Something something Nanu & Acerola

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 you heard. Something about falling rocks from carving out the way to the new Pokémon League. What do you care.
You do care, to be honest. You aren't completely heartless, and mostly kids live in that house. You're just glad nobody got hurt. You won't ever tell Acerola, but you don't think you'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. You got word that the little trial captain was making her way t Po City'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 your Meowth to help.

Getting the bed wasn't so hard after all. Those Team Skull grunts still seem to think you have it in you to arrest the lot. If you had the energy, you would, you really would. But for now, you just reminded them that you could during your 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 you're here, with a little purple princess on your hands. You even went through the trouble of putting tea on. You forgot which kind she liked, so you just grabbed something. You 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," you 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 you could listen to for hours on end if it didn't remind you 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~"
You fail to not sigh as you get up slowly. "Let's get to it, then."

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

Cleaning helps time pass quickly. During that time, Acerola talks about this and that. A trainer that whimped 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 you only stop clearing the floor and furniture of grey fur when her stomach rumbles. It's already six PM. You 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 you show her the pantry. Did she really expect you to suddenly start buying something else? She says it's okay, she'll send you something actually good to cook. Ingredients and recipe, all in one. She really doesn't have to. In fact, you'd rather she didn't but what can you 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.
You laugh. A coarse, dry sound that shuts you up nearly immediately. The rest of the meal is a lot quieter.

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

Not much later, she's in bed. Your bed has the better mattress, so she can sleep in it. She asks you one last question while you 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 you with those big, purple eyes. Innocence radiates from them, and not a single thing else.
She really still believes in you.
You dim the light. "Yes, Acerola. It's time I put that Guzma behind bars."
"Good. You could really use it, you know."

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