After returning home from his second day of school in this world, Spike figured he had given his mind enough time to adjust to the huge change in his life. It was now time to focus on what he could do to accomplish Arceus’ request.

Sitting on the couch in the living room with the Riolu egg in his arms, Spike mumbled to himself, “Keeping the peace or something, right?” Then, he looked at the egg and said, “I don’t think somebody like me can be a huge force for justice or anything, but I think I can at least prevent some bad things from happening to people here and there. Maybe I could prevent people from suffering what I went through. What do you think, buddy?”

The egg didn’t answer.

Sighing, Spike chuckled at himself. He then set the egg on the couch cushions and said, “Whatever I end up doing, I’ll need a good body, so… I should start exercising now.”

With that, he did some light exercises like push-ups, sit-ups, squats, and running. Thanks to his young body, he had plenty of energy to push himself to exhaustion. Afterward, he placed the egg in the blanket pile in his bedroom before walking across the hall to the bathroom with every intention to relax in a warm bath. While in the hallway, he saw Mara leaving her room and wearing her Poke-mart apron.

‘Didn’t think about it yesterday because of all the craziness, but I guess she works at the Poke-mart. Wonder if I can get some discounts later on.’

Setting aside those thoughts for now since they wouldn’t be relevant for a while, he asked, “Are you going to work mom?”

“Yes. Your aunt will be coming over in about an hour or so to watch you, so make sure you listen to her,” Mara said while walking toward him. She then gave him a tired smile, gently ruffled Spike’s hair, and said, “Also, please stay home today, okay? Hmm? Eww, why is your hair all sweaty?”

“I was exercising.”

Mara quickly pulled her hand back, shook her head and added, “Go take a bath. I’ll see you later tonight. ”

Spike nodded, but then thought of something and asked, “Can you ask dad to send his Medicham over to play with me for a bit?”

Raising a brow, Mara thought for a moment and then nodded. She walked downstairs while pulling out her Pokenav to call her husband.

After relaxing in the bath for a few minutes, Spike went back to his bedroom and threw on a clean shirt and pair of shorts. Then, he grabbed his Riolu egg and went downstairs to find his ‘father’s’ Medicham sitting on the floor in the living room. Upon noticing him, the Medicham jumped up, skipped over to him with a grin on its face, and started jabbering Pokemon speak at him.

“Medicham! Medi- Medicham?”

Scratching his head at the fact that he somewhat got the gist of what the Pokemon was saying, Spike replied, “Thanks for coming to hang out with me.”

“Medicham!” Medicham replied while giving a thumbs up gesture.

“Erm, even though I asked if you could play with me, I was actually hoping you could maybe show me how to meditate?”

Tilting its head with a hand on its chin, the Medicham confusedly asked, “Medicham, Medicham. Medicham?”

“Are you asking why I want to learn such a thing?”

The Medicham shook its head.

“Then, are you wondering if a human can actually learn it?”

“Medicham,” Medicham responded while nodding.

“Well, according to some snippets of Pokemon world history I’ve picked up here and there, humans and Pokemon didn’t used to be so different. Maybe I can learn something similar to Pokemon moves if I practice. Why not try, right?”

Crossing its arms, Medicham thought for a moment, but then smiled, nodded, and said, “Medicham. Medi- Medicham.”

“Well, I didn’t understand all of that, but thanks for agreeing.”

Once again, Medicham gave a thumbs-up. The gesture honestly looked a little strange because of its three stubby fingers.

Moments later, Medicham demonstrated its Meditate move. It sat cross-legged and closed its eyes. A cylindrical purple glow circled its body. Physical energy gathered within its body. Less than five seconds later, he opened his eyes, stood, and punched the air. A small crack from the wind pressure generated by his punch echoed around the room. Then, he smiled and said, “Medicham.”

Spike nodded and copied Medicham's meditation action. As he suspected, nothing really happened for several minutes. Occasionally, he felt his brain tingle and thought he might be getting somewhere, but nothing noticeable happened.

“Medicham,” Medicham interrupted him.

Spike opened his eyes and looked up at Medicham.

“Have some extra guidance for me?”

Noticing that Spike wasn’t disappointed by the lack of progress, Medicham nodded with appreciation. It then rested a palm on Spike’s head and said, “Medicham.”

“Alright, I’ll try again.”

Once again, the most he felt during the next few minutes of silence was a few tingles in his brain. At some point, Medicham spoke up to stop him. When Spike opened his eyes, he saw Medicham giving him another thumbs-up.

“You think it’s possible?”

“Medicham,” Medicham said while nodding with an excited smile as though it had discovered something amazing. However, the smile disappeared after a few moments, and it seriously added, “Medi- Medi- Medicham.”

“You think it’ll take a while?” Asked while trying to interrupt meaning from the Pokemon’s expressions and intonation.

“Medicham,” Medicham said while nodding.

“Well, at least I have something to work toward.”

The two continued practicing for a few minutes until somebody unlocked the front door and entered. Spike and Medicham stopped practicing and looked at the woman entering the house. She looked like she was in her late twenties or early thirties. Much like Spike’s new dad, she had vibrant green hair and eyes. Her straight hair was neatly trimmed at shoulder-length. She looked somewhat sporty with athletic shoes, black sweatpants, and a green windbreaker jacket with a black v-neck t-shirt underneath.

Searching through the memories he obtained from Dilon, Spike eventually connected the dots that she was his dad’s older sister. Luckily, he was able to recall some vague memories of the woman’s name, unlike with his new parents.

“Hello,” The woman greeted them with a kind smile.

“Medicham!” Medicham greeted excitedly while giving the same military-like salute Spike saw from it when they first met.

“Hi, Aunt Deidre,” Spike said with a small smile on his lips.

The woman smiled back as though pleasantly surprised by his greeting. While taking off her shoes, she asked, “What are you two up to?”

“Medicham is teaching me how to Meditate.”

The woman stopped her movement with one shoe half off and looked up at him. Blinking once or twice while gathering her thoughts, she eventually smiled and said, “As long as you’re having fun.”

Spike and Medicham glanced at each other and both shrugged in sync.

A minute later, the woman sat down on the couch next to the egg and asked, “Is this your Pokemon egg, Dilon? Mara mentioned it to me. Take good care of it, okay?”

“I will. Also, can you call me Spike from now on?”

“Sure, but why?” Deidre asked while tilting her head slightly.

“It’s a cooler name than Dilon.”

“Haha! Alright, sure. Anything for my cute nephew.”

“Thanks!”

Deidre smiled at him and quietly watched while Spike and Medicham resumed meditating together. Occasionally, she asked some typical questions when Spike took breaks from meditating to see how was doing or how school was going. Later on, she mentioned that she would make some dinner for them and left the living room. Once her back was turned, Spike opened his eyes and briefly observed the woman in the open kitchen area adjacent to the living room before attempting to meditate again.

Before long, the scent of spices tickled Spike’s nostrils. Figuring now was a good time to stop since he couldn’t feel himself making any progress, he stood up and walked over to the kitchen.

“What are you making, Aunt Deidre? It smells good.”

Smiling gently while stir-frying some veggies, Deidre said, “Thanks. It’s just curry. It won’t have any meat, though, since Medichams don’t eat meat.”

“That’s fine.”

Later, the three sat down at the dining table. While Spike and Medicham devoured the curry with gusto, Deidre contrasted them with graceful eating akin to a noble while sporting a satisfied grin at the kid and Pokemon enjoying her cooking.

At one point, Spike glanced at her and thought, She’s total wife material. I’ll find a woman like her once this body grows up.

After dinner, Spike and Deidre relaxed on the couch while watching a Pokemon Contest show on television. Medicham sat on the floor while saying something that Spike understood as him preferring to sit on the floor. Meanwhile, Spike happily sat on his Aunt’s lap with his Riolu egg in hand and enjoyed the soft pillows behind his head while sporting a content smile. Medicham smirked at him while Deidre wasn’t looking, but Spike ignored it. He was starting to think Medicham was well aware of his mental age.

Eventually, Mara returned home with an exhausted look on her face. She plopped down on the couch next to Deidre with a grunt. Then, she stretched her arms up and yawned, unintentionally giving Spike a great view of her assets. He simply nodded in appreciation before returning his attention to the television.

“Long day?” Deidre asked.

“Yeah.”

“Always seems tough on you whenever the league season starts off.”

“Tell me about it. All the trainers passing through from Littleroot and Oldale sap the energy right out of us, especially the ones who are clueless about their Pokemon. I’m a shopkeeper, not a schoolteacher, for Arceus’ sake.”

Deidre giggled and tried to comfort her sister-in-law with a pat on the shoulder while saying, “Hang in there. I know you’re great at what you do.”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever,” Mara grumbled while waving her hand in denial.

Eventually, Deidre got up to leave, though Spike didn’t let her go without a hug, which she happily reciprocated.

Eyes wide, Mara asked, “Since when were you so clingy, Dilon?”

“Since today. Bye, Aunt Deidre. See you later.”

“Mhm. Bye bye.”