章節 22: Daisy Oak
A/N: In which I make Blue's life even more tragic. It's because I'm a monster. Definitely NOT because I needed to scramble for an explanation for why Blue is only 10 when his so-called parents died in a war that ended 18 years ago...
-x-X-x-
Daisy Oak wasn't unused to her grandmother stopping by for a visit now and then. Agatha was a member of the Elite Four, and thus very busy usually, but she still made time for her family. Hell, she made more time for Daisy than grandpa these days. Ever since Red and Blue had left on their Pokemon Adventures, Grandpa Oak had been more distant than ever before, when he should have been less busy with the two out of town, not MORE.
That all said, Daisy had come to cherish her grandmother's visits. However, there was no denying that Agatha was… incredibly eccentric. She had to be, to have cultivated the relationship with Dark and Ghost Type Pokemon that she had, especially when Ghost Pokemon were still such an enigma here in the Kanto Region. Only recently had Daisy started hearing about some new piece of technology from Silph Co. that could apparently reveal Ghost Pokemon for what they really were.
And given she'd only heard about that from Agatha herself on one of these visits, it was rather telling that the old woman had been using Ghost Pokemon for decades now without any need of such a device.
And yet… Daisy could only wish that Agatha might not be so eccentric at times. At least, not so eccentric as to invite a member of the criminal organization Team Rocket into Daisy's home for a spot of tea.
"Ah, lovely as always, Daisy. And the weather outside… so delightful! Honestly, it makes me miss Pallet Town a little bit. What about you, dearie? Enjoying your tea?"
That question isn't for Daisy, but for the pink-haired young man sitting next to her. Dressed in a Team Rocket uniform, he seems surprisingly at home at their table. There's something oddly familiar about him, but she can't put her finger on it, truth be told. Sure, he was cute, don't get her wrong, but that didn't explain why he felt familiar. And really, as handsome as he might be, she couldn't allow herself to see him in that light. He was a member of Team Rocket, for Pete's sake!
"… Yes."
Maybe it was how taciturn he was. He reminded her a little bit of Red in a way. The other woman, younger than Daisy by about seven or eight years, was always very quiet as well. Not that 'quiet' was all that rare of a personality trait or anything like that. Daisy had just spent so much time around the vibrant and energetic Blue these past ten years, and so it was a little off-putting.
"Good, good. You should be thanking Daisy then, dearie. She's my granddaughter, you know."
Daisy stiffens, as the Rocket turns to her and nods his head politely.
"Thank you."
Agatha has a smile of approval on her lips as the old woman takes another sip from her own tea cup. Wait… was she trying to set the two of them up?! Seriously, grandmother?! That was NOT a good idea! No matter how hot he might be, the big red R on his chest made the whole thing a non-starter! Fuck, Agatha was a member of the Elite Four, of Lance's government! She shouldn't be trying to set her granddaughter up with a criminal!
"Mm, yes. With her… with Blue away on his Pokemon Journey, I imagine things have been rather lonely around here, haven't they Daisy? I'm sure the Professor is… less than present, even now."
Daisy sighs at that, even as Agatha glances to the Rocket.
"You see dearie, I'm practically the only family Daisy here has left. She needs someone, everyone does… but unfortunately, I can't always be around. Duty calls, and all that rot."
She was. She really was trying to set her up with this Rocket. Honestly! They didn't even know his name!
"It feels like a lifetime ago that this house was filled with laughter, with happiness. Back when Samuel and I were together, this was our first family home. We raised our son here, until eventually he married our daughter-in-law and they had Daisy. We were one big happy family, you see."
Daisy knew better than to get between her grandmother and her nostalgia. But honestly, just how badly did Agatha want to talk that she'd dragged a literal criminal in off of the street in order to natter his ear halfway off?! More than that… what was a member of Team Rocket doing in Pallet Town in the first place? Daisy's eyes narrow in suspicion, and she gives the pink-haired man a sidelong glance, even as Agatha continues on.
"And then the war came. Johto were the aggressors of course. I'm happy to say they didn't bother to try and rewrite that part of history at least. They wanted to take control of our Region, in order to bolster their own importance on the global stage. But while Kanto might be small and considered a backwater by all the others out there, we still have our pride. Well, had our pride."
A wry grin spreads across the old woman's face, but her eyes… her eyes reflect a terrible darkness.
"The war took our children from us, you see. Our son and our beloved daughter-in-law, who might as well have been my flesh and blood. I certainly loved her enough. Just like that, they were gone."
Daisy stiffens, her lips thinning out. Agatha is getting rather close to an uncomfortable truth. A poorly concealed secret only made possible by how out of the way Pallet Town was. Practically everyone in town with a lick of sense had been able to put it together, but no one else outside of the town knew. No one needed to know. Certainly not this Rocket.
"Grandmother…"
Daisy's warning tone to Agatha causes the older woman to look at her sharply.
"Oh, be quiet Daisy. This one doesn't care about anything like that. Here, I'll prove it to you."
Daisy opens her mouth to try and cut her off, but Agatha overrides her, speaking directly to the Rocket sitting at her side.
"Daisy here is a mother. Blue's to be exact."
And just like that, it's out in the open. Daisy's not-so-hidden shame.
"She ran away from home at a tender age and fell in with the wrong crowd. Eventually, she came back to us with a bun in the oven. It's nothing to be ashamed of, though you wouldn't think so judging by how 'Professor' Oak reacted. But if I've told you a thousand times, I've told you a million Daisy. That old coward's opinion isn't worth the toilet paper I shit upon."
Daisy's mouth opens and closes a few times… before ultimately, she hangs her head and sighs. There's no reasoning with her grandmother when Agatha gets like this. Not truly. It is indeed true that Daisy is Blue's real mother. In the whole of Pallet Town, she thinks only Blue doesn't actually know that. She was young when she had him, young enough that it would have been a mark against Blue, on top of him being born out of wedlock.
His father was a nobody, a good for nothing deadbeat who Daisy truly never expected to see again. Some idiot named Gary who claimed he was going to be a Pokemon Master, and then cut and run on her the moment Daisy told him she was pregnant.
Grandpa Oak had declared her pregnancy a stain on their family, when Daisy had returned to Pallet Town for help. If not for Agatha visiting soon after, he might just have thrown her and her unborn child out on their asses. As it was, Agatha had forced the Pokemon Professor to care for them, and ultimately Daisy had raised Blue as his 'big sister' for these past ten years. Only Blue himself was young enough not to have put together the obvious yet. Their so-called 'parents' had died some eighteen years ago, during the Johto-Kanto War. Blue, meanwhile, was only ten years old.
One day, he would almost certainly put two and two together. But the Professor had insisted on maintaining the cheap façade. And Daisy… Daisy had been too ashamed of herself to disagree.
Now here they were, telling a damn Rocket their sordid family history before Blue himself! It was enough to make Daisy's blood boil, but there was nothing she could do about it. And besides, she knew Agatha's heart was in the right place. The old woman had always doted on Blue, in a way that Daisy's grandfather had not. But then, Oak wasn't actually Blue's grandpa like the boy thought… he was his great-grandfather, and that extra degree of separation seemed to cause Oak to look at Blue in a different, strained light.
"After the death of our son and his wife, Daisy's parents, Samuel and I made a pact with one another that we would avenge them. But that didn't quite work out, now, did it?"
Agatha's smile turns positively bitter, and she looks down at her tea cup. Daisy knows her grandmother better than most and knows the tremble in the older woman's hand is not from age, but rage. In that moment, she can tell Agatha is considering throwing the tea cup against the nearby wall. Likely only the stranger in their home keeps her from actually doing so.
Instead, Agatha stands, pacing back and forth with her cane.
"Bah! Can you believe that, Rocket? Samuel swore an oath to me! He swore on his honor that we would make Lance pay! But that's not how it happened, is it?!"
"No."
It's a rhetorical question. Anyone with a lick of sense could see that. Daisy looks at the Rocket sitting next to her askance, once again seeing the similarities between him and her next door neighbor. Red was very bad at reading certain social cues as well, truth be told.
Agatha, meanwhile, stops dead in her tracks and looks over at the Rocket, likely to see if he's mocking her. If he were, Daisy imagines it would be very bad for him indeed… but even she can tell he's not. He was sincerely answering Agatha's rhetorical query.
"… No. You're right. That's not how it happened at all. Instead, my pathetic, scum-sucking, yellow-bellied husband betrayed not just our country, but the memory of our family as well. He turned around and gave up without a damn fight! He didn't discuss his plans with anyone either, you know? Not with the rest of the Elite Four, not with his advisors… not with ME!"
Coming back to the table, Agatha sits once more and scoffs, before glancing to Daisy as if just remembering she was there.
"Tell me, Rocket, what's your name?"
SERIOUSLY?! Daisy has to damn near bite her tongue to keep from hollering. After all that, NOW Agatha asks such an important question?! They just spilled half of the Oak Family secrets on this guy, and only now were they going to learn his name?!
"Cam."
… Huh. Cam. Right. Daisy looks at Cam out of the corner of her eye again, busying herself with stirring her tea just a little bit. He… he sort of looked like a Cam, yeah. Even though her stupid brain kept wanting to call him something else for some reason. But she couldn't even have properly said what it was. It was on the tip of her tongue but…
"Cam. Lovely name. Ah, Cam… if you ever find someone, you treat them right, you hear me? A relationship is a two-way street! Communication is key! Be honest with your partner, and they will be honest with you in turn! Do you understand?"
"… Yes."
He's saying everything Agatha wants to hear, but oddly enough, Daisy doesn't think he's doing it on purpose. Rather, the young woman thinks he's saying exactly what he means. It's an admirable trait, and if nothing else, she appreciates the very real smile that it puts on her grandmother's wrinkled face as Agatha nods, satisfied.
"Wonderful. And, if you're looking for such a woman… why, an available partner might be closer than you think!"
And there it was. Daisy groans and palms her face.
"Grandmother!"
Agatha just cackles. Because of course the old bat was trying to set her up again. She'd been trying to set Daisy up with another guy ever since she'd come back and had Blue. It just… hasn't worked out. Some of her prospects over the years have been interesting, but even the nicest had ultimately been chased away by Grandpa Oak. And most were… eh, not worth her time anyways.
But a Team Rocket member?! Don't get her wrong, Cam was attractive and what not, but he was also a literal criminal! Agatha was a member of the Elite Four, wasn't she supposed to arrest criminals on sight?! Certainly, she wasn't allowed to invite them in for a spot of tea!
"Well, I should be going. Mm, Daisy, take care of yourself, darling. And give your best to your 'brother' whenever you see him next. He deserves better than what Oak gave him all these years."
Daisy's lips thin out, as she holds back what she might truly want to say to that and settles for a thin lipped smile and a nod towards her grandmother. As Agatha reaches the door, she turns and gives Cam one last glance.
"I can't say I condone what Giovanni is up to with Team Rocket, Cam. But nor will I condemn it. I have no respect for criminals and thugs, and that's exactly what he's built with that little organization of his. Still, I know that some of you are fighting for a better Kanto. Perhaps I can't respect your methods, but I can respect your dream. Best of luck to you, and let that Boss of yours know to stay off my radar, you hear?"
With those parting words, Daisy and Cam watch Agatha leave the house… and specifically, leave the two of them alone together.
… This wasn't going to work. It couldn't possibly happen. It wasn't even him; it was her. Daisy had always had a thing for bad boys, but she just knew getting in with a guy as Cam, no matter how cool, and stoic, and handsome he was, would only end in heartbreak and tears.
She had to turn him down gently, as much for her own sake as everything else. Because the truth was, a part of her DID think he was pretty handsome and wouldn't mind- No! No, she couldn't keep thinking in that direction. This had to end, now. As Cam turns to her and blinks slowly, Daisy winces and prepares to let him down gently.
"Look, Cam… my grandmother means well. Really, she does. But… the two of us…"
"What about Professor Oak?"
Daisy blinks, taken aback by the seeming non-sequitur. Here she'd thought she would have to let Cam down gently after the things Agatha was clearly putting in his head… but had none of it stuck? Was it in one ear and out the other? Heh, or was she just too unattractive to him for him to even see her in that light?
"Grandpa Oak? Ah, well…"
She frowns, looking away for a moment. Agatha had really laid it all out, hadn't she? Still…
"… I can't help but be grateful towards my grandfather. I was a brat, growing up. Part of it could be blamed on my being orphaned by the war… but I also have to take responsibility for my actions. Grandma might have stepped in, but even with that, Grandpa didn't have to house me and Blue when I came back home pregnant. He did, and… he may not be perfect, but he's not a bad man!"
Daisy takes a breath, fully ready to continue defending her grandfather and making a case for him, while Cam just stares at her wordlessly. But before she can get another word out… she suddenly hears music.
"Um… do you hear that? What IS that?"
The music is coming from the front door, and both her and Cam turn in its direction just as the door bursts inward, kicked in by two booted feet.
-x-X-x-
A/N: Daisy seems like a nice girl with a good head on her shoulders. I'm sure she won't end up succumbing to that pesky defeat fetish in a couple chapters...
Also, wonder who's at the door :V
As always, feedback is greatly appreciated! Comments and Likes sustain me!
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