After Norman called his wife explaining everything that happened to Ashlyn she practically demanded that he bring her with him when he came back to Petalburg then hung up
"She said yes" Norman said
"Wonderful now I think we should tell Ashlyn so she can decide" the social worker named Alicia said as she went to Ashlyn
"Norman I was wondering if it would not be too much trouble if Red's Persian could live in your greenhouse she was always the one's who cared for Ashlyn the most and she seem to be more than willing to go wherever she goes" Prof. Oak said as the two pokemon nodded their heads
"Of course it's no bother at all, I assume Pikachu and Riolu too" he said with an amused expression when Pikachu and Riolu gave him a look almost daring him to leave without them "I'd take that as a yes"
After Alicia came back and told them the Ashlyn agreed Norman immediately signed the paper work for Ashlyn's guardianship and started to get her comfortable in his presence by bonding with her as she visited the Pokémon in the Ranch during that time Officer Jenny returned with news of Delia being placed in jail for child neglect and abuse. Norman could finally take Ashlyn to a place where she could live in happiness rather than in constant fear and grief. When they arrived in Petalburg a little girl around two years old ran up to Norman right away hugging tightly
"Daddy!" she called out when she hugged Norman
"Hi princess I want you to meet someone" he said before he turned to Ashlyn who was hugging Pikachu tightly "This is Ashlyn and she's going to be your new big sister"
"I have a big sister now? Yay!" she said excitedly as Norman's wife Caroline walked out of the house
"Oh hello there Ashlyn I'm Caroline nice to meet you" she said smiling
"Hello I'm Ashlyn Aurora Ketchum and this is Pikachu, Riolu and Persian" she said shyly before out of no where May hugged her happily, this made her hug the younger girl back hesitantly
Ashlyn's days with the Maples were a bit rocky at first at night she would always wake up and begin to cry because she still got nightmares of the abuse and her papa, uncle Green and auntie Leaf leaving her since she didn't want to bother them so she would just cry in her room Pikachu, Riolu and Persian being the only ones to comfort her. One day May woke up to someone crying and so she followed it to her new big sister's room inside she saw her big sister crying this sight alone made May walk into the room and hug her sister, the girls would then fall asleep peacefully. This happened frequently which worried Caroline and Norman, that Norman even called for a bit of time off from Steven who was the champion and asked Winona if she had any advise
"I don't think they're anything you can do at the moment Norman it's too early for her to get over her nightmares despite everything you do. It takes different amounts of time for a child to adapt or get over a situation as serious and traumatizing as abuse, add that to the fact that she lost her father a person she loved more than life itself and her blaming herself for his death. Is going to hinder your progress" Winona said as she watched the girl Ashlyn out of the corner of her eye as her swablu landed in the girl's head trying to make her smile
"Was it the same for you?" Steven couldn't help but ask
"I guess you can say that" she said solemnly before turning back to Norman "I can't say what you can do specifically but I think you should just allow her to heal at her own pace and maybe train a Pokémon she likes to be her service Pokémon. I'm positive Nurse Joy can help in that regard that is the most common method I feel that works"
"Thank you Winona and I'm sorry for asking you that" he said knowing just how the woman hated to remember her childhood
"No problem I like helping kids only to make sure that they would get better chances at life or in this case getting over traumatic experiences" she said shrugging as if it was nothing for her
That night Norman asked Pikachu, Persian and Riolu if they would like to train in order to help Ashlyn and of course they nodded. Only a week of training all three were fully trained and licensed service Pokémon and that helped Ashlyn to open up more especially to her new family, even to Steven and Winona who ended up visiting whenever they could just to see how she was doing but she was still painfully shy towards people she was first meeting like when Norman tried to introduce her to the other gym leaders only for her to hide behind Winona, Steven or him the whole time, but with Pokémon she absolutely flourished and thrived almost like she could talk to them. By the age of 6 she stumbled across three injured Pokémon surprisingly a shiny Ralts, Swablu and an Absol when she was running an errand for her uncle Norman, quickly she got out Persian and asked take them to the Pokémon Center where they could get treated letting her finish her errand and ask permission to see them from her auntie Caroline. When the three Pokemon were healed they were all very adamant in going with Ashlyn which she happily accepted. As Ashlyn grew up Norman saw just how observant she was especially when she was watching his gym battles
"Uncle Norman that boy Damien? His Charmander isn't healthy at all" Ashlyn whispered to him as he was getting his Slaking's pokeball
"Really?" Norman asked before narrowing his eyes to better observe the shiny Charmander, the arrogant boy sent out and what he saw disgusted him hidden bruises, unhealed wounds, and the tail was dim almost put out
"HEY GET ON WITH IT!" the arrogant trainer shouted
"Call Officer Jenny" Norman whispered to Ashlyn before she ran off but not before making eye contact with Charmander
"I promise I'll help you just hang in there" She said to Charmander who in turn gave her a hopeful look "Uncle Norman don't hurt her just let Slaking loft around and when he has to attack just put her to sleep with yawn
" Alright sweetie now go"he said smiling softly at her before she ran off to where the phone was
Once Officer Jenny along with Nurse Joy arrived Damien was thrown behind bars his pokemon surrendered to the league except the shiny Charmander who was given to Ashlyn and an Eevee who May bonded with
YOU ARE READING
A Loving Sister And Strong Trainer
Fanfiction"You will recognize the survivors of abuse through their courage. When silence is inviting, they move forward and share their truth so that others know they are not alone." This story is about a girl that loved her father very much but when he was k...
