Cynthia instead of attacking smiled and waved her hand towards Spiritomb.

Spiritomb wobbled slightly and nothing much seemed to change but I felt a niggling thought occur to me.

I remember browsing a number of different websites when I used to play pokemon and Spiritomb stuck out to be as being highly rated. Especially the pokemon that Cynthia had.

Steven went on the attack before I could fully register what it was about this pokemon and it was only as Psybeam was charging across the field at Spiritomb that I recalled why it was so good.

Psybeam slammed into Spiritomb and dust and wind swept about the field.

“Steven’s screwed,” I announced, cutting through the quiet as everyone leaned forward to watch for Spiritomb or some trick.

Yolanda kept her eyes forward but hummed in a questioning manner.

“That’s not just a ghost pokemon, nor is it a ghost-poison type or even a Ghost-Ground type,” I informed everyone right as the dust cleared and Spiritomb was revealed no worse for the attack.

Everyone gasped as Cynthia smiled enigmatically.

“It’s a ghost-dark type.” I announced.

Then her pokemon flickered and vanished.

It then reappeared directly behind Claydol in a dark shadow before lashing out.

Claydol toppled away from Spiritomb in surprise and began to spin, swinging a stubby arm around. I’d seen Sabrina’s Claydol do it several times before. A Physical attack combined with a dodge that allowed Claydol to gain some room on its foes.

Only Spiritomb didn’t let that happen.

The gasesuos face split open as Spiritomb cackled. A limb shot out and swiped into Claydol causing it to topple fully over itself and crash into the ground.

A silence swept through the crowd at the fast shut down that Cynthia had just dished out. In our watch party the only noise that could be made out was quiet little ‘gasps’ from my siblings along with the occasional quiet crunch of food from Munchlax.

I sat back, my mind racing with implications of Cynthia using Spiritomb. “Steven’s really going to wish that he took her up on withdrawing that pokemon,” I mused aloud.

“Why’s that?” Salvadore asked.

Sabrina took over, her mind no doubt understanding all the implications. “A ghost-dark type has only one vulnerability: Fairy type moves. It is immune to normal, fighting, and psychic-type moves, however. It is also resistant to poison types. Everything else is only going to damage it normally.”

“Woah!” Salvadore exclaimed as he raised up his pokedex only for it to state that Spiritomb wasn’t on the pokedex list. The sound of a camera clicking went off and I snorted.

“That’s a foreign pokemon Salvadore. It won’t be available to the public yet on the pokedex but there are some people that have access to the information.”

“Like you?” Salvadore said with something approaching puppy eyes.

I nodded. “We got briefings from some of the Indigo delegates along with lists of potential pokemon we might face,” I said rubbing my chin. “I hadn’t really given much thought to Spiritomb at the time but did they identify it properly?” I asked while turning to Sabrina.

“I don’t believe they did,” merely listing it as ghost type,” she declared.

I nodded and considered what I knew of Steven’s team. “He’s in for a world of hurt. I don’t think he has a single Fairy type on his team.”

Everyone blinked at this and Yolanda perked up. “Wait? Really? So, he’s in trouble?”

“Big time,” I replied with a nod. “That one pokemon of Cynthia’s is about to put the hurt on him majorly.”

On screen Steven seemed to be highly aware of this as he had a conflicted expression as he returned his pokemon. His hand ghosted across his pokebelt and I could tell he was running scenarios through his mind frantically only to heave a sigh of relief as the referee declared that there would be an intermission.

The announcers of the match quickly leapt in to start analysing what they’d witnessed with Lucario defeating Cradily, then losing to Claydol only for Claydol to be destroyed by Spiritomb.

I hummed and opened another channel which stayed on the battlefield to reveal that much like last time, Steven was being handed a drink and towel while advisors bustled to indicate clipboards or what looked like battle plans to him while he glared.

He made a gesture towards one of the men, and something was said, only for the man to bow his head in shame and slink away.

“Huh, I think we just saw Steven fire one of his analysts,” I murmured to Sabrina.

Sabrina sniffed in distaste only to huff in amusement when the camera feed switched to Cynthia.

Unlike Lance she was sitting in her dugout with Diantha and Alder, only none of them appeared to be talking about the fight.

They were instead enjoying bowls of ice cream.

“Wow, that’s a flex,” I chuckled before smirking as I leaned towards Sabrina. “Hey, why did the ice cream truck—”

Cindy leaned forward from the seat behind me cutting between Sabrina and I while interrupting my joke. “How come he doesn’t have a Gardevoir? Aren’t Hoenn famous for them? If Sabrina could get one, what was stopping him? He’s their champion.”

I hummed and cast a glance towards where Sabrina was sitting with Kirlia in her lap. Sabrina shot me a smirk knowing that I’d been about to make her laugh only to have it blocked. She seemed more amused by this than if I’d actually told my joke.

I huffed and gave Cindy’s question some serious thought only to blink with surprise as the answer was literally in front of me.

“Gardevoir’s evolutionary line is known for being highly empathic. You need to be open and honest and share your feelings with them for them to trust you. As a trainer that means a lot,” I said as I toyed with the reason. I wasn’t certain about it but some of the comments he’d made in the past sort of slotted into place. “Steven’s methods of training and bonding with his pokemon is very…” I searched around for a polite way of talking about it before just saying, ” Different. He sometimes allows others to do the work so his bond could be different. It’s interesting that he can perform a mega evolution with his Metagross but that might showcase that he either has a deeper bond than we understand or that he and his pokemon are similar to each other.”

“He lets other people train his pokemon?” gasped Cindy.

I shrugged. “It’s different and not something I or others would advise, but it works for Steven.” I tilted my head. “Or rather it did but perhaps his approach has locked him out of an entire type of pokemon. Fairy types might not be able to tolerate his approach to pokemon training which would result in him never being able to use them properly,” I declared.

I glanced towards Sabrina and Kirlia. “That sound right to you?”

Sabrina awarded me a small smile. “Very,” she said succinctly.

“Will our trainers please return to their podiums!” declared the referee as the match resumed.

Steven stalked out with a determined look in his eyes only to falter when he attempted to lock eyes with Cynthia only for her to be furiously spooning ice cream into her mouth.

“She’s going to give herself brain—” I started to say only for Cynthia to twitch and hold her head as she held out her bowl of ice cream.

I could almost feel the collective disbelief at what she was doing from around me. I had no doubt it must have been even more ludicrous in the actual stadium.

Cynthia straightened up a moment later with a furtive wipe of her mouth only to stride out like nothing had happened.

I chuckled. “Damn but she has some main character energy. She just marches to the beat of her own drum!” Next to me Sabrina nodded.

“Tch!” Steven clicked his tongue in annoyance. He obviously wasn’t pleased at being dismissed but I doubted that was Cynthia’s intention.

When he reached the podium he didn’t waste any time. He grabbed for the simple pokeball on his necklace. “Come out Metagross!” he declared as he unleashed his starter onto the field.

It landed and dented the field with its appearance. Its dark eyes glinted towards Spiritomb and as it shifted its white metal body shone under the battlefield lights.

Cynthia nodded in a pleased manner and swiped her hand through the air as the referee bid the match to restart.

A purple eye appeared quickly above Metagross’ metallic head that locked onto Spiritomb.

Miracle eye, I thought to myself.

Across from it Spiritomb shivered again causing me to narrow my eyes.

“She just buffed her pokemon… again,” I said as I recalled that Spiritomb had already done that once.

Sabrina narrowed her eyes. “Calm Mind. She just used Calm Mind twice.”

Steven rather than going on the attack, twisted his hand into the air and held it aloft allowing the lights to glint off the keystone on his finger. “Metagross! MEGA EVOLVE!” he roared, causing everyone to perk up.

A rainbow cascade of energies exploded out of Metagross and the lights flashed as its form shifted before vanishing to reveal a greatly changed Mega Metagross now with elongated limbs that were extended towards Spiritomb. Behind it, four smaller arms pointed backwards looking like thrusters.

I narrowed my eyes, rather than looking worried Cynthia just smiled and it was only then that I realised she hadn’t attempted to attack Steven before or during the Mega Evolution.

“Did she just get off a third Calm Mind?” I asked and Sabrina nodded.

Steven swept his hand forward and Metagross responded by launching a powerful Psychic that caused much of the field to rise upwards only for a red light to emit itself from Spiritomb.

“What was—” Cindy started to ask.

“Disable,” Sabrina announced as the rocks about the field faltered and fell to the ground. Spiritomb then followed it up by vanishing once more before slamming into Metagross’ flank.

Metagross groaned in pain but twisted around to lock onto its foe as it swiped its four limbs forward all at once as Steven roared, “Meteor Mash!” behind it.

The Steel coated limbs hammered into Spitritomb and sent it soaring backwards only for it to land rather comfortably a few metres away. It’s gaseous form once more cackled at the poor showing only to vanish once more in what had to be yet another Shadow Sneak attack.

This time Steven slashed his hand. “Protect!” he ordered and the attack from Spiritomb failed as its claws raked against the protective barrier. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

It lingered on the edge leering at Metagross. I shook my head in surprise at how this match was turning out. I’d thought it might be Cynthia emerging triumphant but this wasn’t what I was expecting.

To my eyes Cynthia very much had Steven’s number. Something that seemed painfully obvious to Steven as Cynthia met the lowered Protect with a Dark Pulse from close range.

The empowered attack rocked Metagross, but it clung on and fired back with another Meteor Mash.

It slammed home into Spiritomb and Spiritomb was once more sent soaring but it wasn’t enough to finish the ghost. Spiritomb only came back harder, raking dark claws into Metagross and sending one of the most powerful pokemon I knew to the ground.

The Mega Evolution vanished and for a long moment the crowd in the arena sat in stunned silence.

Steven mechanically raised his pokeball and returned his starter with a slightly confused look.

I whistled in appreciation. “She’s broken his mental game,” I declared. Sabrina nodded and around me, instead of asking what I meant, my siblings and my Pokémon team leant forward to watch what I meant.

We watched as Steven tried to claw his way back into the match with Aggron only for it to be Hypnotised and drain of its vitality to bring Spiritomb back to full strength.

Steven tried to get Dark Pulses off, but sadly for him Aggron didn’t awaken in time to do more than flail.

Desperation sunk in then with the match now being four to one in Cynthia’s favour.

He’d wanted to show his strength and instead was being shown up on an international stage.

The dark part of myself enjoyed watching his pride being torn apart while the more professional aspect of me began dissecting what Cynthia was doing and how I might counter it.

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Sceptile emerged next from Steven and with it came a glimmer of hope for Steven as Sceptile demonstrated its signature agility. It glided around the battlefield, evading multiple attacks as it boosted itself with agility.

Then it took the fight in close and slashed at Spiritomb with Leaf Blade.

Cynthia slashed her hand and Spiritomb once more tried for Hypnosis only this time it failed as Sceptile powered through to keep attacking.

In response Cynthia stopped trying to hit with Shadow Sneak and Hypnosis and went for Silver Wind.

The bug type move swept the field and pushed Sceptile back with a painful cry only for Sceptile to roar its defiance and power through.

“Wow, Sceptile’s is strong!” declared Salvadore.

I nodded watching as both pokemon clashed at close range.

Sceptile toppled first slamming into the ground on its belly, only to struggle to stand. Its limbs quivered and shook as it tried to rise. It glanced back at Steven only for him to meet its gaze impassively.

I grimaced. Another trainer would be shouting encouragement right now.

Instead of Steven Cynthia spoke up. “You’ve done well defeating my Spiritomb Sceptile, rest!” she announced grandly.

Sceptile blinked at her in surprise only to glance at Spiritomb to find it was an inert looking rock now.

And with that Sceptile collapsed to the ground and another intermission was called.

“Cynthia’s got this in the bag,” I declared.

Sabrina nodded. “She doesn’t even need to send out her starter. Steven’s going to face major issues because of this. He’s overplayed his hand more seriously than he anticipated. Instead of just a loss he’s had a gaping hole in his pokemon roster exposed.”

Suzie pulled Togepi into her chest and wiggled. “He should have cheered on Sceptile! It’s not right that he didn’t!”

“Yeah, he should have but he didn’t, which is his mistake,” I replied.

I glanced around and saw matching looks of determination on the rest of my siblings’ faces. I smiled, pleased that they were all of similar thoughts.

I turned back and mentally patted myself on the back. They were good kids.

I noticed that this time the analysts all hung back rather than approach Steven. Like a noxious miasma the man seemed to exude an aura that repelled his staff.

Being five to two down would do that to people.

Meanwhile Cynthia was chatting with her fellow Champions without a care in the world.

When the match resumed both trainers locked eyes once more.

Then they released their pokemon.

“Go Blaziken!” shouted Steven.

“Fly true! Togekiss!” chimed Cynthia.

I leaned past Sabrina and tapped Suzie on the shoulder. “Suzie? Pay special attention to this match up, That pokemon Cynthia just released? That’s the fully evolved form of Togepi.”

“Woah!” Suzie gasped, her eyes widening in shock. “Sooo pretty,” she whispered. In her lap Togepi’s eyes were just as wide and shining with stars.

If Suzie didn’t already adore Sabrina so much I might have thought there would be a new favourite for Suzie. But I knew Suzie well enough that Sabrina held top spot bar no one.

“Togekiss! Finish this!” Cynthia ordered and Togekiss accelerated right at Blaziken.

“Careful Blaziken! Conserve your strength!” Steven ordered and Balziken settled into a defensive position with its fists and limbs raised in readiness.

Togekiss surged in like a missile locked onto Blaziken and right at the last moment vanished in a blur of speed only to reappear at Blaziken’s back.

Blaziken responded by spinning wildly fists flying with electrical energy.

Togekiss twisted in the air dodging the counter attack deftly only to tuck and roll into a vertical climb directly above Blaziken.

It fired off a Water Pulse into the air only to ‘stall out’ as it stopped flying and fell back through the air.

It flipped in the air, performing a one eighty and when it faced straight down once more it began to build up speed for yet another head on charge.

Only this time it came on with a large blob of water at its back.

“Evade!” Steven ordered and Blaziken floated to the side with a deft kick, all while tracking the twin threats.

Togekiss corrected right at the last moment like a jet, sweeping in low while the water…

Togekiss somehow caught the water in its feet and swept up and around, launching the orb of water right at Blaziken.

I stared. I’d never even heard of people unleashing a move like that only to ‘catch it’ and reuse it. I suspected it might be something only a flying type would be able to perform but I felt a lot of options open up to me with Don.

Possibly even Shin as he might be speedy enough to ‘catch’ and reinitiate a water Orb or two during a fight. I’d have to give it a try.

Blaziken was caught on the back foot as instead of performing a ram-raid Togekiss became a bomber unleashing a deadly payload from in close.

The Water Orb slammed into Blaziken and caused it to stagger but remain standing.

“Circle strike!” Cynthia ordered, and Togekiss once again shifted attack patterns into a tilting circle around Blaziken.

“Blaziken go on the attack! We can’t rely on countering!” Steven ordered.

Blaizken squawked its agreement and kicked the ground only to vanish in a blur as it used Aerial Ace.

“Shock!” Cynthia shouted only for Blaziken to appear with a foot raised above Togekiss.

Togekiss tried to accelerate away from the strike, but Blaziken adjusted mid swing and stomped Togekiss into the ground.

“Blaze Kick!” bellowed Steven, understanding that this was his best chance to clinch another victory. The foot that held Togekiss ignited and tensed as Blaziken stomped down on the little white pokemon.

“No! Togekiss! Fight back!” Suzie shouted desperately with her fist clenched up cutely.

In her lap Togepi was waving her arms urgently at her fellow pokemon to ‘get up’.

“Aura Sphere!” Cynthia shouted, surprising everyone as a fighting type move erupted from the flying-fairy.

The ground broke and Blaziken staggered backwards.

That was all Togekiss needed to escape once more only instead of twisting away Togekiss closed and hammered itself into Blaziken in a head on strike that caught Blaziken in the midriff.

Togekiss roared defiantly and rose with Blaziken into the air, powering into the Sky only to twist and descend like a meteor with Blaziken at the front.

Blaziken however wasn’t going down without a fight, it hammered Thunder Punch after Thunder Punch into Togekiss but the little flying-fairy wasn’t deterred.

It slammed both of them into the ground and sent a plume of dust and dirt flying into the air.

When it cleared both pokemon were revealed to be knocked out causing the referee to raise his flags.

“Togekiss and Blaziken are unable to battle! The winner of the match is therefore Cynthia from Sinnoh!” declared the referee.

The crowd rose and applauded with only a few looking like they had conflicted expressions over the result.

Around me my siblings cheered for Cynthia with Suzie cheering and lamenting Togekiss’ defeat.

I kept my own thoughts to myself and continued to watch for any emotions that might come from Steven. He’d overplayed his hand. Cynthia had just beaten him with three pokemon and she pointedly hadn’t used her strongest pokemon, nor had she used a mega evolution which would have been possible with Lucario.

If she’d fielded Garchomp how might this match have gone?

Then again, Spiritomb had shut down a lot of Steven’s pokemon. I had to wonder if Cynthia had sent it out first if she might have ended the match at six to one.

“Huh, last season sort of ended with a Champion getting beaten as well,” I mused.

“I wonder if this means a lot of trainers are going to be looking to set out to Sinnoh?” I said.

Sabrina hummed. “That might actually be possible. Perhaps we can tempt people?” she suggested.

I nodded and changed the channel to check another match on Battlecast Three. On it the announcer was interviewing Celia.

“And with that victory you’re now through to the Semifinals of the Hoenn League! Any thoughts about the quality of your opponents?”

I grinned, pleased that Celia was living up to her potential.

“Can we stay up and watch Celia’s match on the replay?” asked Tommy.

I chuckled. I didn’t need to check my parenting book to know how to answer that. “Hahaha! Nope!” I rose and clapped my hands. “Bedtime for the lot of you alright? That means go wash your hands and faces, then your teeth and go to bed!”

When I glanced around I could see a lot of rebellious thoughts fermenting in little minds so I clapped my hands again. “Fastest to get their nightly jobs done gets to pick the story I read!” I declared.

That got them moving.

I chuckled, watching the little ones sprint into the house. I was about to follow when I noted that Sabrina wasn’t moving.

I turned back to find her watching Yolanda who also hadn’t moved. Instead she was staring at the screen in thought.

“Hey Brock… is Cynthia strong?”

I tilted my head. “Probably one of the strongest trainers I’ve seen,” I replied easily.

“Stronger than you?” she asked.

I smiled. “Depends,” I replied.

Yolanda frowned deeper. “On what?”

I moved over and mushed up Yolanda’s hair. “What I’m fighting for,” I declared. “I seem to recall thrashing another champion when he bad mouthed my family,” I said with a smirk.

Yolanda giggled and shot me a thoughtful look before tucking her head and darting under my arms with Terra in her grasp. I turned around and found Sabrina still watching us with a pensive look.

“What’s up?” I asked.

Sabrina’s lips thinned. “Just… some dark thoughts drifting out of Yolanda’s mind just now. She’s wondering if you could be that strong if you hadn’t been shackled with family and coming back to the Gym,” she said.

I snorted. “Eh, who can say? I might not be as strong!” I declared easily.

Sabrina nodded but I kept her comment in mind as I walked into the house. It was really just another issue that had arisen due to Lola running away.

When it was time to let the kids pick, I surprised them by producing a book that I’d had made up with pictures of Diancie from the information I’d gotten from the Kalosian pokedex.

“That’s Diancie?” gasped Suzie. “It’s beautiful!” Togepi thrilled her agreement while Munchlax, now dressed in his nightie, made agreeing noises.

I smiled, pleased with myself for the foresight to get this made up. It sure as hell beat my drawings I’d attempted in the past.

With everyone crowded around me I began to read. “Long ago, in a land far, far away, there was a beautiful pokemon called Diancie—”

When I was done I tucked everyone in and slipped into my own bed. Sabrina snugged in close and smiled at me.

“What?” I said knowing she was amused by something.

“You realise with Kalos open to us now, that Suzie is going to make a beeline for Kalos when it’s time for her Journey don’t you? She’s determined to ‘make friends’ with a Diancie.”

“Sounds like she’ll have a grand adventure,” I replied, switching out the lights and shutting my eyes for sleep. I chuckled to myself as a thought occurred to me.

Sabrina shifted. “What’s got you giggling?”

“Wait until I tell her that Diancie can Mega-evolve,” I said.

Sabrina giggled knowing that Suzie’s determination to befriend Diancie would only grow with such knowledge.

With the circuit over, there wasn’t much I had to do around the Gym beyond caring for my pokemon, feeding the pokemon on the reserve, and training.

Missy was in the process of finalising her team for next year’s debut on the Ace Circuit, while A.J. and Greta were both at the Indigo League at the Gym’s expense to watch the best trainers duking it out.

Which left me mostly on my own as I had most things fairly well delegated these days.

I made sure to swing around and talk with Bianca about the possibly shiny growlithe. Bianca surprised me when she made a request.

“If it’s a male can we call him Bax? I’ve always wanted a puppy and well I’m going to spend a lot of time around him…” she trailed off but I nodded.

“Sure thing, if it’s a boy he’ll be Bax the Growlithe.” I waved a hand. “Tell the others that as we start getting more growlithe for the breeding program, we’ll need more names as well so we’ll get a list made up,” I stated.

Bianca perked up at that and skipped off to tell the others the good news. I watched her go, wondering if I might not have just made a mistake.

Nah.

I turned my attention elsewhere only for there to be no paperwork that really needed doing, nor any actual Gym work. I’d been too damned organised in the lead up to what should have been my holiday in Hoenn.

I huffed. I knew I was putting off thinking about it but I did need to come up with an idea of how to deal with Lola.

For that I’d need to talk with my Therapist which was booked in for tomorrow. Until then… I was going to see if the bookstore had anything on the subject.

As I walked out the gate I was surprised when one of the Houndour tagged along with me only for Titan to join us. I shot both of them amused looks before shrugging and going for a walk with two of my pokemon. I gave the Houndour a quick check and discovered it was the girl I’d named Tazzie.

With Titan by my side we drew a bit of attention as we ambled along but no one made a big deal of it. People in Pewter were used to seeing me walk around after all.

When I reached the bookstore, Titan plopped himself down at the entrance and Tazzie the houndour curled up in his lap, earning a chuckle from me at Titan’s bemused expression.

I made a beeline for the self-help section and became a little depressed when I spotted the section of shelves dedicated towards ‘my spouse/parent/brother has run off and won’t help raise the children. What should I do?’.

I suppose that it made sense that it would be there, but to see an entire section of it to be so blatant… it was a bit sad.

“Hello there Gym Leader Brock,” called a woman.

I turned and found myself looking at a woman I’d never met before. “Ah, hello there! You have me at a disadvantage,” I said with a nervous chuckle.

The woman smiled sadly and instead of introducing herself she flicked her eyes towards the shelves I was standing in front of. “I’ve read most of those… some of them aren’t very good if you want my take, but there’s a few that get it,” she said without preamble.

I blinked, having not expected her to just jump in. the lack of introduction… Ah, perhaps she didn’t want to share her name? I wet my lips and glanced at the books.

“How are they better?”

“The authors have obviously been through it. Some of the people that write the books… they haven’t been through the loss or experience. It’s like talking to a therapist that hasn’t experienced it before. They can say the words but the connecting and understanding… it’s just not there,” she said sadly.

I nodded, getting what she meant. She pointed at me. “Like that,” she said and I made an ‘ah’ of comprehension.

The woman reached out and plucked three books from the shelf. “These authors get it,” she offered, handing the books to me.

I shifted. “I’d really just been looking for one,” I said sheepishly.

The woman sighed and took two back. “Men,” she said with a shake of her head.

I opened the book left in my grasp to a random page and gave it a look over.

A section of text jumped out at me.

“—you build a dream lifestyle in your head about how things will go, only for suddenly the partner of your dreams to be gone and you to feel like there is nothing but a weight all over your body that you must drag with you going forwards.”

I frowned, recalling how things had been in the early days when I’d taken over the Gym with two extremely young sets of twins that had been teething and going through tantrums.

Yeah, it had been rough.

A weight? Yeah… yeah, it had felt that way sometimes.

I shut the book, a tight feeling in the back of my throat. “Yeah…” I said with a slightly scratchy voice. “They get it,” I said.

The woman patted me on the shoulder as I looked at the title. ‘Day by day. One step at a time’

I swallowed and thanked the woman. A thought occurred to me and I decided to ask it before she left and it grew too awkward. “What would you do if your spouse or loved one returned and wanted to be part of your life?”

The woman blinked and gave this a moment’s thought. “Well I’d try and take things day by day,” she said thoughtfully. “But… I’d probably also kick him in the dick first.”

I snorted, and a laugh escaped my gut at her honesty. She smiled and winked. “Good luck with it,” she said, nodding towards the book.

I watched her go, amused that I hadn’t even gotten her name. I shook my head and bought the book. Titan and Tazzie followed me back to the house.

Titan shot me little glances, and I smiled up at him.

I led them to the front garden and found a comfortable patch of ground. I got Titan to lay down and then I sat back against him with Tazzie in my lap with a book to read.

The woman had been right. It was a good book.

It was uncomfortable to read in some parts but she’d been right. The author got what it was like to be left behind. In some small way reading the book helped.

I started to form an idea of what I would do as I read the book and when it was time to talk with my therapist, I discussed it with her.

They thought it had potential.

And so when I was called later that day about Lola and Flint being allowed out of quarantine, I made a request.

“Keep them there, I’ll come get them.” I said, deciding to take the initiative and meet Lola head on.

If that didn’t work? Well I’d readjust and take things day by day.

But I was totally going to try and sock her one first.