But right when George expected the sloth to slice through him like butter, a small pellet slammed right into the sloth’s face and knocked it to the ground.

Thwack!

Just like that, the threat which could’ve ended his life was plastered in the dirt. More worryingly, George didn’t even sense the appearance of another person.

But George’s question was quickly answered as a majestic stag with a lush canopy of leaves within its antlers walked out from the shadows of the trees and into the clearing. Behind the stag, Cody and Lita both also walked out with their bags fully intact.

“Saw, Sawsbuck.” The unknown Pokémon ignored George at first, instead directly speaking to the prone sloth.

“Vigor…” On the ground, the sloth weakly replied. It was a far cry from how it behaved just fifteen seconds prior, but George wasn’t going to make any noise and provoke it once more.

The two conversed for a couple minutes, and before George knew it the stag had dropped a handful of Berries in front of the sloth from its mouth. George could identify some as Oran Berries, but there were a couple of white and silver Berries he couldn’t identify within the pile.

The sloth hastily collected them and stuffed a few Oran Berries into its mouth, before scurrying out of the clearing.

Nobody followed, and as soon as it disappeared from sight George let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. With the sloth gone, Cody and Lita finally had the courage to approach and made their way to George’s side.

“Saw,” The stag turned its attention towards George and Minccino. He didn’t know what it was saying, but after it flipped its head to the side, he understood that it wanted him to step aside.

Seeing how easily it dispatched the sloth, George abided. He didn’t want to leave Minccino, but if this stag wanted to kill them it wouldn’t have helped them out earlier and would’ve just waited for the sloth to kill them before cleaning the rest up.

“Um, excuse me… Mister Stag—” George tried speaking to the stag, but was cut off by it shooting a pellet from its mouth at the ground directly in front of him.

“Don’t call him that.” Cody said. “It’s disrespectful, his name is Sawsbuck.”

While it was difficult for humans to understand the Pokémon language, Pokémon were intelligent creatures and could often understand the words of humans, especially a Pokémon as strong as this stag.

As Sawsbuck approached Minccino, George could feel that some of the ambient Essence began flowing towards him. He closed his eyes for a second, before a couple leaves atop its antlers shook and fell off.

Floating in midair, a green aura coated the leaves and they turned into a colorless powder, before coating Minccino’s body. Most of the powder covered the exterior of her body, but some went deep into the wounds which hadn’t closed yet on her back.

Even though Minccino was still unconscious, she still winced instinctively. But the powder seemed to be effective as the skin at the edge of the wounds slowly began knitting itself up and forming a new layer of tissue.

“Will she be okay?” George asked. Of course he noticed how Sawsbuck was assisting Minccino and healing her, so he felt more comfortable asking this question.

Sawsbuck stayed silent, although George didn’t know if it was because it didn’t know or it was fed up with his questions.

“That looks like Healing Powder, or maybe Aromatherapy, so Minccino should be fine in a little bit.” Lita responded instead.

As one of the two Breeders who had come with, Lita wasn’t as focused on the traditional duties of a Breeder like Cody. Instead, she mixed the responsibilities of a Doctor with a Breeder, become a hybrid specialist and was more informed of the medical aspects of the discipline.

Although she still wasn’t a full fledged Breeder or Doctor by any means, and was still an apprentice, her discerning eyes couldn’t spot anything wrong with Sawsbuck’s treatment.

Only a couple minutes passed by before Minccino awakened.

“Minnnnnn…” (Five more minutessss…)

“Thank Arceus, you’re okay!” George rushed to hug Minccino with tears forming at the edge of his eyes, but was held back by Lita and Cody.

“What are you thinking?” Lita scolded him. “She’s still injured, let her rest a little.”

“Saw, Sawsbuck.” Sawsbuck’s voice was quiet, but Minccino immediately turned her head to face him.

“Min, Min! Minccino!” (Thank you, thank you! How can I be of assistance?)

Minccino asked Sawsbuck. Even though she was still injured and was normally quite lazy, she knew how to repay her debts.

“Saw, Sawsbuck, Sawsbuck.”

“Minccino!” (I understand! I’ll perform the best I can!)

George was surprised by the eagerness he could hear within Minccino’s voice. She normally only sounded that way when there were Pokéblocks for dinner, or when she could slack off in her daily training.

But here, she was that eager just from hearing Sawsbuck’s voice. It made George curious.

“Minccino! Min!” (George! Lord Bucky wants to talk to you!)

Although the discussion between George and Bucky was somewhat awkward at first, due to using Minccino as a translator, they quickly adapted and got to the heart of the discussion.

“So… you’re telling me that Lord Bucky has been searching for a human to take care of a child. And he picked us for the job. Is that right?” George clarified.

“Min!” (Yep!)

“And he’ll bring us back to town as long as we lead the way?” George looked at Cody and Lita at the side. They didn’t understand a word being said, but their eyes lit up after hearing this.

“Min! Min! Minccino!” (Yep! Yep! Why are you asking so many questions? Let’s just go home!)

“I mean, sounds good with me.” He glanced at the two teenagers again. “Anything you guys have to say?”

“Nope!” “I’m good.”

Neither of them wanted to stay out in the wilderness overnight, so this opportunity was like a godsend. All of their gear had already been packed up into their bags, so there weren’t any more preparations to complete.

“Alright, let’s blow this pop stand.” George said, and Bucky lowered himself slightly so that the three humans and Minccino could hop on his back. Seeing the bundle wrapped up in string on his back, George understood that this was the child they were supposed to take care of.

Neither of the teenagers wanted to hold the child, and as the responsible adult George felt like it would be better for him to take over. He would be becoming a father any day now, so it would be good practice.

After George gave him a set of directions, Bucky set off towards Brightmoon Town.

***

—Brightmoon Town, Unova—

A couple of hours had passed by the time the group arrived back at Brightmoon Town, and the first hints of sunlight just began peeking over the tops of the trees.

The group checked in with the town watchmen, who were astonished at the sight of them riding the giant Sawsbuck, before they each went their separate ways. Cody went straight to the Breeder’s Hall to sell his harvest from this trip, while Lita went home to get a bit more sleep.

Neither of them would’ve been appropriate caretakers for the child as young, single teenagers, so George decided he’d bring the child back to Kira and ask her thoughts on the matter.

George, Minccino, Bucky, and the child walked down the central street before making a couple turns onto a narrow, roughly paved walkway. They passed a couple of houses before stopping in front of a two-story wooden cabin. Although it was made of wood, there was a dark black coat of paint on the walls.

Behind the house in the backyard there was a small wooden shed, and a couple flowers and Berry plants grew from a garden in the front yard.

The Blackwood House stood in its full glory,

“Lord Bucky, it’d probably be best if you stay outside for now.” George said. He didn’t want the door to his house torn off, but if Bucky really wanted to go in George couldn’t stop him.

“Saw,” Bucky stared at George and huffed lightly.

“Min, Min.” (Lord Bucky understands. He hopes you’ll be quick.)

“We will, just give us a few minutes.” George opened the door, carrying the bundled child in. Minccino followed with light steps and made a beeline into the kitchen to snack on some goodies, and began digging into a plate of cookies that were on the countertop.

George would’ve shouted ‘Honey~ I’m home!’ if it weren’t four in the morning and he expected his wife to be sleeping. Especially being pregnant, that would be a good way to sleep on the couch for the foreseeable future.

Instead, he walked into the kitchen and put on a pot of boiling water. If she were mad at being woken up he’d just come down and make a cup of tea and spend the rest of the morning going through the harvest.

Then, he walked upstairs into their bedroom, making sure to be as quiet as possible.

“Honey?” He asked in an almost a whisper and turned on one of the lamps sitting atop her dresser. It blinked to life, casting the room in a dim yellow glow.

“Hhmmm…” Laying under the thick Mareep wool blankets, an indigo-haired woman hummed slightly. Although her eyes were closed, she tightened them even further in response to the light and turned her head to the other side.

George knew his wife wasn’t particularly keen on mornings, and it was especially difficult to wake her even when the sun had already risen, so he walked to the bedside and sat down on the carpeted floor with his head by her side.

He softly brushed his fingers against her cheek, expecting a reaction, and she stirred.

“Hmmm… Georgey?” With a flutter of her eyelids Kira awoke, stunned by George’s appearance, and it seemed like she thought her dream hadn’t ended yet.

“Yeah honey, I’m home.” He smiled, meeting her eyes.

Kira broke out into a huge grin and the sleepiness left her eyes as she reached her arms around George’s back into a tight embrace. “I missed you Georgey.”

Her gaze traveled across George’s face and neck, before settling on the torn shoulder of his shirt.

“Ah!” She gasped, and clasped her hand on George’s cheek. “Are you okay? You didn’t get hurt, did you?”

George knew he made a mistake. He should’ve changed before coming to wake her up in order to not worry her.

“Heh, if you think I’m hurt, you should see the other guy.” He raised an eyebrow and gave a charming grin, telling her not to worry. Kira stared at him, speechless, making George wonder if he laid it on too thick.

“Hehe…” But she just giggled. Watching her face release tension she might’ve not even known she held in, George felt like he’d been too rash over the past couple of weeks.

The thoughts that passed through his mind while preparing for his death resonated even more strongly, and he felt like he’d taken his life for granted. He didn’t want to give up this happiness with Kira. He didn’t want to leave her alone.

“Honey, there’s something I need to tell you.” George’s voice dropped slightly, and Kira could sense the seriousness it held. “I’m quitting these expeditions.”

***

Hearing George give up on expeditions, Kira’s eyes widened. George had always been keen on taking up the expeditions into the forest to collect Berries and other resources to sell and prepare for her pregnancy. They weren’t even unprepared by any metrics, since Kira’s sister had donated some hand-me-down clothing that her children used to wear when they were younger.

George was just paranoid that they might not have enough money to give their child the best life possible. It might have been due to his upbringing, but Kira wouldn’t mention that to him right now.

If anything, she was overjoyed hearing him say this. Even though he acted like he hadn’t been hurt at all, who would ever want their loved ones to face danger?

“That’s great honey!” She hugged him tightly again. She wanted to kiss him for finally opening his eyes, but seeing that George was still occupied with some thoughts decided against it.

“One more thing,” George said. “There’s another child.”

“Come again?” Kira thought she misheard. What did George mean?

“Sorry, that came out wrong.” George murmured, and held out the bundle which held the child. “I mean there was a condition for getting back so safely.”

George explained the situation to Kira. He started with parts of his fight with the sloth, glossing over the injuries that he and Min sustained during the fight, and mentioned how Bucky completely destroyed the sloth and saved the day.

Then, he mentioned how Bucky was looking for a group of humans to take care of his partner’s child, and selected George for the job.

“You’re expecting soon, so it might be difficult for our family to care for him. But in that case we could just bring him to the clinic and they’ll be able to take care.

Shifting his body, Kira’s attention landed on the bundle within his arms that she’d missed. It was so quiet that she honestly believed it was just a package when he entered, but with the bombshell George dropped on her, this was probably the child in question.

“Is that him?” She asked, pointing at the bundle.

“Yeah,” George responded, handing the bundle over. “I was planning on asking your opinion before we decide. You’re expecting soon, so it might be too much for our family to take care of him ourselves.”

Kira unwrapped the bundle, and the smooth, bald head of a child appeared within her vision. His eyelids were tightly shut, but with the removal of the cloth they opened, revealing a pair of amethyst eyes.

Kira lost her breath looking into the child’s eyes, and decided to tell George about her decision.

“Georgey, I love how you’re thinking about our future. But we’re prepared for this.”

“Does that mean…”

“I’ve always wanted two kids.”

“Huh?”