"Well, its not just a castform," admitted Z, "they also use satilites and machines to determine things, using castform's predictions to make an educated guess that is usually correct about the weather patterns here." Z watched the baby pokemon play with Eira's hair and smiled a bit, "you're good at taking care of pokemon," he said, "from looking at you and grace, I can tell she really likes you a lot. It's almost as if she imprinted on you when she hatched."
"She probably did," Eira murmured smiling warmly at Grace as she tickled the little pink Pokemon so she would giggle. Grace's giggles made Eira's smile grow before she turned her attention back to Z for a moment. "When I was younger, I wanted to be a coordinator. I loved watching contests and how close the trainers were to their Pokemon, but now, after so many years of living side by side with Pokemon, I decided that I want to work on being a doctor."
"That's a great goal," said Z, "I grew up around my parents who were skilled trainers. My mother was a powerful trainer and my father was a top coordinator. They taught me to respect pokemon and to treat them as if they were your partners and family. My parents's pokemon were the parents of my Haxorus when he was an Axew and I was given his egg right before starting on my journey. Axew sure was the stubborn one at first."
"I'm not much of a trainer or coordinator and neither of my parents had Pokemon of their own, but I love taking care of Pokemon, so I want to help as many as I can however I can," Eira told him with a small sigh. "I wish I had grown up around Pokemon like everyone else did, but I'm glad I was able to discover my passion here and can aide the Pokemon that live in my kingdom."
"Well at least you were able to find your calling and form a team of friends to help you in your journeys," said Z as Sparky moved to sit by him and the rest of his pokemon moved to join him, "I'm sure you and your pokemon have a powerful bond and will be able to do anything if you work together and really put your mind to it." Sparky and Haxorus gave an encouraging nod to that statement from where they sat next to their trainer/crush.
"I'm sure I would be able to follow my dream, especially with Grace and Meta's help," Eira said as she hugged her baby close to her. Walrein bumped against her gently, knowing full well he could knock her over without even trying, in his attempt to get her attention. Eira looked down at him and Meta, who was resting on Walrein's back, to see that he was staring at her like he had been hurt by what she had said. "Oh Walrein, you know I can't keep these two in line without my bodyguard around. I need you just as much as I need the others and you know it, so don't start giving me those looks."
Z chuckled as sparky leaned into his side, "You sure have a fierce bodyguard. I'm sure that he can protect you against any pokemon that wants to threaten you, and Grace will grow up to be quite strong as well from what I've observed." Scorpio and Alloy nodded, having seen first hand the strength of the baby pokemon's Return attack. Scorpio knew that the little pokemon would be quite helpful to her trainer when she was old enough.
"I would never have my Grace fight, she's a healer not a fighter," Eira said as if she was offended by the very idea of the baby happily playing in her arms battling with another Pokemon. She held Grace closer to her chest and frowned, not knowing what they meant by Grace being strong. "She's only a baby now and she will always be my sweet little angel, even when she decides to evolve into a Chansey. Walrein and Shimmer and even Meta can all battle quite well, so why would Grace have to battle?"
Z shrugged, "You never know. I wouldn't know what it's like to be a parent so I wouldn't be able to understand how you feel. She is quite strong though and her Return attack is powerful due to all the love and affection you give her." Scorpio and Alloy nodded in agreement at that having seen/felt its power firsthand when she used it on Scorpio.
Meanwhile, Haxorus had deided to curl up in a corner and sleep, having been tired from helping clean up the gym. He was quite happy that he was fully evolved now and knew he could protect Z now.
"Her Return attack?" Eira repeated in confusion, looking down at the now sleeping baby in her arms in wonder. Grace wasn't all that old, so Eira still didn't know what moves the little Pokemon knew and she wasn't about to test that out anytime soon. Hearing that she knew an actual attack worried Eira a bit, since she had promised herself that she wouldn't have Grace do anything but heal others. "I didn't know she had that move."
"It's an attack that grows in strength the more the user likes his/her/its trainer," said Z, "and considering that Grace seems to think of you as her mother, it is extremely powerful. It was apparently enough to bruise Scorpio slightly, but he's fine."
Scorpio nodded to confirm that he was fine while alloy walked over to the side to rest as well. Sparky decided to simply rest her head against Z's shoulder while she rested with a small smile on her beaked face and a light blush on her cheeks.
"I know what Return is, I just didn't know that Grace had it," Eira murmured, smiling slightly at the little Pokemon in her arms. She was happy that the attack was so strong since it meant that their bond was close, even though it worried Eira for Grace to have an attack move with so much power behind it. Walrein bumped into her again to let her know that everything would be just fine and that he would watch out for their youngest friend.
Z chuckled, "She's really a strong little one." He watched as Eira held grace in her arms and wondered what it would be like to have a baby pokemon like that. It seemed like a lot of hard work to take care of one so young, but it seemed to be rewarding and fulfilling to have a little one that sees you almost as a parental figure and loves you so much that their return attack is powerful enough to hurt a fully evolved pokemon.
"I hope she never has to use that strength," Eira murmured, adjusting Grace in her arms so the baby could nap peacefully and Eira wasn't uncomfortable as she chatted with Z. "Have you ever thought of breeding your Pokemon? I'm sure Haxorus and Sparky would each make great babies for you to add to your team."
Walrein grunted his disagreement with what Eira had said, believing that neither of them would make great parents if they were to breed.
"Well, I never thought about it really," said Z, "I wouldn't force my pokemon to breed if they don't want to and Sparky would probably prefer not to breed with another pokemon. I'm not sure about Haxorus, or Scorpio though," he added, glancing at the other two pokemon. Z knew Alloy was genderless so it would be near impossible to find a partner for him, but his other pokemon might one day see a pokemon that would catch their eye.