Chapter 8 – Everything Will Be Okay

Ramone was packing everything onto his pick-up truck. Jewels was sneaking over to where she and her boyfriend/husband-to-be agreed to meet. By their sides were their pokemon. This was it; everyone is getting ready to run away, as fast as the truck can take them.

Jewels, Angel, and Randall made it safely to the arranged meeting place. It was a fair distance from the female trainer's house and covered by the forest's foliage. Ramone even went through the trouble of painting his vehicle to blend in with the surroundings.

"Ramone!" Jewels called out in a hushed voice.

"Over here!" Ramone answered, his voice also low.

The three couples sprinted towards each other and then hugged, Randall looking away with a flustered face.

"I'm so glad to see you arrived safely," Ramone said with relief.

"It was no doubt no one, especially no one from your family, was gonna spot me," Jewels insisted. "We picked a time when we know our families would gather together for another bloodfest. I'm just happy the baby hasn't been born yet."

"But it's almost been 9 months," Ramone argued. "The baby should be born anytime now. Oh, I knew we should have left earlier!"

"At what opportunity?" she reasoned. "This time of year would have both of our families the most distracted. This way, we'll be long gone before anyone even realizes we're missing."

"Then they'll kill each other again, assuming one has kidnapped the other. It's so tiring."

"I know. I feel the same way. Daddy will be especially mad, since I'm pregnant."

"Now that I think about it, didn't your father ever ask who was this one's father?" Ramone placed his pointing finger on Jewels's belly.

"I told him it was a trainer traveling around in the forest," Jewels explained. "Daddy was pretty much glad thinking it wasn't a member of your family."

Ramone was silent for a bit, knowing he's a member of his family. "Right… well… let's get going. We'll need to call our pokemon back in now."

The mother-to-be nodded and then turned to the pokemon, still hugging their significant others.

"Hey, everyone? We're gonna have to go now so Ramone and I are gonna call you back in our pokeballs."

The pokemon nodded and returned to their pokeballs when their trainers told them to. Once the pokemon were inside, Ramone gave all the pokeballs to Jewels.

"Here, Jewels, take these and wait for me inside the truck. I'll just set up the tarp so none of our stuff falls off."

"Ok!" Once she pressed the buttons on the red and white spheres and made them small, Jewels opened the door, stepped inside, and seated herself.

Ramone got everything packed and secured. Later, he joined Jewels in the truck, sitting in the driver's seat. Then Ramone started the vehicle and drove off.

It was a long drive but it went off without a hitch. There were no gunshots towards them, no Seviper or Zangoose attacking them, no anything. Sooner or later, the three couples made it out of the forest and away from the mountains. They were able to get much further than that, thanks to the truck possessing a reliable and efficient tank.

Eventually, Ramone parked the truck near a gas station. As much as Ramone didn't want to stop, he would have sooner or later needed to sleep and the truck would need gas. The truck, still in its camouflage paint job, was surrounded by some trees and bushes, and it was already dark by the time Ramone stopped so they were safe for the night.

"Man, I can't get over the fact your truck is painted to blend in with forest foliage," Jewels said. "It looks so cool! But should your truck be painted in order to blend with the mountains?"

Ramone explained, "The town's closer to forest than the mountains so it's to keep my truck safe from your family. I can't even begin to tell you how many times they take a possession from someone from my family and wreck it."

"Sorry," she apologized.

"Nah, there's nothing to be sorry for. Don't worry about it," Ramone assured her. "Let's just go to sleep."

"Ok, Ramone. Night-night," Jewels leaned her head against Ramone's, almost immediately out like a light.

The man with the slicked back hair chuckled, "Good night, Jewels."

Soon after, he was asleep, too. The couple in the truck slept kind of lightly, fear preventing them from falling asleep too deeply. However, the night was uneventful, much to their relief.

Ramone drove the truck to the gas station, filling the tank up with gasoline. Jewels went into a convenience store nearby to buy some food for breakfast. Before she went inside, Jewels had let out their pokemon for fresh air and to eat their breakfast once she gave it to them.

In the meantime, the four pokemon had a little chat, starting with Nicholas asking Angel why she's hitting the road.

"Well, everyone was planning on doing it so I thought I'll do it, too. So I won't be left out on it," Angel answered.

Pepper fell to the ground, laughing her head off. Randall looked at her, checking if she was ok.

Nicholas explained, "Angel, 'hitting the road' is an expression. An expression is something you say that really means something else. So 'hitting the road' means to begin traveling or begin a journey."

"Oh, uh… sorry." Angel felt a little embarrassed. She twiddled with her claws and looked down at the ground.

"It's fine," Nicholas assured his loved one. "You're probably nervous of everything that's happening right now, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I am. Aren't any of you nervous, too? Even just a little?" Angel questioned everyone else.

Pepper managed to get over her giggle fit and respond. "Perhaps I am. Perhaps I'm not. I won't let you know."

"Then how will I know whether or not you're okay?" Randall blurted out.

Pepper turned to him, blushing a little. "You're worried about me?"

The cat ferret blushed more than the lady snake did. "No! No, when I said that, I meant you always drag me along with you. If you keep feelings like that in, then you'll be destroying yourself and me along with you so I-"

Pepper stopped him by hugging him tightly in the way she could, coiling her serpentine body around him, "Ok, Randall, sweetie, I'll tell my feelings, but only to you."

"DON'T CALL ME 'SWEETIE'!" Yelled the irritated Zangoose, flailing his arms about.

While those two were busy, Angel turned to Nicholas and spoke to him, "How do you think we'll live, Nicholas?"

"Well," Nicholas started, "I think we'll keep going until we get to town. Perhaps, however, that won't be far enough so the truck will probably be filled up with gas again and we'll continue moving. We'll stop for only food, sleep, the truck's fuel needs, and answering nature when it calls. Of course, hygiene will be taken into consideration. I believe all of this will be a routine until Ramone and Jewels finally find somewhere safe enough."

"I see," Angel said, her mind taking in everything that her loved one just told her.

The next few days went exactly like what the male snake said. Jewels and Ramone stopped only for four things, holding those needs off as long as possible. Even bathing. The way the human couple saw it, the further away and the faster they got away, the better.

At last, Ramone and Jewels located a place they felt secure enough to settle down, like how Nicholas predicted.

It was another town, this one being not too small but not too big. Yet Ramone and Jewels felt like they'd gotten far enough away and knew they would have to stop somewhere soon because of the baby's very near due date.

As a result, the mother and father-to-be decided to settle down in this town, Ramone heading off to find a job. During that time, Jewels was looking for what apartments to rent. After all, they only carried enough money with them to keep themselves going until they found someplace so they weren't expecting to be able to buy a proper house. It was difficult in finding an apartment at short notice but Jewels succeeded.

Later in the day, Ramone located his eloped wife, who was currently going through their things to take into the apartment. Once they were done bringing in their luggage, consisting of objects such as cooking equipment and clothes, Jewels took out the four pokeballs and let out the pokemon inside them.

Everyone agreed in keeping the two Zangoose and the two Seviper secret. It would attract too much attention, the two species of pokemon actually getting along with each other, meaning the two feuding families and their pokemon would have an easier time finding them.

Jewels took out several papers with information on them and laid them out on the bed. Then she made a 'come here' gesture with her hand, "Angel, let's go over this stuff again. So this information can be burned into our brains."

Angel remembered that she and everyone else, even Randall, were going through the trouble of learning on how to deliver a baby themselves, just in case. So the female cat ferret agreed and joined her owner on the bed.

Ramone came up to Nicholas, who was also going to get on the bed, "Hey, Shaker, how about you and I go over strategies on protecting our ladies? Planning's just as important as training."

Oh, how I hate that name. Why in the frickin' hell couldn't he have just left it at Seviper? He had some gall, trying to justify it by saying Salt wouldn't have been a very good name! Still, Ramone has a good point. It's not as if I can go ahead and practice combat skills here and now.

At that, Nicholas nodded. He and Ramone went over to the table to talk as well as a human and pokemon could.

"I want to join Ramone and Nicholas, too," Randall stated, being wrapped in a coiling hug by Pepper as usual.

"Hmmm? How come?" Pepper wondered.

"Because," the chatty cat ferret turned to face her, wearing a determined look on his face, "I'm a male and protecting females is what we do."

"Oh, that's so sweet," the touched lady snake gushed, nuzzling Randall. "All right, if you want to protect me, you can."

The male cat ferret groaned but, otherwise, made no protest. And so everyone was busy preparing for the future, unaware of how horrific it was going to be.

The next day started like a normal one, promising to the group of six. The day continued as such until Ramone was heading back home from his first day of work. Jewels headed downstairs from their floor because she didn't want to wait any longer to see him again. But the moment the two of them were hugging and kissing each other at the building's front doorway was the starting moment of horrors ahead of them.

"JEWELS!"

"RAMONE!"

The man and woman in question froze in terror, recognizing those voices very well. Jewels turned and saw her father, his face a mixture of disgust and shock. Ramone turned and saw his mother, whose face was the same. Behind each parent were their respective families. Although, the petrified couple noticed the groups were smaller than they remembered.

It was a long while before anyone spoke, the two groups and the couple in between attracting a crowd in the process.

Finally, Ramone's mom found her voice, "That girl is one of those Zangoose-loving freaks, isn't she? She's pregnant, isn't she?!"

"Jewels," the girl's father pleaded, "please say it ain't so…"

Either one of them could say anything, aware that whatever they said wouldn't help them out in this situation.

The pleading father looked down, talking to Jewels once more. "To think, we spent so much time and effort after we noticed you were nowhere to be found and then we find you with a boy from that bunch of Seviper-huggers!" Now he was yelling at the top of his lungs. "NOW YOU HAVE A LITTLE DEMON GROWING INSIDE YOU! WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO KILL IT!"

"NOT IF WE KILL IT FIRST!" The now enraged mother yelled.

"RUN!" Ramone told Jewels, who immediately clutched onto her baby-filled belly and ran like a Zubat out of hell, moving as quickly as a pregnant woman could go.

Having not made a foolish decision this morning by taking along his pokeballs, Ramone unleashed his two Seviper, "Pepper! Shaker! Use Haze! At both our families!"

The two fang snakes obeyed, spewing black smoke at the two murder-set groups. As they were coughing, cursing, and trying to see through the smoke, the human couple got away as far as possible now that they didn't have the truck. Nicholas and Pepper slithered right behind them, also hurrying to get away.

"Jewels," Ramone panted as he ran, "you have your Zangoose on you?"

"Of course, I do," Jewels replied, also panting. "I wouldn't feel safe if I didn't."

"Good. Cause now you might need all the protection you can get."

They were heading towards the center of town, ignoring all the attention they were getting from the bystanders along the way.

"Ramone, what do we do now? We just started settling down and everything!"

"Yeah, I know. Listen, here's what we're gonna do. You hold onto your Zangoose and take Shaker with you. I'll take Pepper with me. You and the baby need more protection than I do. And it doesn't seem like our families brought along their pokemon; maybe they were left behind or died in battle. Anyways, you and everyone else, hide in an alley. I'll lead our families away and then I'll meet up with you later."

"What!? No, you can't!"

"THERE THEY ARE!"

Ramone and Jewels saw that their families found them in almost no time at all, clearly having gotten out of the dual Haze.

"No arguing with me, Jewels!" Ramone insisted. "GO!" Then he spoke to the snakes behind them. "Haze! Again! And not just one! Many!"

Pepper and Nicholas did just that, exhaling as much black smoke as they could muster from their serpentine bodies. Some of the people caught in it still kept going, although their eyes needed time to adjust from suddenly being assaulted by foul fumes.

While everyone around them was still distracted, Jewels rushed into an alley, just as her husband told her to. Also like Ramone instructed, Nicholas went with her. Ramone ran ahead, Pepper following him.

Then the fleeing man quickly thought of something, "Pepper, keep using Haze behind me!"

The lady snake realized that, if the group chasing them didn't see Jewels, they'd split up and look for her, and so she complied with her constant stream of smoke. It worked, by the sounds of it.

"They're idiots, leaving a convenient trail of smoke for us to follow!"

"Don't let them get away!"

While Ramone and Pepper were leading the psycho killers away, Jewels and Nicholas were hiding behind a dumpster. The smell was horrible but they knew it was only a small price to pay in exchange for their lives.

The frightened mother-to-be squeezed Nicholas's head in a tight hug for the feeling of safety, "Oh, Shaker, I'm so scared. Not just for me but for Ramone. I hope he'll be okay!"

"I hope so, too…" Nicholas gasped out, struggling to breathe. He knew Jewels wouldn't understand him but thought there was no harm in at least attempting to give some encouraging words.

Jewels had let him go, hearing the strain in Nicholas's voice. "Sorry! I'm so sorry!" She apologized frantically but still kept her voice down.

Nicholas was busy getting air in his lungs until suddenly…

"Urk!"

The male fang snake turned to see the pregnant woman clutch her stomach once more, but in pain. Nicholas was hoping it wasn't what he thought it was.

"Oh, no," Jewels whimpered. "My water broke…"

Of course it broke, the now panic-struck Seviper thought.

Ramone was panicking almost as much but from fleeing for his life. The two demented families were still on his tail, becoming more and more infuriated due to Pepper's continuous Haze.

"Piece of shit!"

"I knew you were a coward, running away like this!"

"I've had enough of this!" Ramone's mother yelled. Then there was the familiar sound of a pokemon being let out its pokeball. "Seviper, use your razor-edged tail on the miserable, little girl through the smoke!"

"Take this!" A Seviper yelled, despite only Pepper being the one who can understand that. That snake leaped through the smoke, tail out and ready. Then, before he could look more at his surroundings, the snake spun and stuck his tail through Ramone's stomach.

The snake that struck was surprised and took his tail out, landing next to a collapsing, stomach-clutching Ramone. Pepper, however, abruptly stopped. She was clearly shocked over what just happened. The lady snake remained where she was, still like a statue, until Ramone's mother's voice rang through the air.

"Dammit!" The enraged, crazed mom came out of the smoke and her vision corrected itself. "That little, Zangoose-loving bitch isn't here! My own son tricked me! My own son is actually defending her!" Then she noticed Pepper next to Ramone, remembering her son had a pokemon. "You! You need to die as well! I'm not taking in a pokemon that belonged to my traitorous son!"

"Take this, you bitch!" Pepper screamed.

Before anyone else could react, Pepper lunged forward, her tail as sharp as ever. Pepper swung it across the mad woman's chest, creating a deep gash. Deep enough to cut the heart in half.

The sight of his mistress being killed shocked the Seviper who killed Ramone into stillness. While he was distracted, Pepper took him out, too, by shoving her tail through his mouth and up his brain.

I could have left him be but he could have killed me for killing his mistress, Pepper thought as she went back to Ramone's side.

Pepper's throat burned at the back and tears threatened to fall from her eyes. The sight of her master dying made her think about her life. Pepper was a Seviper born under the care of Ramone's family and was given to him at his birth. The lady snake was told about how scum Zangoose were while her master told her to be more open-minded. As a result, Pepper was a bit of loner, not preferring to be close to any of the other Seviper. Yet she didn't care. Pepper wasn't the kind to give a damn about much things. So Ramone struggling to live after being stabbed in the stomach was the first time she's ever felt true pain. The lady snake scared herself by thinking if it was Randall who was in the same condition as her master.

Then, with great struggle and pain, Ramone spoke. When she realized that, Pepper made sure to listen to every word.

"Pepper… if you're feeling… what I think you are… Argh! …Then you can't let this get you down… You have that Zangoose male of yours, don't you? You need… to look out for him… And not just him… There's Shaker and his lady… And my lady… and… last but not least… our baby. Our precious… boy or girl is going to be… born soon. You need to protect them all… Love them… So go, Pepper… Go to them… Nowwwww…"

Ramone groaned at that last word. His eyes closed at that moment, likely never going to open again.

The saddened lady snake shook her head violently in an attempt to rid herself of her tears. Then Pepper zoomed past the looney groups who were chasing her and Ramone earlier. They were struggling against the police, who were by now notified of all the commotion and were trying to arrest them. Pepper made sure to use Haze on any one of them that weren't restrained by handcuffs or an officer as she slithered past. The lady snake rushed to where she remembered seeing Jewels last, pleading for everyone she cares about to be alright along the way.

However, when Pepper got there, she saw things were not alright. Jewels was practically yowling due to her contractions. The wailing woman was pretty lucky that the families she was hiding from were arrested or busy with the police right now. As for Nicholas, he was busy freaking out over what to do. Pepper also saw Angel and Randall out of their pokeballs, just as pressured by this as Nicholas was.

Although, Randall expressed his anxiety more and in a stronger way. "We do we do, pokemon? What do we frickin' do? I don't know anything about child birth! Whether it's giving birth or helping someone do it! Though the first one would be stupid because I'm a guy! But-"

"Randall!" Angel interrupted rather sharply. The cat ferret who was cut off in talking cringed but still listened to what the female cat ferret had to say, now speaking calmly. "Let me worry about it, Randall. About all of it. I can do this."

"What makes you so sure?" Pepper intervened, worrying greatly by this scene happening right in front of her.

"Because," Angel responded, "I didn't just learn how to deliver babies from those pieces of paper Jewels had printed out. I also had to learn how to do it when I was still with my former pack. I was the healer there, after all, so they thought it was only natural I'd help all the pregnant females give birth."

"Well, then, Angel, what do we need to get or do?" Nicholas asked her.

"What I need," the one now in charge of the situation instructed, "are lots of water and leaves. Something soft to wrap the baby with, too."

"What would the water and leaves be for?" Randall wondered out loud.

"The water's to keep everything clean. The leaves to dry it all. If you can't find leaves, though, find something you can use for drying. Now hurry! Someone get them already!"

"Randall and I will go get them," Pepper offered, taking along male cat ferret with her. "Be sure to be useful, Ridiculous."

Nicholas growled as she slithered away. Randall didn't argue or make any protests because he knew how serious the current situation was. Also, he noticed Pepper seemed to be struggling with something. Something like a conflicting emotion. Randall knew he'd have to ask about that later.

As for Nicholas, as much as he didn't like the insult, the male fang snake knew he had to help Angel in any way he could and so asked exactly that.

Angel smiled and said, "What you can do, Nicholas, is to keep guard. Who knows who will attack us?"

Nicholas smiled back and nodded, "Understood."

At that, the male fang snake was on guard while the female cat ferret tried keeping Jewels calm and also removed her underwear. Angel thought it was good for Jewels to be wearing a knee-length dress on this of all days.

Later, the other Zangoose and Seviper couple came back with a gallon of water, some towels, and, additionally, a man.

This man seemed young, but not too young. Late 20's at least and mid-30's at most. He wore a tuxedo and stylishly combed black hair. This man was also carrying most of the towels as well as the gallon of water. Nicholas immediately hissed at seeing him enter the alley.

"Wait!" the man cried. "I heard the commotion coming from this alley. Then I saw this Seviper and Zangoose trying to take these things with them. Thinking it was a pregnant woman about to give birth, I offered my help! Everyone else is too distracted with the other type of commotion on the streets to notice any of this."

"The man is telling the truth, Ridiculous," Pepper said, vouching for the man. "Let him help."

"But-" Nicholas was about to protest until Angel cut him off.

"No, Nicholas. We're gonna need all the help we can get. So don't chase him away."

So everyone set everything up. Minutes later, all that was left to do was the actual birth. Jewels was doing fine so far with deep breathing and painfully squeezing the man's hand whenever she felt a contraction but everyone knew the baby would have to come out. Soon.

The man put down his cellphone and informed Jewels. "I already called the hospital. However, with all the ruckus happening in the streets, they might not make it here in time, let alone get you into the emergency room in time."

"Then I'm just gonna have to give birth here," Jewels declared with determination.

"Wait, here?" The man questioned. "We're in an alley next to a dumpster."

"It's better than simply waiting for the ambulance," the woman giving labor argued. "It's way better than giving birth out in the streets. At least here I have more privacy."

"I don't know how to deliver a baby," the man argued back.

"It's fine," Jewels assured him. "My pokemon have been taught to do that."

"WHAT!? A Pokemon!? Are you sure-"

Jewels interrupted the still arguing man. "Yes, I'm sure. Now stop whining and let her do the work!"

As much as he didn't want to, he still let Angel continue to take charge of delivering the baby. Everything was going smoothly, even though Jewels didn't understand it when Angel yelled 'Push!', until…

"I felt the baby turn sideways!" Jewels exclaimed.

"WHAT!?" Everyone shrieked.

"Oh, no, this is bad…" Angel muttered, filled with fear by the feeling of what she's probably going to have to do next.

"Angel, what now!?" Pepper's cool demeanor quickly crumbled.

"I'm gonna have to cut Jewels open…" the dreading cat ferret said.

"WHAT!?" The other Pokemon shrieked.

"You can't be serious…" Pepper said, becoming sad all over again.

"The baby turned to the side, Pepper! What choice do we have!?" Angel argued.

"What about the people this man called!?" Randall asked.

"They won't make it time! The baby decided to come out now!" Angel insisted.

"Hey, what are you saying?" Jewels wondered.

Angel was hesitant but poked her claw against Jewels's belly. Both the humans there became wide-eyed, having an idea what that meant.

"You mean… I'll have to be cut open to get the baby out?" the pregnant woman asked. The female cat ferret merely nodded 'yes' to the question. Only a minute passed but it felt like eternity. Finally, with a face that shows fierce resolve, Jewels said, "Do it."

"Wait, what!?" the man said with a gasp. "But you'll die!"

"The baby will die if it doesn't come out now! I don't want my precious baby to die just because I don't want to die…"

Jewels was clearly sad but it was clear she was willing to go through with this. Angel knew this and proceeded to cut open the desperate mother. Before she could, though, Pepper asked one last question.

"Angel, are you sure you know how to do this? This is rather last minute."

"I'm sure, Pepper," Angel answered. "This had actually happened a few times, when the baby in a mother Zangoose flips around. Those memories are some of my most vivid so I will definitely get this baby out without a scratch on it."

"But Jewels has a big one in her belly," Pepper said under her breath, struggling to keep herself from crying.

Randall noticed this and pulled her into a hug. Being touched by that, Pepper just broke down.

Nicholas asked, "Should we do something for her?"

"Sorry, Nicholas, but no," Angel replied. "I need to get this baby first. Besides, Pepper is going through a lot so it might be better if we let her cry. And she has Randall for comfort right now."

At that, the female cat ferret went to work on cutting, going fast enough for the sake of the baby's life but also carefully enough to not hurt said baby. Jewels had never screamed so loudly and with no much pain in her entire life.

Soon, Angel had made a large hole to scoop the baby out. The female cat ferret poked the man beside her with her claw and gestured towards the crying woman. The man knew what Angel meant so he put his hands inside Jewels's stomach and felt for the baby. Once he was sure he had the baby in his hands, the man lifted up his arms, holding onto the small, crying newborn tightly in his hands.

"You know…," Jewels said with much effort, "I always liked Renee or Remy for a baby… Go with either one of those names, ok?"

Then her eyes closed, definitely never going to open again, like Ramone. Remembering that, Pepper broke down once more, Randall providing her comfort yet again.

Angel made to snip off the cord popping out of the baby's bellybutton, the last thing literally connecting it to the mother.

As everyone stayed where they were, happy for the birth but saddened by the loss, they heard a voice echo throughout the alley.

"Oh my Arceus, what happened here?"

They all turned to see Officer Jenny enter the alley, a crowd of people behind her. The rest just flew by the pokemon, who were taking the whole thing harder than the man who offered his help in the child's birth.

While the pokemon sat, unmoving and mourning for Jewels's departure, the man explained everything. He told the policewoman about Jewels going into labor, the baby turning around, that Angel was taught in baby deliverance, and that she had to cut open the mother for the sake of the newborn. Everyone also found out Ramone, the father, was also dead, leaving the baby an orphan. The rest of the living family members are definitely out of the question, as seen by what happened in the streets.

There were still some things that needed to be settled but, otherwise, everything is fine now. The man called for his limo and, while waiting, had a talk with the pokemon, "Listen, everyone, I've decided something. I'll adopt this baby."

All the pokemon's head shot up at the news. They knew adoption meant an adult taking a child and raising it like their own. Nicholas, Angel, and Randall looked uneasy; Pepper immediately hissed at the idea. The man raised his hand in a 'wait' gesture.

"Let me continue, ok?" the man said. "I'm not just taking the baby under my care. I'm also going to take you all under my care, too."

The pokemon were shocked at this, clearly not expecting this. The man continued talking.

"My name is Liam Versa, owner of a nearby Pokemon reserve. You four can live there. The purpose of a Pokemon reserve is a place in nature for Pokemon to live in. If you four live there, then you'll never be disturbed. It would be against the law to. It won't just be humans who can't bother you. We also focus on peace and harmony between all the Pokemon who live in the reserve so pokemon won't bother you, either. Since I'll be raising this baby, and because I'm the owner, you all will be able to see the child as many times as possible. So what do you say?"

The four pokemon turned to each other, having a discussion for making such a big decision.

"Are we really going to let this guy take the baby?" Pepper asked, significantly better than before but still upset.

"Pepper, this man is by far the only one we know well enough, not that that's saying much, to know he's not anything like those crazy people being arrested," Angel pointed out. "Besides, he's willing to let us see the baby. He knows how important this is to us."

"Additionally, Pepper," Nicholas interjected, "this is a pokemon reserve we will be living in. If it's really as good as this Liam says, then we'll have the most peaceful and joyful lives there. With each other."

"I agree with him," Randall said to Pepper. "I'll be there for you. So don't let this get you down, ok? It's weird seeing you like this and I don't like it!"

The lady snake smiled softly and sighed, "Ok, Randall. Don't worry, I'll get over it. Especially if I have you. I just need today to cry."

"Ok," the male cat ferret said. He was happy at this type of news.

"There's just one last thing I want to say," Angel announced, getting the attention of her friends. "This place, this pokemon reserve, will be a piece of heaven on Earth for us. We'll never be threatened, we'll always be together, and the baby will be part of our lives, like we want. So how can we say 'no'?"

"Well, I'm sold," Nicholas stated. "Besides, I'll be anywhere my precious Angel wants to be!"

"I think you should agree to it, Pepper," Randall said in an attempt to persuade his mate. "It sounds like a good chance so you shouldn't waste it. I know I wouldn't."

"You mean you're not coming with me should I go along with everyone else to the reserve?" the lady snake asked.

Her mate became angry and shouted, "Of course, I will! What kind of question is that?! I just thought you would be happy if you chose to go!"

"All right, I understand. I'll go. But only because you're going with me," Pepper declared.

"Whoo!" Randall made an outburst of joy, quickly raising his curled up paws above his head.

They turned back to Liam and nodded 'yes'. Liam smiled. Then there was a honk. Everyone looked in the direction of said honk and found a royal blue limosine.

"That's it, everyone. Our ride. First stop, the Pokemon reserve!" Liam was about to stand up until both Zangoose stopped him. "What's wrong?"

The male cat ferret, not quite realizing how this could be embarrassing, pointed at the baby and then at himself. To be more specific, his lower regions. Liam's felt slight discomfort at what Randall had done but understood the messages he was trying to convey.

Liam removed a bit of the towel the baby was wrapped by. Just enough to look at its gender. Then he covered the baby again with the towel and faced the pokemon.

"The baby is a girl. So her name is Renee."

Everyone now happy, regardless of recent events, they got into the long, stretched vehicle. The driver got to driving, making a first stop at the place where the two Seviper and two Zangoose lived the rest of their lives in happiness, getting to know little Renee as she got older and older.

Angel was the happiest of them all, now having friends and family to care about who would care about her back.

The Zangoose felt like she had finally found a heaven where she would be loved...