Day 198

[from Pokémon xTreme]

"You know, considering you said we have to be there as soon as possible, you're not flying very fast," Taylor pointed out, as she and Brandon flew back towards Viridian City.

"I guess there's a part of me that doesn't really wanna face what's waiting for me in Viridian," admitted Brandon. "A big part of me. Like, all of me."

"That bad, huh?" asked Taylor.

"Oh, definitely," said Brandon.

"Should I… head back home while you get things sorted out?" asked Taylor.

"I'm not sure it'll be sorted out that quickly," said Brandon. "And this might end up affecting you too, depending on, umm… how things turn out."

Taylor, feeling ever more confused, could do nothing but hold on tight and wait until they arrived back in Viridian City. When they did, Brandon turned and headed towards the east of the city. "If this might affect me," she said eventually, "shouldn't you tell me what it is before we get there?"

"Like I said, I don't really wanna talk about it," said Brandon. "But you'll probably find out when we get there."

"I'm… kinda starting to worry a bit," Taylor admitted.

"That's okay," said Brandon, "so am I. We're almost there, though."

A few minutes later, and the pair had arrived at a street filled with large detached houses, in one of the more affluent parts of town. The houses' gardens were equally big, and several had swimming pools. Brandon flew to one that did not, and began to circle it, clearly apprehensive about landing. Taylor could see two figures standing in the front yard of the house, and though she couldn't make out anything about them, she guessed that these were the people Brandon had come to see.

Brandon let out a resigned sigh. "I guess I might as well tell you," he said. "There was this girl, and, well… her sister thinks I may have gotten her pregnant."

Taylor opened her mouth, closed it, thought for a moment, then said, "I don't really know how to respond to that."

"Yeah… now you know why I didn't wanna talk about it," said Brandon. "But you were gonna find out one way or the other; I mean, that's her down there, sending out her Talonflame to- OH HOLY SHIT!"

Brandon suddenly banked hard as the Talonflame swopped right at them, causing Taylor to squeal. The Talonflame circled round and prepared to swoop down at them again, and Brandon found himself faced with no choice but to land. Taking Charizard into a steep dive, he descended rapidly to the ground and stopped just short of the two sisters. Taylor staggered off of Charizard's back, a little dizzied after the sudden evasive manoeuvres. "It was all going so well…" she muttered.

With a measure of reluctance, Brandon climbed off of Charizard's back and turned to face the two women. Both had long, flaming red hair, and piercing blue eyes. The younger of the two was named Emma Williams, and she was the one Brandon had supposedly gotten pregnant. She stood a little way behind her older sister, looking a little embarrassed at the scene her sister was causing. The older sister was named Nicole, and she was currently staring daggers at Brandon, Talonflame's Poké Ball clutched tightly in her outstretched hand. As the bird Pokémon swooped back into its ball, Nicole immediately began to advance on Brandon.

Brandon nervously began to step backwards. "Uhh, can I just say that I-" he began, before Nicole punched him dead in the face, knocking him down. "Okay, maybe not," he said.

As Taylor looked on in shock, Nicole seized Brandon by the collar and dragged him back to his feet. She could see now why Brandon had been so apprehensive about coming here: Nicole was clearly very protective of her younger sister, and had quite the temper to boot. "You fucking bastard!" Nicole yelled. "Banging my sister is bad enough, but knocking her up as well?!"

"I-I swear I used a condom!" Brandon stammers. "Honestly, I-"

"Well, obviously not!" barked Nicole. "So the question now is, now that the damage is done, are you gonna man up and do right by Emma? 'Coz I'm not gonna let you just walk away after you've knocked her up. You're gonna learn some goddamn responsibility for once in your life! Got it?"

"What exactly do you want me to do?" asked Brandon.

"You want me to spell it out for ya?" asked Nicole. She angrily jabbed a finger at Emma. "You and Emma are gonna raise that kid together! I'm not letting her become some penniless single mother, struggling to make ends meet, because you couldn't keep it in your Calvin fucking Kleins! That's your kid in there, and you are gonna raise it properly, or so help me, I will scorch that precious face of yours into charcoal! Got it?"

"Uhh…" Brandon was clearly conflicted for a moment between his training commitments, his desire not to get into a serious relationship, and his total, unabated fear of Nicole. Finally, fear won out, and he resigned himself to his fate. "Okay. Whatever you say."

Seemingly pacified, Nicole released Brandon, and he gratefully took a few steps back. "Good," said Nicole. "Make sure you take care of her. I'll be keeping an eye on you both, to make sure." She turned to face her younger sister who, like Taylor, seemed to have spent the whole time looking on in horror. "Emma? You sure you're okay with letting this creep into your life?"

Emma nodded, sweeping a strand of hair aside as she regained her composure a little. "Of course," she said. "I'm carrying his baby." She rubbed her stomach, which Taylor noticed was still rather flat. She had to be in the early stages of her pregnancy.

"Then it's settled," said Nicole. "Who knows: maybe if you clean up your act, you might actually be a half-decent father and husband."

"Wait, husband?" said Brandon. "Who said anything about-"

"Well, what did you think I meant when I said you'd be raising the kid together?" said Nicole indignantly. "Of course you're gonna fucking marry her! That's how this works!"

"Look, could I have some time to… think about all of this?" asked Brandon. "This is a lot to take in at once! Besides, I've got… stuff going on, I can't just… drop everything and get married and-"

"Why?" asked Nicole. "What's so important?"

Brandon gestured in Taylor's direction, and Nicole noticed the teenage girl standing at Charizard's side for the first time. Taylor meekly waved at Nicole. "Uhh… hi," she said.

Nicole, seemingly mistaking Taylor for a love interest, rolled her eyes. "Oh, you gotta be kidding me-"

"N-no, it's not like that," Brandon quickly stammered, "she's my student. That's all. I'm teaching her how to be a Pokémon Master, it's part of my community service. Besides, she's like-" Brandon paused, then turned to Taylor. "How old are you?"

"Fifteen," said Taylor.

"Exactly," said Brandon. "I'd say we're just friends, but… I dunno, are we friends? We've known each other, like, three days."

"I'd like us to be friends," said Taylor, "but nothing more."

"Three days is still longer than you knew Emma for," Nicole scowled. "But alright. I guess I'll trust you on this occasion. You taking her round the Pokémon Gym Challenge?"

Sensing an opportunity for a normal, relaxed conversation, Brandon nodded. "Yep," he said. "We're doing the traditional route, so she'll be facing you last."

"Wait… she's a Gym Leader?" said Taylor.

"I think some proper introductions are in order," said Brandon. "Taylor, this is Nicole Williams, Viridian City's Gym Leader… and my future sister-in-law, apparently. Nicole, this is Taylor Evans, my mentoring student."

"I look forward to seeing you in my Gym," said Nicole. "Brandon might be a total asshole, but I have to admit, he's an excellent trainer."

"Yeah, I kinda got that already," said Taylor.

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that…" Gesturing at Emma, Brandon continued, "This is Emma Williams, Nicole's younger sister, one of several one-night-stands, and now apparently the mother of my child."

Emma stepped forward and wrapped an arm around Brandon's, looking up at him adoringly. "And your future wife," she said. "Don't forget that."

"Yeah, I guess that too," said Brandon, who was clearly still overwhelmed by all these sudden developments.

There was a moment of awkward silence, before Taylor asked, "So, uhh… what now?"

"Well, I'd like to go home and… deal with all this stuff," said Brandon. "I need some time to myself for this all to sink in."

Nicole nodded. "You've got a lot to think about," she said, "and a lot to start planning."

"I guess I have," said Brandon. "Taylor, I'll drop you off at your house first, and then we'll pick this up tomorrow, alright?"

"Okay, sure," said Taylor. "Let's get going."