[Age 4: As you grow older, your talents are becoming more apparent.]
[You quickly learned human language, and with your developing ability to think critically, you displayed an impressive level of persistence.]
[You often spent entire days—or even multiple days—fixating on trivial matters. This trait made it difficult for you to make friends in the city.]
[However, you didn't seem to mind being isolated.]
[Your mother, Tias, felt the sa way.]
The afternoon sun filtered through the window, casting warm golden hues across the room.
Elias was lounging on the sofa, a book about Water-type Pokémon resting in his hands.
Lately, he had developed a strong interest in them and wanted to study them in depth.
At his feet, Latias—disguised as a red-haired young woman—sat with her amber eyes gleaming in the sunlight.
To any outsider, she would have looked more like Elias's older sister than his mother.
"Elias, do you want to make human friends?"
After admiring her pet for a mont, Latias casually posed the question.
She had recently noticed that Elias rarely interacted with other children his age.
In fact, he barely had any human acquaintances at all.
For most people, this would be considered a serious social issue.
But unfortunately, Latias was not most people.
She was more interested in his opinion.
"No."
Without even looking up from his book, Elias answered without hesitation.
Rather than running around in the dirt with other children, he preferred imrsing himself in books and Pokémon.
And more importantly—
His instincts told him that Tias didn't actually want him making too many friends.
She probably wasn't even aware of this herself.
For so reason, Latias felt an inexplicable joy at his answer.
But then she rembered sothing from her childcare manual—
As a mother, she was supposed to correct strange behaviors like this.
So, after a brief internal struggle, she scooted closer to Elias and recited,
"Elias, children need to socialize properly. Living alone isn't very fun."
Her tone was completely flat—like she was reading directly from a textbook.
Elias sighed and finally put his book down.
Sitting up, he t Latias' gaze and asked,
"You want to socialize?"
"The childcare manual says so," Latias replied honestly.
Then, as if rembering sothing important, she added,
"I want to be a good mother."
Elias couldn't help but smile.
"A good mother, huh? Would a good mother teach her kid to sit, shake hands, and call her 'Master'?"
"…Huh?"
Latias' pale face instantly turned a deep shade of red.
She waved her hands in a panic, stamring,
"T-That title was d-dropped a long ti ago!"
"Y-You're not allowed to bring it up again!"
Having spent enough ti in human society, Latias had learned a lot about social norms.
One of the things she had realized—
Calling soone "Master" was definitely not appropriate between humans.
She finally understood why Officer Jenny had been looking at her like a criminal back then.
Seeing that his point had landed, Elias leaned forward and buried his face against Latias' lap, his voice muffled as he murmured,
"Don't force yourself. Books are just guides, not absolute rules."
His warm breath against her sensitive skin made Latias tense up.
But after processing his words, she relaxed.
"Mm."
She let out a soft hum of agreent.
Ever since Elias had grown old enough to think for himself, she sotis got the strange feeling that he was more like the Trainer, while she was the one being protected.
But…
Being Elias's Pokémon doesn't sound so bad, does it?
The thought startled her.
Shaking her head to dispel the dangerous idea, Latias quickly scooped him off her lap.
She absolutely couldn't let him find out she was a Pokémon.
Not only because of their original agreent—
But because she was terrified that, if he ever discovered the truth, he would grow distant.
She refused to let that happen.
Her mind was made up.
---
[Age 5: Upon a neighbor's suggestion, Latias reluctantly sent you to a Trainer Academy in the city.]
[At the school gates, many young children threw tantrums, crying about how they didn't want to attend. Their parents, in turn, coaxed them with sweet words.]
[However, in your case… things seed reversed.]
"Do you really have to go to school?"
Latias' large, watery eyes were tinged with red, and her telepathic voice was thick with reluctance.
"I'll be back in the afternoon."
Elias sighed, rubbing his temples.
With people curiously watching, he reached out and gently pinched Tias' soft cheeks.
"I promise to co straight ho after class. No one's going to kidnap ."
Knowing exactly what she was worried about, Elias decided to humor her.
As expected, her expression eased slightly.
"I-I know that," she mumbled.
---
[After your reassurance, Latias reluctantly agreed to let you attend school alone.]
[However, in the following days, you deeply regretted your decision.]
[You quickly realized that a "Trainer Academy" was essentially no different from the kindergartens you had zero interest in.]
[The only notable difference? The school could afford to bring in a batch of tad, docile Pokémon for students to experience being a Trainer firsthand.]
"Elias, which Pokémon are you going to choose?"
On the way ho, a white-haired boy ran up to him, glancing at the selection form in his hands.
His na was Steven Stone, a boy Elias had befriended recently.
He ca from a well-off family in the area.
"Not sure yet."
Elias frowned, staring at the form.
Truthfully, he didn't want to choose any of these pre-selected, dosticated Pokémon.
He had no interest in being assigned a starter Pokémon without effort.
If he was going to have a partner, he wanted to catch one with his own hands.
Steven's eyes lit up.
"You don't like the school's Pokémon either?"
Coincidentally, Steven also had no interest in picking a school-given Pokémon.
Rather than the usual starters, he wanted a Pokémon suited for mining.
So, he made a proposal—
"Let's go to teor Falls and find our own Pokémon!"
Elias agreed.
---
[Back ho, Tias was eager to hear about your starter Pokémon choice.]
[However, when you told her you didn't plan to pick one, her face instantly paled.]
"E-Elias…"
Her voice trembled.
"You… you don't like Pokémon?"
---
T/N: when is the Elias x Lance vs Elias x Steven gonna happen
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