//I'm behind on off-screen scenes I wanted to post in real time; I'll do my best to catch up.
[Back at the Lighthouse...]
(//A scene from right after the rp thread between me and vigilant-guardian.)
Once Miraidon arrived at the Poco Path Lighthouse, the door flung open with Arven stumbling out.
"Professor!!" He exclaimed, "Hooooly mother of Arc, you actually made it back! Are you alright? Are your Pokémon alright? You didn't get attacked, did you?"
"Oh, Arven..." Chamomile's eyes widened in surprise as they climbed off of Miraidon's back and untied their crutches. "What are you doing here?"
Right on cue, a freckle-faced kid around Arven's age came out of the lighthouse. They were notably shorter than Arven and sporting Naranja-Uva's winter uniform, with their hair half-shaved and dyed purple.
"Oh, I-..." Arven fidgeted with his tie a little nervously. "I came to keep my little buddy Indigo company. Didn't want them fretting about Miraidon, and all!"
They smiled and gave Chamomile a casual wave. "Hey Prof!" They said, "How'd it go?"
"Hi Indigo, it went really well!" While leaning on Miraidon's back for support, they pulled out their phone and pulled up a picture to show the two students: a group photo consisting of themself, Miraidon and a shiny Iron Valiant who seemed to be death-glaring the camera, yet showed no outward signs of hostility otherwise.
Indigo chuckled at the sight. "They don't look too happy."
"Iiii'm pretty sure that's just their face," said Chamomile in a somewhat sheepish tone as they pocketed their phone. "They were actually quite civil!"
"Well I'm glad to hear it..." said Arven, crossing his arms. "I'd hate for you to get hurt after you just moved here."
"Aw, Arven..." They smiled sympathetically before taking their crutches and walking over to the tall, blond-headed teenager. "I'm sorry for scaring you," they said, patting Arven's shoulder, "I didn't mean to cause such a panic. If something like that happens again, I'll try to find a more tactful approach, alright?"
Arven sighed, before managing a smile. "Just glad you're back, Professor," he said, "I'm pretty sure Mabostiff would be pretty sad if I couldn't bring him up here to play with Ignis while he's off-duty, too."
Chamomile chuckled. "Well, we can't have that now, can we?"
"We can't have you disappearing on such short notice, either."
Leaning against the doorframe to the lighthouse was Ms. Raifort, watching Chamomile with pursed lips and raised eyebrow.
Jacq peeked out from the doorway and waved. "Hey, Cam! Welcome back!"
"Chloe, Jacq!" Chamomile smiled and walked up to the two. "Were you both waiting on me, too?"
"Professor Jacq stayed with me to keep an eye on the eggs," said Indigo, having been giving Miraidon belly rubs this whole time, "But I think Ms. Raifort just wanted a head start in teaching us history."
"She infodumps when she worries sometimes," Jacq explained to Chamomile in a slightly hushed tone.
"I wasn't worried," Raifort huffed.
"Oh you must've been REAL worried," Arven remarked, "I think she covered an entire semester's worth of history lessons!"
Indigo snickered.
"Hey, it's starting to get kinda late," said Jacq, smiling to the two students. "Why don't you both head on home?"
"Alright!" Indigo stood up and looked over at Arven, while Miraidon rolled over and shook the grass off of its body. "You wanna have a sleepover?"
"Heck yeah," said Arven, "I just gotta tell Director Clavell where I'll be tonight."
"Alright!" Indigo climbed onto Miraidon's back and patted the space behind them for Arven. "Let's go crash Nemona's place."
"Do we have to?" Asked Arven in an exaggerated tone, as he climbed onto Miraidon's back to sit behind Indigo, "You know she's gonna want to battle. Or talk about battling. I bet she even dreams about battling!"
Chamomile watched the students ride off on Miraidon with a quiet chuckle. "I have to say: I'm not surprised they're friends."
"Yeah..." said Jacq. "They're good kids. If not a bit shenanigan-prone."
"Anyway," he continued, "You've had a long day. You want me to make you something to eat? You know- if I have permission to use your kitchen, of course!"
"Oh-" Chamomile turned to face Jacq, eyes widened in shock. "Jacq, you don't have to do that!"
"Don't worry about it," said Jacq with a bright smile, "I want to do it!"
"No, I'd feel so guilty!" Chamomile's expression shifted from surprise to concern. "You two are the guests, I should be offering you guys something!"
"Nope! Not accepting it!" Said Jacq in a lighthearted tone, as he started marching back into the lighthouse. "If you really don't want me to use your kitchen, then we'll just order takeout! No big deal!"
Chamomile sighed as they watched Jacq enter their house. "Fine, but at least let me let me make you some tea!"
"Too late, the kettle's already boiling!"
Chamomile looked over at Ms. Raifort, who had her arms crossed and her head turned away the whole time, as she leaned against the doorframe.
"Cloe...?" Chamomile stared, somewhat concerned. "Are you alright? I'm sorry if I... Did concern you."
"Tch..." Raifort glanced back at Cloe with a smirk. "Please, I know you can take care of yourself. I'm just upset that you didn't let me come along! Do you realize how much I've wanted to see the ancient Pokémon down there?"
Chamomile chuckled and raised an eyebrow. "Based on things you've told me I'm surprised you haven't."
"I would have by now," said Raifort, rolling her eyes, "But the league keeps denying my requests, and it isn't in my best interest to go against them at the moment."
"Well, unfortunately, just because I'm on good terms with the Iron Valiant guarding the place that doesn't mean I could permit you a visit," they said, "I'm pretty sure the league's gonna tear me a new one anyway..."
"It's understandable why you can't," said Raifort, "It's not often you hear of a trainer to gain a paradox pokemon's trust like that."
"Hey, if you need a character witness to back you up, I can help," Jacq called out from inside the lighthouse, "Now get in here already! Tell us what Area Zero was like!"
Chamomile laughed. "Alright, alright! Let me just get my Pokémon ou-" they paused for a moment, their eyes widening, then facepalmed. "Arc, I'm such an idiot..."
Raifort raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
"Nurse knows heal pulse," said Chamomile, "That would've made things SO much easier!"
"Are you telling me you didn't bring any of your Pokémon out a single time?" Asked Jacq.
"I didn't want to startle Vigilant; Putty and Circuit can get pretty excitable," explained Chamomile, as they stepped inside, "Plus I heard how powerful the Pokémon are, there; I was expecting to go deeper in the crater so I didn't want anyone to get hurt."
"Y'know what? Fair enough," said Jacq, already starting to chop up some veggies, "At least you had Miraidon with you, though. Ignis and Queenie aren't gonna be upset that you used a different Pokémon for mobility assistance, are they?"
"They might be, a little bit," said Chamomile, "I gotta plan a special day to make it up to everyone."
"Sounds like a plan!" Jacq started opening cabinets until he found a decent sized pan and started stir-frying the veggies. "Hey, we should plan a Pokémon playdate soon! I bet my Arcanine, Fluffy, would LOVE to meet Ignis while he's off duty!"
"I'd love that!" Said Chamomile, sitting down at the kitchen table, "He loves playing with other dog-mon when he's off duty!"
"Perhaps I can join you," said Raifort, closing the door behind her, "Zoroark and Gangar are crazy about Belle."
"Oh my gosh, yes!" Chamomile flapped their hands excitedly. "I forgot to get a picture last time they met each other!"
Chamomile released their Pokémon from their luxury balls. Ignis went to lay in his bed, Circuit possessed the fridge to startle Jacq for a brief moment, Nurse sat down in a corner of the room with a plush pink carpet while Putty rested on top of her head, and Queenie stood next to Chamomile as Belle hopped in their lap.
Queenie tugged at Chamomile's sleeve. "Slooooow?" She said, in a questioning tone.
"Yeah, I'm sorry, Queenie..." Chamomile patted Queenie's cheek. "I was a bit too wrapped up in what I was doing to let you out while we were there. I'll make it up to you, alright?"
Queenie let out a content "sloooow" as she leaned into Chamomile's touch a little.
Raifort sat down at the table next to Chamomile. "What was it like, anyway?" She asked, excitement creeping into her tone, "Did you get to see any ancient Pokémon??"
"You know? Oddly, I didn't," said Chamomile, "But I didn't really see any future Pokémon either. Aside from the one I was helping. But Miraidon and I didn't go that far into the crater to begin with."
"As glad as I am that you didn't have to go too far down," said Jacq as he cooked, "It's a shame you didn't. It'd potentially prove or disprove some theories people had."
"Yeah?" Chamomile went to look over at Jacq. "Like what?"
"Well, very few people have gone in," said Jacq, "but for those who have, the report has been different every time. Some say they only saw future Pokémon, some say they only saw ancient Pokémon, some say they saw both... Even after everything happened with AI Turo, it still seems to change every time. At least, according to Indigo, who sneaks in regularly, apparently.
"That's so odd..." Chamomile furrowed their brows and put their hand on their chin. "Normally I would assume that future Pokémon outcompeted the ancient Pokémon if there was a natural progression in their disappearance, but these changes sound inconsistent and all over the place!"
"Area Zero is overall quite the anomaly," said Raifort, "It has been, throughout history. Which makes it such a fascinating topic of study."
"That is indeed true!" said Chamomile, "If my studies weren't so focused on the Pokemon outside of it, I'd surely be honored to study the crater's environment! Despite the dangers, it's beautiful!"
"Don't tempt me now," Raifort joked, "You have no idea how much I would love to get even glimpse at the mysterious plates that were found there with my own eyes."
"I promise, I'm not trying to!" Chamomile laughed. "I wish I was able to get a picture for you, though!"
"Well, I suppose looking at sketches will just have to do," said Raifort, in a jokingly disappointed tone.
"Small price to pay for keeping your life," Jacq remarked, as he approached the table with two plates of pepper steak.
"Where's your sense of ambition, Jacq?" Asked Raifort.
"Hey, I've got plenty of ambition," said Jacq, as he portioned out six extra plates. "Remember that time I tried to blend in with the Flamigos?"
Chamomile chuckled at the banter between Raifort and Jacq, then looked down at the Pepper Steak, poking at it while lost in thought. They had so many worries on their mind - about the league, about Area Zero, about their job and the shadow of the previous Professors they'd have to step out of...
Could they even do it?
How could they possibly amount to the work that was done before them? They had just recently been certified, and on top of that, they were a foreigner. What if upholding the name of Paldea's official Pokémon Professor proved to be too big a task for them to handle?
"Sloooow...?" Queenie rested a paw on Chamomile's arm, her expression slightly concerned.
"Sorry, Queenie..." Chamomile scratched the bridge of Queenie's nose. "I'm okay; just a little out of it, I guess..."
Jacq paused from handing out extra olates to all the pokemon to exchange a worried glance with Raifort, before motioning towards Chamomile with an insistant head tilt.
"... Hey." Raifort reached over to grab Chamomile's hand and smiled gently. "For what it's worth... I'm glad you made it back."
Chamomile hesitated before giving Raifort a soft, grateful smile in return. "Thanks, Cloe. It really means a lot."
Both of them glanced away for a moment while smiling, still holding each others' hands, before Belle reached over and put her cloth hand on top of theirs with an excitable "Ba-NETTE!"
Raifort startled slightly and let go of Chamomile's hand immediately. "I ah..." she cleared her throat nervously. "It's clear that Belle agrees with me!"
Chamomile laughed as they kissed the top of Belle's head. "Thanks, sweetie, you're the best!"
Jacq chuckled as he finally sat down with his own plate of Pepper Steak. "Alright, all your Pokémon have been fed too," he said, as he went back to the counter to grab everyone's tea, "I'll restock your ingredients for you after work tomorrow."
"Oh, don't worry about it," said Chamomile, "You've already cooked for me; I can't thank you enough!"
"Don't mention it," said Jacq, "I like to cook on occasion. Now go ahead, dig in."
Chamomile finally took a bite, and widened their eyes. "MM!" They took a moment to swallow before looking over at Jacq. "Jacq, this is amazing! Where'd you learn ti cook like this?"
"From Mr. Saguaro, the Home Economics teacher," said Jacq, "I don't think my cooking can even compare to him, though."
"At least it's edible," said Raifort, "You've got that going for you."
"Oh c'mon, you like it too," Jacq teased. "If you didn't, you wouldn't eat it!" Then he looked over at Chamomile. "She's got sensory issues."
"Oh, you too, huh?" Chamomile smiled at Raifort. "I'm right there with you, honestly!"
"Is that so?" Raifort tilted her head slightly, seeming to visibly relax a little. "Glad to see someone else understands the struggle."
"Here's to neurodivergence!" Said Jacq, raising his cup of tea slightly. "Please don't actually clink the glasses together, though; I can't stand the sound."
"To neurodivergence!" Chamomile cheered, raising their glass near Jacq's without allowing them to touch.
"To neurodivergence," Raifort repeated, raising her own glass as well.
The group spent a good portion of the night talking and laughing together, discussing topics of science, history, life, and whatever else could possibly come to mind - which ended up being quite a lot. Even after the meal was over and Jacq cleaned up for everyone, they continued talking, laughing, and sharing stories.
Eventually, both Jacq and Raifort both left, wishing Chamomile a good night. Chamomile went to bed, with a Banette in their arms and their heart full of gratitude.
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