The front door opens. "Uncle Nanu! I'm here!" The noise has arrived. Just in time, too.

So here's the deal. That Aether House has suffered some damage lately, or so I heard. Something about falling rocks from carving out the way to the new Pokémon League. What do I care.
I do care, to be honest. I'm not completely heartless, and mostly kids live in that house. I'm just glad nobody got hurt. I won't ever tell Acerola, but I don't think I'd have to.

A few Malie City villagers have opened up their guest rooms for the children, but one kid said 'no thank you, I have that taken care of'. If only she'd called to take care of it first. I got word that the little trial captain was making her way to Po Town's famous police station just under an hour ago. Barely enough time to figure out how to fit two beds into the office, where to get the second bed from, and convince at least some of those Meowth to help.

Getting the bed wasn't so hard after all. Those Team Skull grunts still seem to think I have it in me to arrest the lot. If I had the energy, I would, I really would. But for now, I just reminded them that I could during my daily round through the city, and voila. One of the best mattresses they had left. They even left it at the front door.

So now I'm here, with a little purple princess on my hands. I even went through the trouble of putting tea on. I forgot which kind she liked, so I just grabbed something. I also forgot which tea leaves were what, so there's that.

Acerola stomps through the small entrance, looking around as if she's in a zoo or something. With how many of those grey-furred cats there are around, she might as well be.
"I haven't been here in ages!" she says.
"You're here now," I note.
"And it's good that I did, uncle! It's so filthy! When did you last clean?"
"When was your last visit?"
She laughs. A bright, sparkling sound that I could listen to for hours on end if it didn't remind me of the eager, energetic police officer that used to work here.

She manages to push out an "ewww!" through her laughing fit, "that's terrible! Don't your Meowth ever help you?"
"No." There's nothing more to say on the matter. She knows.
"Distant royalty like me really shouldn't be working like this, but... I can make an exception for distant royalty like you~"
I fail to not sigh as you get up slowly. "Let's get to it, then."

There's really no arguing with her. I really don't want to be doing this right now, but the alternative is having her nag over and over until I do. At least she cares for the place. Someone has to. I'm just here to feed the cats.

Cleaning helps time pass quickly. During that time, Acerola talks about this and that. A trainer that wimped out on her challenge, a Mimikyu that ran off with a kid's Pikachu doll, A girl she met in Malie City, they're 'besties' now. The two of us only stop clearing the floor and furniture of grey fur when her stomach rumbles. It's already six PM. I tell her she can pick what's for dinner, as long as it's either spaghetti with canned sauce or without.

She thinks it's a joke until I show her the pantry. Did she really expect me to suddenly start buying something else? She says it's okay, she'll send me something actually good to cook. Ingredients and recipe, all in one. She really doesn't have to. In fact, I'd rather she didn't but what can I do? Her heart is simply too big to let something petty like this go uncorrected.

She helps making dinner after throwing away the cold tea. During the cooking, and even during dinner, she keeps talking, talking and talking. That bright, excited laugh keeps filling the room. At one point, a Meowth tries to steal some of her food.
I laugh. A coarse, dry sound that shuts me up nearly immediately. The rest of the meal is a lot quieter.

After dinner, the two of us watch some of those terrible, repetitive malasada commercials. I wonder when the last time was that anything else was on. She starts yawning at around nine. Time for bed, for me too. I normally stay up until three or four, but I'll need the energy to keep up with this little ball of energy.

Not much later, she's in bed. My bed has the better mattress, so she can sleep in it. She asks me one last question while I tuck her in. "Uncle Nanu?"
"What is it?"
"Are you really going to apprehend them?"
Apprehend who?
Nevermind that, the obvious answer lives less than five minutes walking away from here.
She looks up at me with those big, purple eyes. Innocence radiates from them, and not a single thing else.
She really still believes in me.
I dim the light. "Yes, Acerola. It's time I put that Guzma behind bars."
"Good. You could really use it, you know."

I fall asleep surprisingly quickly. Maybe I gave myself the better mattress after all. The last thing I notice before drifting off is something small in purple pajamas crawling under the blanket, muttering something about how I should wear the pajamas she got me.