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==Teddi==

For as long as Alistair could remember, he had owned Teddi. The little plush was present in his oldest memories, by his side at all times, and had seen him through many a scary dream. This is why, when he couldn’t find it, the discovery of the loss sent him into a tizzy. The Deino had been taking a nap with his plush by his side, as always, and when he awoke, Teddi was gone. Missing. Stolen! With a startled cry of ”Deeeeeeinooooo!” the little dragon leaped to his feet and started sniffing around the corner he had fallen asleep in. There was no familiar smell, no soft cloth to touch – Teddi was really gone!

Frantic now, Alistair dashed around the room, sniffing, licking and nudging everything in his attempt to locate his precious missing toy. Having no luck, he plopped down in the middle of the room and let out a distressed cry, hoping Mariana would hear him from her office (really just a walk-in closet in her bedroom) and help him search for his precious toy. Unfortunately, his cries weren’t loud enough to be heard over the sound of the washing machine, which was running rather loudly in the utility room. So Alistair tried again. ”Deeeeeeeeeeeeeeinoooooooooo!” Maybe this time she would hear him?

He sat and listened for a minute, but there was still no response. Heaving a great sob, the deino stood up again, and decided to expand his search. From the living room, to the kitchen, and up the stairs to Mariana’s bedroom he searched. No matter where he went, he couldn’t find his precious Teddi. He was running out of places to search, and his desperation grew with every corner and cushion and shelf that turned up empty. As his search widened out, so did the trail of disaster that he left in his wake – items knocked off of shelves, cushions tugged out of chairs, he had even knocked the garbage bin in the kitchen over and rifled through it!

His next destination was the bathroom. He didn’t need to sniff the toilet to know his toy wouldn’t be there, but he did check out the bathtub, climbing in and sniffing round the edges before climbing back out. Next was his biggest challenge – hopping out of the tub, he stood up on his hind legs and tugged the lid of the toilet down so he could jump onto the seat without falling in. From there, he reached to the sink and started sniffing and tasting everything that rested there. Licking an interestingly-shaped bar of something on the sink, the Deino was startled by the bitter foaminess that welled up in his mouth. It was gross, but… but maybe there was some kind of special thing about this foamy icky bar, maybe it would help him find Teddi!

Grabbing it in his mouth, the deino swallowed the bar of soap in two bites, hearing Mariana leave her closet and head downstairs to tend to the now-finished wash cycle as he did so. Belching a soap bubble, Alistair climbed down and trotted out of the bathroom. Maybe now that Mariana was out, she could help him find Teddi! Only… it seemed she had found something else, first.

”Aaaaaaah! Alistair, what have you been doing?!? Get down here, mister!”

Wondering what he could possibly be in trouble for and still feeling inexplicably queasy, Alistait trotted out of the bathroom and down the stairs to the living room, where he found Mariana by bumping into her shins. ”Deeeei! Dei no no no dei no deidei nodei no no !” he complained, trying to tell her about Teddi’s disappearance and possible kidnapping, but wagging his tail because he was so glad to see her! He burped again, and was rewarded by an exasperated sigh and his trainer kneeling down to pat him on the head.

”Alistair, you ate soap again, didn’t you?”

Had he? Alistair wasn’t quite sure what she was talking about, but come to think of it, he had tasted that foamy, bitter stuff before, hadn’t he. Just once, when he was very little, and it had smelled sweet, like a pecha berry! It hadn’t tasted sweet, though. But – but that wasn’t the point. Whining, Alistair tried to explain what had happened, that he had been looking for Teddi and wouldn’t she help him find him? She had to help him, please please please!

She must have figured it out, though, because she chuckled fondly and got to her feet. ”Oh, I know what’s wrong. Come with me, silly,” Mariana said, And Alistair followed her to the laundry, where he heard her open the washing machine and pull out something that made a little squelching sound and dripped water everywhere. When she held it out to him, he sniffed it and then, unsure of where this was going, licked it. Although wet, he’d recognize Teddi anywhere! He didn’t smell like Teddi, though, so Alistair nudged Mariana insistently, wanting to know what was going on.

”Oh, you silly Swanna,” Mariana said, opening the dryer and putting the plush inside. ”Your Teddi is fine – I’m just washing him for you!”

…Oh. So he wasn’t hurt or stolen, he was just getting a bath? Relieved, Alistair sat down and burped a soap bubble contently. He would wait for Teddi to finish drying, then! He’d sit right here, and not move, and… why was Mariana tugging him away?!?

”No you don’t, mister. We’re getting something for the sick tummy you’re about to develop, and then you’re helping me clean up the mess you made!”

Solo 1
Word Count: 933

Alistair had hands now! Before he had only had feet, stumpy things good for stomping around but terrible for touching things, making him have to use his head and mouth if he wanted to investigate things - a dangerous habit, given how icky some things tasted! But now he had hands! Actual hands, with fingers. Giggling to himself, Alistair waved his hands about, then hugged his Teddi to him. He could give real hugs now! He was absolutely sure Teddi appreciated this fact.

Scrabbling to his feet, where he wobbled unsteadily for a moment before stumbling forward, his Teddi clutched in one hand and the other held out in front of him to stave off running into things (running into things was terrible and Not Fun), Alistair giggled as his hands touched something soft, and climbed up onto the couch. It took a bit of scrabbling and he almost dropped Teddi, but finally he was on top of it and sprawled out, continuing to laugh.

"Mooooom, mooooooooooom, I did it!" He crowed, waving a hand around in the air as he heard Mariana's footsteps approach. His mom laughed and sat down next to him - the deino child could feel the couch cushion sink as she did so, and he scrambled over and into her lap for cuddles.

"Did you?" she asked, and Alistair could hear how happy she was. "What did you do?" He squealed as he felt her arms come around him in a hug, and he bumped his head against her before remembering that hey, he could do that now, too! Letting Teddi drop to the couch cushions, he returned his mom's hug with a clumsy squeeze of his own.

"Used my hands," he said simply, and gave a happy sigh, snuggling up against him mom with a little rumble of contentment. "Hands are great," he added, not feeling content to leave it there. "And being able t' talk to you!" That part was even better than hands, Alistair thought. He'd been talking to his Mom for ages, but she could never quite understand him the way he wanted her to.

But now she could, and he was determined to tell her absolutely everything about everything, especially the things she had missed because she couldn't understand Pokéspeech. "Mom, Mom," he started up again, and was rewarded with a hand running through his hair and brushing it away from his face. He wasn't sure why the human kept doing that, but if it made her happy he wouldn't hold it against her.

"Mom," he said again, and folded his arms to pout when she didn't answer right away. (Oh, the things you could do with hands and arms!). His Mom laughed, the kind of laugh that wasn't really laughing at him so much as being surprised by the situation in general. He couldn't blame her, it had been really weird to wake up like this - he didn't think that it was normal for a Deino to evolve into this shape (and he still felt like a Deino, not a Zweilous...)

"Yes, Alistair?" She asked, and he almost headbumped her before thinking better of it - a rare thing and something that would never be frequent."What is it?"

"...Can I have a little sister?"

"...Um.... we'll see."

Word count: 549