MoonRazor | Trainer: Odin | Pokenoids: OsiasOsias felt anxious.
In the short time that he and Odin had decided to partner up, the Taillow had found the trainer to be a man of his word. He showed up when he promised to do so, and both their travels and their training had progressed quite as they’d both expected. So there was nothing to indicate that Osias ought to be worried.
And yet.
The source of his concerns had shown up recently, not long after the two of them had made it to Celadon City. Osias had been off at the Game Corner with Ash when Odin had booted up into the game and run into a kindly gentleman. That gentleman had entrusted Odin with an egg, a delicate-looking green thing that Odin had presented to Osias proudly when they’d finally reunited. They were to carry it with them, evidently, and over time, the egg would hatch.
Well. Osias wasn’t so sure about all that.
Odin had promised him that this little egg wouldn’t change a thing and that it wouldn’t be any sort of setback on their adventure. If anything, the egg meant their party was growing and that was always going to be a good thing. Odin loved company and reveled in being surrounded, in a way that Osias still had some reservations about. Mostly because it was impossible to tell how all those loose ties might weigh them down, making it harder for them to roam. Could it be that if they made enough friends in the city, that they wouldn’t want to leave anymore? That thought terrified the Taillow.
Suppose this little egg did exactly that? He knew what hatched out of eggs. They weren’t fully grown Pokenoids. They were babies that required care and attention and time that perhaps they’d otherwise use traveling… All these thoughts rolled around relentlessly in his head and made him anxious.
Rather than sit on it, he found Odin, busy layering the bottom of his backpack with clothes to cushion the little egg.
”Odin… Are you sure about this?” Osias sat down across from the trainer and asked the question without ceremony.
”What, do you not think these clothes will be enough protection against bumps and jostles?” Odin paused mid-stuff, a tshirt clutched in each hand, and lifted his gaze, looking more than a little bit concerned. ”I guess we could try to get our hands on some foam stuffing or something, but… that would also take up pack space. We’d have to ditch some non-essentials…”
”What?” Osias managed to say, momentarily taken aback. Then he composed himself and shook his head. ”Not the clothes. The egg. I mean… babies are hard work. The egg looks cute now, but what about when it hatches? How are we going to backpack a baby everywhere we go? Isn’t that a bit dangerous for it?”
”Ohhhh,” Odin said, drawing the word out with a chuckle as realization dawned on him. He rested his elbows upon his knees and leaned forward to fully engage in the conversation. It hadn’t really occurred to him that Osias might not be comfortable with the egg, but he saw in the Taillow a familiar sense of hesitation – one that he himself had used in the real world to justify not having kids. Odin could relate. ”Listen, I know what you’re feeling. I’ve been there.”
There was a pause as he glanced over at Osias and saw the skeptical look in the Taillow’s narrowed eyes.
”Not… in the sense that I’ve raised Pokenoid children before. But in the sense that I’ve also been worried about having kids, and let me tell ya… that is not an easy conversation to have with someone who’s wanted kids their entire life.” He let out a small whistle and shook his head slowly as his thoughts took him back to a particular breakup that he’d rather forget. That had been an ugly time in his life, and he’d never really figured out whether it was something internal or external that had made him so unwilling to compromise on kids. ”But I digress. My main point is, we’re a team, right? Between you and me, I don’t think we’ll have any trouble with this kid. And if it hates traveling… pssht. It’s not going to hate traveling, because that’s all it’s going to know! We’ll teach it to love being out and about. It’s not going to stop us from training, I promise.”
And there he’d said it. I promise. Osias blinked and slowly sat upright, considering everything that had been said. A promise was a hefty thing. It bore expectations and a seal of trust that the Taillow certainly hoped Odin didn’t plan on breaking. As things stood, it didn’t seem like the trainer would. Like it or not, Osias realized, he trusted Odin when the man said he promised.
”Okay,” the Taillow answered, pacing out his words to match his still-forming thoughts. ”I trust your promise. But I think I may have to work on putting that trust into action and not worrying.”
Odin laughed, hearty and unreserved. Conspiratorial, once again. ”It’s not in your nature to fret, Osias,” he said, pointing out something that both of them knew to be true. ”Let me worry about this little thing. We’ve got worlds to explore out there. You focus on that, because god knows we don’t need you freaking out inside and smashing anything.”
The Taillow grinned. ”Or you,” he jabbed back.
”Hey now!” Odin answered with another laugh. ”You don’t get to judge until I actually do it here – and trust me, I am not looking to go on a rampage here.
Osias nodded with a smile. ”That’s fair. I’ll take care of the fights online, how’s that?” There was no small amount of confidence behind those words. They both knew that they could achieve some great things on the battle scene if they stuck with it. And for now, at least, that was what Osias would continue to focus on.
No need to be afraid. Change was coming, but until it arrived, he would do his best to keep it out of his mind.
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