator in the run down Pokemon center. The main building and center was where all the little kids, all eight and below, mostly stayed. Winter and the older kids stayed in tents and little forts outside when it was nice enough to do so. If snow was on it’s way, everyone would crowd into the buildings and wait it out. There were also kids with families that liked to visit and play, and sometimes even took smaller kids home with them if they knew their parents would be kind enough to take one or two in. As of right now, kids of all ages run around and play, masks hung on strings tied around their heads or anywhere they could place them when they didn’t need to have them on. Many kids also had capes and clothes made of old fabric, and frolicked with their pokemon usually kept inside old safari balls. Everyone’s using those muggy nights to play. And when the mistress asks for help, many older and bored kids volunteer to do so. Not that there were many orphans older than she was that could. The kids older than her all seemed to have homes. She was only thirteen, and the oldest of the group besides the mistress. Speaking of, Winter takes out the gear to send a message back.

Alright, I’ll get them.

She has her Glaceon give the signal. A swift attack is fired into the air, the stars bursting like fireworks.

“Mistress says it’s time for the little kids to sleep! The rest with family should go home too, it’s getting late!!” Winter shouts.

A collective “aww…” fills the area, and many of the kids go home, only leaving food behind as their agreement says to. The kids have to eat somehow, and berries get bland after a while. Tired little kids head for their bunks in either building, yawning and dragging their feet. Some kids stay with the older kids that will allow, wondering what it’s like to sleep in the tents. Some big pokemon from the reserve, like Kangaskahn, Chansey, and Arbok find their way into the building, just coming in to snuggle with the small children they like and keep them warm if it gets cold. Some of the children really bonded with the large, motherly pokemon. Winter wade her way to each building, telling a bedtime story she made up off the top of her head to the kids that fall right asleep to them. If any are still awake, there’s always a stray Jigglypuff floating through that would sing to make them sleep. Once Winter was done, and many of the younger kids settled down and were sleeping, she left for her nightly rounds. She puts her own mask over her face, and runs for Cianwood city.