Naito the Natu gets into trouble (naturally) while Tia writes her research thesis.
Naito hopped down the stairs leading from Tia’s room, looking around curiously. He turned back, looking up at the large hand-written sign pasted on the door:
WRITING THESIS. DO NOT DISTURB ON PAIN OF DEATH!!
Tia had placed the sign on her bedroom door moments before unceremoniously kicking him out. Now that her emotions and her relationship with Aidan were back on track, she had switched gears and was now diligently working on writing her thesis.
Naito reached the bottom of the stairs and immediately skittered out of the way as a Great Ball dropped to the ground near him. He looked up to see Nathan carrying a large box filled with Great Balls.
“Oops!” he said, putting the box down and picking up the Great Ball. “Excuse me, Naito!” He picked up the box again, placed it on a workbench, and looked at Naito thoughtfully. “Bored?”
“Tuut!”
“Why don’t you go outside and see what the Horde is doing?” The Horde was the family’s collective nickname for Naomi and Nathan’s Pokemon teams, who usually frequented the large yard surrounding the house.
“Tuut-tuu!” Naito hopped and fluttered out the door, looking for a Pokemon to hang out with. Who would he visit this time? Sometimes he would spar with Zen, Naomi’s Blaziken, and Nathan’s Breloom. Other times he would meditate with Kaito, Naomi’s Xatu, who he saw as a big brother. Once he went on patrol with Nathan’s Mightyena, the family watchdog, and chased away a couple of would-be trespassers.
He hopped over to Ran, Naomi’s Manectric, and Nathan’s Raichu, who were busy charging a power meter with their attacks. Across the way, Naomi’s Azumarill, Mizu, and Nathan’s Swampert were working on a water clock. In the sky above the house, Naomi’s Flygon, Fuji, and Nathan’s Salamence were flying hard, whipping up mini-windstorms, while Naomi stood below them, measuring their intensity. Yuki, Naomi’s Absol, and Nathan’s Venusaur were sleeping in the corner of the yard, oblivious to everything around.
Naito saw that the rest of Tia’s current Pokemon had taken up residence with the Horde as well: Aura the Umbreon, Summer the Typhlosion, Luna the Ampharos, Emi the Dewgong and Windy the Pidgeot. But they were either hanging with the rest of the Horde or off doing their own things.
The only Pokemon not doing anything was Garlic, a young Bulbasaur Nathan was currently raising. Naito hopped over to him and tweeted a greeting. Garlic waved hello with one of his vines.
Naito and Garlic chatted for a little bit, then Naito spied a large rubber ball made to resemble a Master Ball. He hopped over and bounced it with his head and beak. Garlic laughed.
Naito and Garlic bounced the ball back and forth a few times, until Garlic hit the ball with a vine a little too hard, causing it to fly through the air and bounce hard against Tia’s upstairs window.
Naito jumped in surprise, then hopped over, trying to catch up with the falling ball, and bobbed it with his head. The ball went wide, slamming right into Yuki’s head, waking her up. Annoyed, she hit the ball with a Slash, causing it to bounce into Venusaur, who sleepily whipped it away with a vine.
The vine sent the ball high into the air again, getting caught in Fuji and Salamence’s windstorm. It swirled around violently, then fell hard, slamming into Ran and Raichu’s power meter. The power meter sparked, causing electricity to hit Mizu and Swampert’s water clock, and spread the electricity through the entire yard.
The power and lights in the house surged for a moment, then went completely dead.
Naito and Garlic’s eyes went wide with alarm, and they looked at each other with existential dread.
Meanwhile, a muffled epithet came from the closed upstairs window. The window slammed open, and Tia poked her head out, an awful scowl on her face.
“All right, who turned off the power?!” she yelled.
No one answered. The rest of the Horde looked over at Naito and Garlic, as the rubber Master Ball gently rolled back to them.
“Tuuu-tuuuu…”
“Bulba-saur…”
Naomi looked up at Tia and smiled, oblivious to the others. “Tia! Taking a break now? Come outside and get some fresh air!”
Tia stared at Naito and Garlic, then at her mother, and a soft, maniacal laugh issued from her mouth. “You all are so lucky my laptop has batteries…” She slammed the window shut.
“I suppose that’s a ‘no’,” Naomi said, chuckling.